On This Page

• Early Childhood Intervention
• Developmental Delay
• Autism Spectrum disorder
• An assessment
• Family-Centred practice
• How to access ECIS Services and the LEAP Program
• Do you have concerns about your child's development
• What happens after referral?
• How do I know what services my child needs?
• The L.E.A.P Program
• How you can best help your child
• Terms and Definitions

 

What Is...

...Early Childhood Intervention?

Early childhood intervention is a support system for children with developmental delays and disabilities, and their families.

If a child experiences a developmental delay, this can compound over time. The principle of early intervention is to provide appropriate therapies for children with disabilities, to minimize these delays and maximize their chances of reaching normal milestones in development. Early intervention begins from birth or first diagnosis and continues until the child is of school age. It involves specialized education and therapy services for the child, as well as support for the whole family through information, advocacy, upskilling and emotional support.

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...Developmental Delay?

A young child who is not achieving the expected milestones for their age may be described as having a developmental delay.

Developmental delay in children under six years of age refers to a broad range of developmental aspects including physical, emotional, intellectual, communicative and sensory impairments in one or more of the following areas of major life activity:

• Self care
• Receptive and expressive language
• Cognitive development
• Motor development

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...Autism Spectrum disorder?

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are lifelong developmental disorders characterised by marked difficulties in social interaction, impaired communication, restricted and repetitive interests and behaviours and sensory sensitivities.

The word "spectrum" is used because the range and severity of the difficulties people with an ASD experience can vary widely. ASDs include autistic disorder, Asperger's disorder and pervasive developmental disorder - not otherwise stated, which is also known as atypical autism. Sometimes the word "autism" is used to refer to all ASDs.

Studies show 1 in 160 Australians have an ASD and that it is more prevalent in boys than girls. The effects of an ASD can often be minimised by early diagnosis and with the right interventions, many children and adults with an ASD show marked improvements.

For more information, please visit the Autism Spectrum website.

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The following is taken from the book "Understanding Autism" by Susan Dodd and greatly assisted one of our parents to "understand":

"Autism is a Neuro-developmental disorder. People with autism exhibit difficulty with organisation, conceptualisation, processing, planning and integrating information. Behaviours therefore often need to be taught in systematic step-by-step formats

Inappropriate, difficult behaviour is frequent in children with autistic disorders. The causes include confusion and fear of unfamiliar situations; interference with repetitive routines; failure to understand the social rules; inappropriate attempts to control events; oversensitivity to sensory input from loud sounds, bright lights, crowds of people ; pursuit of preferred activities without any ability to consider the consequences.

Among the most commonly recognised problems that affect how individuals with autism function and learn are difficulties processing information and poor listening skills, sensory sensitivities and lack of empathy. However individuals with autism also show remarkable visual spatial abilities, rote memory skills and ability to pick up the fine details.

Autism affects everything that they do, how they feel, how they think and how they take in and process information from all the senses.

Because the problems that define autism are not reversible, it is not possible to normalise children and adults with autism. The goal of any intervention is, rather, to understand their strengths and limitations and develop procedures that will assist each individual to fin as well as possible into society as an adult."

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...An assessment?

An assessment is the process whereby therapists individually, or in a group, determine a child's developmental levels in relation to their expected milestones for their age. Generally this takes the form of a series of questions and activities for the child to undertake, as well as information provided by the parent or carer. Examples of types of assessments might be Occupational Therapy or Speech Pathology.

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...Family-Centred practice?

The aim of family centred practice is to empower families to provide for the needs of their children in recognition of the fact that families are the most important influence on a child’s learning and development. ECIS professional’s behaviours and practices will focus on achieving a genuine partnership with parents and carers to this end.

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How to access ECIS Services and the LEAP Program

For more information on the Early Childhood Intervention Service, you can visit our ECIS page.

 

Do you have concerns about your child's development:

If you have concerns about your child’s development or behaviour you should discuss these with your Maternal Child & Health Nurse, your General Practitioner or paediatrician if your child is seeing one, your child’s pre-school or child care director. If there is a need, you or any of these professionals can refer your child to the Early Childhood Intervention Services (ECIS) Central Intake & Early Support office. Telephone 1800 627 391.

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What happens after referral?

After a referral has been made the Intake & Early Support Office will conduct an interview with you to identify your needs with regards to your child’s disability or special needs, eligibility will be determined and a Family Services Support Plan (please link to terms and definitions page description) will be developed which will set down what actions will be required to meet those needs. You will be allocated an Intake Worker who will be your contact until your child has been allocated to an agency for service.

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How do I know what services my child needs?

The information gathered through the Intake process will help to determine which ECIS services will be most beneficial to meet your child’s and family’s needs. The Intake worker will discuss the options with you and your child will be placed on a referral list for allocation to an agency.

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The L.E.A.P Program

If you believe, through the information that we have provided here, that the LEAP program may be of benefit to you and your child, you can request the Intake office place your child on our referral list. Once a position is available, the Program Director will contact you to make an interview time to discuss your child’s participation in a group.

For more information on what LEAP can offer, visit our Services page.

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How you can best help your child

There are many ways in which you can enhance the skill and behaviour development strategies your child is learning in the LEAP program:

• Participate in LEAP sessions
• Make a commitment to working with your child whenever possible
• Learn and practice suggested activities and strategies - at home, in the car, at relatives and friends places, shopping, at the park, etc
• Make it fun and incidental throughout the day (not just in a sit-down session)
• Explain to relatives and friends the current strategies and skills that need to be practiced so that they can be involved.
• Communicate to staff about any changes to medication, family dynamics, or other services that are involved with your child.
• Talk to staff about any thoughts, concerns or suggestions you may have.
• There are several pieces of equipment that you may find useful to have so that you can develop your own resources at home: A computer, a laminator and a digital camera. These items are extremely useful in creating communication resources about things specific to your child at home and in their everyday lives. (See also Resources)

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Terms and Definitions

For more information on Terms and Definitions, please visit our "Terms and Definitions" page.

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