Helping Children with Autism

After a fairly extensive process, as of Tuesday, 27th October, 5energies is now officially a panel / service provider under the auspices of the Helping Children with Autism Package. This package is run through Autism Australia, with federal funding from the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA). Those of you who read this blog regularly will know that we are a ‘one stop’ shop, one which offers Speech Pathology, Occupational Therapy, Educational Psychology and education services under the one roof. As this package of funding is after an integrated and multi-disciplinary approach for children with autism, it seems we fit the bill!!

So very proudly we announce our new status as Panel provider for services relating to autism, but also advise that we will be continuing our quality services for any child with a learning delay or developmental challenge. It has already been a big week, with those who have heard whispers on the wind getting in fast for appointments, and screenings and program development taking place this week.

It goes without question that if anyone wishes any information on our services to children and their families, please just ring and chat to Julie in the front office.

Website Woes!

Oh dear… Sometimes the best laid plans of mice and men actually do unravel and come astray. We were under the impression that our Order form for the newly launched literacy package, and our contact form were in working order – but nope, sorry, not to be. Thank you to the couple of people who contacted us about it, and we ‘think’ it is now OK.

On another note, we are very sad at 5energies to be leaving our favourite web guru Leah, at workingsolo.com… Fortunately for Leah she is going to be enjoying a lot more of life over the next few weeks, months and years, and is looking forward to many wonderful ambulatory strolls through her neighbhourhood and elsewhere, but we are so going to miss having her quiet support in the background of our web presence. Leah, thank you for your wonderful ability to translate our murky ideas into reality, and for helping us immensely as a growing business.

On that note, the website will be migrating to a new hosting service over the next week, so if for any reason, you experience difficulties, please return in an hour or so.

A Concern – from one teacher to another…

Through the week, I had the good fortune of meeting Leslie, Simon and young Peter (see my recent posting for parents). What concerned me was how powerless Leslie and Simon felt about their son, and what conflicting advice they had been getting from their son’s school. Fortunately someone they trusted had suggested they bite the bullet and see if young Peter had any issues, or whether  his issues were maturational. What good advice!  As it turned out, Peter’s issues were developmental, and in some areas of gross and fine motor skills he was significantly delayed – and a good Occupational Therapist can work with him and likely achieve good results within a relatively short time span.

However, it was of concern that a teacher at the school told them to wait for a year or two and see what happens. I am a teacher of long-standing, and I know that our experiences with so many children can lead us to conclude that most children will improve over time. My concern is that sometimes we are wrong. Since working so intensively with speech pathologists and occupational therapists, my advice has now changed significantly – for the sake of a screening / consultation wtih health professionals, it might be better to find out NOW if a child has developmental delays. As teachers, we might be education experts – but we are not the masters of every health care domain, and sometimes it is good to ask for expert assistance early. Peter’s issues can be resolved relatively easily now, as he is young enough to benefit greatly from an intensive programme helping his development. Had his parents waited till he was failing magnificently at age 8, a time when concrete learning moves into a more theoretical framework, a similar story might not be told.

Please consider what you say to parents. Please consider that there are other professionals who also have a vested interest in optimising each child’s development. Please consider that a problem today just might not go away in two years time – and in fact, might have grown to such significance that there is little hope of overcoming it.

Being the best advocate you can be…

Through the week, a young couple came in wtih their son Peter, aged 6. Peter has not long been at school, but already is showing some classic signs of wanting to be anywhere else, rather than at the start of an exciting academic journey!! He fidgeted from the start, eye contact was limited, his speech was delayed and he used limited vocabulary. The teachers at his school suggested that his parents seek some guiddance as to what was happening with young Peter. As Peter is their first child, Leslie and Simon (his parents) were feeling very powerless to assist Peter.

Long story short, the screening showed up some significant developmental delays, and a solid programme with the Occupational Therapist is required to assist Peter. However, the main concern to me was how powerless Leslie and Simon felt.  So, some advice to parents of school-aged children:

• Remember that you are your child’s best advocate. You have known this little soul the longest, and you know his or her quirks, behaviours and uniqueness. You are the best advocate your child can have – but be reasonable, objective and calm when in meetings about your child.
• Remember the teachers, schools, general practitioners, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, social workers, psychologists and everyone else you may encounter while looking for some answers, are there to help. They depend on you, however, to offer extensive descriptions, to articulate the problems well, and to explain what you are doing at home to help.
• Trust your gut instinct! if you think your child is in trouble, seek help, even if you have to seek second, third and fourth opinions. While well-meaning souls might tell you that your child will ‘grow out of ‘ immature behaviours, or maturationally, next year things might improve, trust your instincts. Do you WANT to wait a year to see what might happen? Yes, things might improve – but they might also get a whole lot worse too.
• Have fun with your child. They are with us for such a short time, and parenthood is not for the  faint of heart. Our children offer us such a unique opportunity to love another little person unequivocably so enjoy the experience, as it won’t come again.

Contact us at 5energies if we can help you in any way.