NDIS Early Childhood Intervention Melbourne

Supporting young children and their family to make positive life changes.

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How our Early Childhood Intervention Services Deliver More

Our Melbourne early childhood intervention services bring together speech pathology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, positive behaviour support and habit coaching to young children, through a key worker.

We help children with disabilities and developmental delays build new skills for independence, wellbeing and participation.

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The Key Worker Model: Supporting Your Child’s Development

Your key worker plans and oversees your child’s services. As your main therapist and day-to-day contact, they:

Deliver most of your child’s therapy in the places your child spends their time, like home, daycare, school or in the community
Coordinate services from speech pathologists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, behaviour support practitioners and habit coaches
Link you with community services to support your child’s development.

Support for Your Child and Family

Whether it’s enhancing social skills, getting ready for school, toileting, improving sleep, speech or mobility, our early childhood intervention services help improve your child’s and family’s well-being and quality of life. When you choose us for early childhood intention (early childhood supports) in Melbourne, you can expect that we will:

Look at your child’s needs across all areas, rather than focusing solely on specific aspects of your child’s development
Provide services and support in your home and local community

Suggest ideas and approaches that consider the unique needs of your family to help develop your child’s skills
Help you adapt everyday routines so your child maximises their opportunities to learn new skills

Get Started With Early Childhood Intervention Services

Your first step to getting started with early childhood supports is to meet with a key worker, in your home. They get to know you, your family and child and other members of your support team to understand the outcomes you all want.

Is your child not yet a NDIS participant?

Visit our How to apply for ECI for information on getting your plan funded.

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A Team Approach for Positive Change

We provide the following NDIS therapy services to children, teenagers, and adults in Melbourne.

Occupational Therapy

Speech Pathology

Physiotherapy Services

Positive Behaviour Support

Habit Coaching

Frequently Asked Questions about Early Intervention Services

What is early childhood intervention services?

Early childhood intervention services (or early childhood services) aim to help children with developmental delay and/or disabilities and their families access support to promote their child’s wellbeing, community participation and development.

As children’s brains grow most during their early years, the earlier they receive early intervention services, the better the outcome will likely be.

Early childhood intervention promotes:

optimal chances of physical development
improved social and emotional outcomes
ability to participate in everyday activities
positive behaviours and ability to engage in learning
confidence, resilience and independence

Who do you provide early childhood supports to?

We provide early childhood supports to all children with a NDIS plan, aged up to nine years with developmental delay or disabilities and their families.

We use the key worker approach because it is the recommended best practice approach for children with developmental delays and disabilities.

How will the key worker model benefit my child and family?

There are many benefits of the key worker model, including:

families have access to a team of practitioners with different skills and knowledge through one practitioner
reduces the number of practitioners that a child and family need to get to know, making it easier to build a trusting relationship
working with one practitioner who understands the family’s needs and goals enables consistent delivery of services to meet the child’s developmental needs
reduces the stress of juggling appointments and services from multiple practitioners
the needs of the whole family are considered, which better equips them to build on their strengths and make the positive changes needed to support the child’s development needs

This model is widely considered best practice in supporting a child’s developmental needs because it can lead to better long-term outcomes for the child and family.

I only need occupational therapy or speech therapy for my child, can a key worker help with this?

As degree-qualified teachers, our key workers use their specialised training in child development and learning to design and implement strategies to support your child’s development. This includes activities to improve their fine motor skills, language development or strategies to help with their sensory processing issues. These strategies can also be used by other members of your child’s team, such as speech pathologists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists.

Key workers can deliver more than an individual registered occupational therapist, speech pathologist or physiotherapist as they can implement their own strategies and activities as well as those designed by the team of therapists.

Are key workers qualified to deliver therapy if they aren’t an occupational therapist, speech pathologist or physiotherapist?

As degree-qualified teachers, our key workers use their specialised training in child development and learning to design and implement strategies across developmental areas which include social, emotional, physical, cognitive and language. They do this in a way that engages your family and other important people in your child’s life such as their teacher.

There are some specialised areas that only a speech pathologist, physiotherapist or occupational therapist can assess and provide advice on. The key worker will link in these team members where this support is required.

What is your key workers’ experience in supporting autistic children and children with global developmental delay?

Our key workers are experienced in supporting children with disabilities, global developmental delay, and children on the autism spectrum.

They’ll use their skills and knowledge to engage with your child’s interests and use these as a basis for therapy and development. Our key workers also take a tailored approach to meet each child’s unique needs and abilities, focusing on their strengths and interests to help them reach their full potential. They work closely with your family to understand your child’s needs and to create a supportive and consistent environment for your child.

Where will my child’s sessions be held?

Your child will have their therapy sessions delivered in the places where they spend their time, such as home, school, or community settings. This can help your child learn and practice skills in real-world environments and enables the key worker to identify barriers holding them back from being fully included.

Where are we located?

We have 13 therapy hubs located across Greater Melbourne. Our therapy teams at each hub provide a wide range of therapy services to NDIS participants across Melbourne.

Our services include occupational therapy, speech pathology, physiotherapy, positive behaviour supports, early childhood supports and habit coaching.