Early Childhood Supports
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Key Worker
Early Childhood Supports
What is Key Worker Early Childhood Supports?
Our Key Worker Early Childhood Supports provides a holistic approach to supporting children and families to achieve their potential.
We know that families are busy and that it can be overwhelming to have lots of therapy and medical appointments. We aim to simplify this, by providing you with the right support at the right time.
Our Key Workers will use their expertise in childhood development to help you develop goals for your child and coordinate with other members of the therapy team. Your therapy team may include occupational therapists, speech pathologists, positive behaviour support practitioners, psychologists, physiotherapists, dietitians, exercise physiologists, early childhood teachers, special education teachers, social workers and allied health assistants.
We know children learn best in their everyday environments. So where we can, we will work with your child in their home, the community, or their learning environment. There are times when a clinic environment, without distractions, is the best place so we also have paediatric rooms at our ORS offices.
Good News Story
With Brennan
Brennan was referred to ORS due to certain challenges including non-verbal communication, but since working with Bec he has transformed, is now always happy and his future certainly looks a lot brighter. Thank you Brennan and Sarah for allowing us to be a part of your life and letting us share in your transformative journey.
Services available
Capacity building assessment, ongoing intervention to build functional independence and social participation and report
If you are unsure what services you need to help achieve your child and family’s goals or if your child needs the involvement of multiple services, Key Worker support will ensure you get the right support at the right time. Â
The Key Worker approach is best practice when supporting young children and families. Your Key Worker engages in collaborative goal-setting with the team around your child to develop their support plan. This team may include your allied health providers, parents, guardians, teachers, support workers and other family members.
This model focuses on developing the skills and capacity of everyone on the team. We have regular meetings as a team to ensure we are focused on your priorities and that we are seeing progress on your goals. Your team will consider the goals that are a priority for your child and family and who is best placed to support them.
Capacity building assessment, ongoing intervention to build functional independence and social participation and report
If you are unsure what services you need to help achieve your child and family’s goals or if your child needs the involvement of multiple services, Key Worker Support will ensure you get the right support at the right time. Â
The Key Worker approach is best practice when supporting young children and families. Your Key Worker engages in collaborative goal-setting with the team around your child to develop their support plan. This team may include your allied health providers, parents, guardians, teachers, support workers and other family members.
This model focuses on developing the skills and capacity of everyone on the team. We have regular meetings as a team to ensure we are focused on your priorities and that we are seeing progress on your goals. Your team will consider the goals that are a priority for your child and family and who is best placed to support them.
Looking for individual therapies?
Would you like your team to work as a multidisciplinary team? ORS offers a wide range of allied health services to support your needs.
Positive Behaviour Support
Occupational Therapy
Psychological Assessments
Speech Pathology
How are these services funded and accessed?
A range of funding options are available for our Early Childhood Support services.
The funding types and NDIS support categories that may cover these services include:
- Improved Daily Living: Early Childhood Supports
- Privately paid
Early Childhood Support services can be provided in person or via Telehealth for certain services across Australia.
Key Worker for your first appointment.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Key Worker Support and multidisciplinary care?
Your Key Worker has a more holistic view of your child and family which allows them to work with you to set priorities for therapy and coordinate which therapists will support you in achieving these. Collaboration, consultation and communication of the therapy team are central to this model. Whereas in a multidisciplinary team, you may have up to 6 therapists supporting you and your child at any one time. The team will catch up periodically to share their therapy goals and plans. When there are a lot of therapies involved, this can be overwhelming to coordinate sessions and keep up with all the goals and home practice.
Do Early Childhood supports work with my existing supports e.g. allied health, support workers?
Yes, we work with existing supports across different environments including the home, education and activities in the community. With your consent, your support network can be included in developing and reviewing your Early Childhood Support Plan.
In what areas can your service help achieve goals?
We can support goals across a wide range of areas including communication, play, mobility, feeding, self-care activities, sensory processing, relationships with peers, feelings and behaviors, problem-solving and learning, and transition to school.
Where will I receive my service?
Early Childhood Support services can be provided in community settings such as a school or early education, at home, or at an ORS Office, depending on your preference.
How does your service aim to simplify therapy for users?
We aim to simplify therapy by providing the right support at the right time. This is facilitated through the use of a Key Worker, also known as a Lead Practitioner, so you are supported by a team but have a single point of contact.
How can I work as a Key Worker at ORS?
We would love to talk to you about your career and how we can support you.
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