Early Childhood Intervention – Good news for families

Do you have a child under six with a developmental delay or disability? If so, the announcement made last week by Stuart Roberts, Minister for National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) will be welcome news. Early Childhood Intervention waiting times are to be cut.

Faster Access to NDIS supports

Since becoming Minister, Mr Robert has been working on finding solutions to the backlog within the NDIS. Last week he acknowledged there were delays in accessing Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) supports through NDIS. ECEI is available to children aged between 0-6 years of age. His initiative is to limit the waiting times to 50 days. For children who are waiting longer than that due to the complexity of their case, the government will introduce a six-month interim plan.

You can read the media release here

The importance of early intervention

This is really welcome news Whether your child has disability or not, the 0-6 age bracket is critical time for learning. For parents, Early Childhood Intervention means they are able to better meet their child’s needs. By developing skills now, they have a better chance of taking part in daily activities and achieving the best possible outcomes throughout their lives. That’s good news for your child, you as the parent/carer and for your family as a whole.

Early Childhood Intervention – It’s a partnership

NDIS partner with ECEI specialists within the community. These specialists are experienced in providing early childhood intervention. They in turn will partner with you. As a parent or carer of a child with disability, you are in the best position to know your child’s needs. ECEI specialists will work with both your child and you. All decisions made on your child’s behalf will be joint ones. They will provide the support you need, directing you to other appropriate services as well as community-based organisation. It is therefore important that you have confidence in them. If not, the good news is you can shop around until you find one that ‘fits’ your child and family needs. 

What ECEI supports are we talking about

Every child is different and will require different supports. One child may need speech therapy, another may require physiotherapy. You may need a behaviour support specialist, or a combination of a number of supports. Depending on the complexity, it may mean long-term or short-term. The ECEI specialists takes the burden from you and help map out what you need and where to go to find the required services. The earlier your child receives intervention the better off they will be and as a consequence so will you and the rest of your family. 

You can find an ECEI specialist here: https://www.ndis.gov.au/contact/locations.

Do you need help?

We understand that you may need help or advice finding your way through the NDIS. If so contact Care to Change. You can call us on 1300 515 888 or use our contact page on our website. We will get back to you within 24 hours to discuss how we can help.