OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
Occupational Therapy offers support and services to children with the following conditions/co-occurring conditions:​​
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Neurodevelopmental disorders
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Neurobehavioural disorders
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Mental health
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Sensory Processing differences
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Emotional Regulation
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Developmental Delays
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Global Developmental Delays
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Intellectual Impairments
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Motor-based dysgraphia
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Gross and Fine Motor Difficulties
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Handwriting difficulties
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Social skill difficulties
FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENTS Functional Capacity Assessments (FCAs) are often included under capacity building (CB) funding in your child’s NDIS plan if NDIS are unsure of the funding required to support your child’s ongoing needs, or if it has been a while since your child has had a plan review and NDIS are unsure whether an increase or decrease of funds are required. A Functional Capacity Assessment can also be useful to complete if needing increased evidence to access NDIS. Functional capacity assessments usually take 10 hours due to the comprehensive nature of the report, however, Functional Therapy will only bill for the work completed. This means if the FCA takes 6 hours – this is all Functional Therapy will bill for.
SENSORY PROCESSING/INTEROCEPTION Sensory processing is the way our brains process, interpret, and respond to sensory information throughout our day. Some children over or under respond to certain sensory input, which can impact on their engagement and behaviour in everyday activities such as getting dressed, putting on shoes and socks, going to the shops, washing or brushing hair, brushing teeth, sitting to eat dinner or complete homework, learning at school, or playing. Occupational Therapists work to understand the child’s unique sensory profile, provide relevant recommendations and strategies to implement within their everyday environments until children hit around 8 years of age where they learn to self-regulate their sensory and emotional needs more independently. Functional Therapy is passionate about interoceptive awareness and building children’s skills in identifying their own body signals, what this means for them, and how to implement ‘feel good’ actions to support their regulation. Interoceptive awareness is the bridge between co-regulation and self-regulation and is often missed in intervention, where children are expected to be able to 'label' their feelings and emotions, without understanding what this actually feels like, or means, within their own bodies.
FINE MOTOR SKILLS Fine motor skills are the intrinsic muscles within the hand that create refined, controlled, and coordinated movements of the hands and fingers. Fine motor skills help children complete tasks such as using a pencil to draw, cutting along the lines, holding and coordinating a knife and fork to eat, brushing teeth, tying shoelaces, and completing fastenings such as buttons and zips.
HANDWRITING DIFFICULTIES Handwriting is a complex task that requires a HUGE number of skills for little ones. These include: •Fine motor skills to hold and control the pencil to write; •identify letters (know what they look like in their mind) and know the letters (say what they are); •form the letters correctly using the correct start point and directionality so that the letters are legible; •to sit the letters on the line, to size the letters within dotted thirds; •to use adequate spacing between letters and words, and eventually increase their speed and written output; AND •children must also remember how to spell the word, formulate a sentence, use grammar and punctuation whilst in a regulated state for learning.
PLAY Play is such an important role in a child’s early development and is the foundation for further learning. Play helps children to learn new skills, problem solve, remember, pay attention, and develop their imagination and creativity. When learning to play with others, it also helps children develop their joint attention skills, ability to take turns, wait, share, and learn about winning and losing.
EMOTIONAL REGULATION Whether your child is at the co-regulation or self-regulation stage, Functional Therapy provides support to develop a child’s ability to understand and process different emotions and implement strategies to support their overall regulation. Functional Therapy OTs use modelling of emotions/strategies in everyday interactions, as well as interoceptive awareness to help build children’s knowledge of their own body signals, help them to link these body signals to different emotions they might be experiencing, and find / develop feel good actions to help give children a toolbox of strategies they can use to self-regulate.
POOL SESSIONS FUNctional Therapy offers Occupational Therapy Sessions at the Pool! Functional Therapy has an accredited swim instructor who offers support for: •Children who have significant sensory differences that impact on their regulation in the pool. •Children who struggle to engage and regulate in group swimming lessons and need 1:1 support. •Teachers who require some strategies to support engagement. Stay tuned for group programs coming soon!
SCHOOL BASED INTERVENTION AND RECOMMENDATIONS. Functional Therapy provides school-based observations to identify any potential triggers occurring in the classroom, specialist classes, or play-ground that are impacting on the child’s engagement and participation in the school environment. The Occupational Therapist will provide recommendations suited to the child’s needs that can be easily implemented into the child’s everyday routine. Functional Therapy provides 1:1 intervention with your child at school and liaises with teachers, education assistants, and other key support staff as necessary to help the child achieve their full potential at school.
PARENT/CAREGIVER ONLY SESSIONS Parent/caregiver only sessions are offered to families to provide information/education on sensory processing, emotional regulation, behaviours, and other complex clinical areas without the distraction of little ones within ear shot. The session usually includes the summary of your child’s sensory profile or other assessmets completed by the therapist, clinical observations from school/day care or within therapy sessions that may have been completed, information about the clinical area (sensory processing, emotional regulation), how it impacts your child, and strategies or recommendations for what can be implemented at home/school/in the community to support your child’s sensory preferences and overall regulation.
SUPERVISION/CLINICAL SUPPORT Supervision/clinical support to new graduate and early career Occupational Therapists working in the NDIS space is now availabel through FUNctional Therapy! If you are an Occupational Therapist or an Occupational Therapy Assistant looking for clinical supervision, then please get in contact with Functional Therapy to discuss your needs and find out how we can best support you to develop your clinical skills.
FEE SCHEDULE
Accepting NDIS participants, private, and Medicare​
NDIS
OT/SP: $193.99 per hour
PRIVATE SERVICES &
CLINICAL SUPERVISION RATES
$175 per hour
MEDICARE
$175.00 per hour and $56.00 rebate under Medicare
HOW TO ACCESS SERVICES
Your journey with us: If you are interested in any of the services Functional Therapy offer, see below steps on how to access services for your child.
1) FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION. Fill in the ‘contact us’ form to contact FUNctional Therapy if you have further questions, or to see if Functional Therapy are the right fit for your child and family. Depending on your child’s needs, a phone call or face-to-face meet & greet session may be offered by the clinician to determine clinician suitability to the child before the referral and service agreement is completed.
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2) REFERRAL. Complete the below relevant referral form and service agreement to begin accessing services. We will process your referral, add you to the waitlist, and be in contact regarding current wait times.
3) APPOINTMENT. Based on your preference for appointment days/times, we will try to find a suitable appointment slot with one of our clinicians and book in your child’s first appointment either at your home or your child's learning environment.
4) STAY IN THE LOOP. Your clinician will provide ongoing updates about your child’s progress and complete a review report at the end of the child’s plan ready for their review meeting.