First Steps Autism Day Care

Centre location: 149 Salisbury Street, Bedford Western Australia 6052
Opening hours: 8:30am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday

To be enrolled in the centre, children must be Australian citizens or permanent residents under seven years of age, and have a diagnosis of an Autism, or be going through the diagnostic process. Eligibility criteria and priority of access guidelines can be discussed at a meeting with the Team Leader.

Standard Child Care fees apply. Contact the Team Leader on (08) 6380 5504.

At the centre, you’ll find a highly skilled trans-disciplinary team of professionals working alongside families to provide individualised, Autism specific, early learning programs for young children.

The team of dedicated professionals includes:

• Speech pathologists.
• Occupational therapists.
• Early childhood teachers.
• Primary teachers.
• Psychologists.
• Experienced child care educators.

Expressions of interest are being accepted by phone or email. Please contact daycare@autism.org.au or the Team Leader on (08) 6380 5504.

Siblings are welcome to enrol in the adjoining mainstream child care program and will have many opportunities for interacting with their siblings during the day.

Visits to the centre to view the service are welcomed, please contact us.

Autism Specific Early Learning and Care Centre (Specialist Autism Day Care) is funded by the Australian Government under the Early Learning and Care Centre Initiative.

The service is designed around best-practice in the field of Autism and early learning. We apply an evidence-based approach, grounded in peer-reviewed research. This means your child receives the very best of care and we are committed to continual learning within our team.

The Autism-specific curriculum incorporates the Early Years Learning Framework, as part of the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care.

Each child’s program begins with an individual assessment by the specialist team. All assessments are undertaken to identify the child’s learning profile and areas for skill development. A documented program is developed in consultation with the family and includes the following areas:

• Communication and play.
• Behaviour and self-regulation.
• Cognitive skill development.
• Gross/fine motor development.
• School readiness.
• Self-help and independence.
• Social skills.

• A staff to child ratio of minimum one staff member to four children.
• An Autism specific program and curriculum incorporating the Early Years Learning Framework.
• A quality early learning program based on the individual needs of the child and family.
• A clinician who acts as a key contact person for each family.
• A highly structured and supportive learning environment.
• Intensive communication support.
• Parent training and support to access additional community services.
• Training and consultancy services to kindergartens, pre-primary and community services.

Service delivery models for the Specialist Learning Centre will be based on the Early Intervention Best Practice Guidelines published by Prior and Roberts (2006), the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care and current evidence of best practice in Childcare and Early Childhood Education for children with special needs.

Further information regarding the National Quality Framework:

• www.acecqa.gov.au
• www.communities.wa.gov.au