Services for children with disability, autism or ADHD

If your child has disability or ADHD, is autistic, or has other additional needs, they might need supports for development. Supports include things like early intervention, community health services, playgroups, equipment and much more.

Disability services and other services provide these supports. You and your child might work with one or many services to get the supports your child needs.

The best services for your child will be the ones that meet your child’s and family’s needs. They’ll also be a good practical fit for your family.

If your child has only just been diagnosed with disability, autism, ADHD or other additional needs, our disability services guide can help you understand the system. Remember that the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) can help children with disability before and after diagnosis. You can phone the NDIS on 1800 800 110.

What to look for in services for your child

When you’re choosing services, it’s good to meet service professionals in person. You can often get more information this way, plus a better sense of whether service professionals are listening to you and your child and trying to understand child’s needs and goals. If you can’t meet in person, telehealth can be good too.

It’s OK to visit services more than once before choosing or ask to meet with several professionals within a service.

You can work out which services meet your child’s needs by thinking and asking about:

• service provision
• accessibility
• service standards and staff qualifications.

Service provision

These are questions about how services can help your child. For example:

• How will the service work with you to support your child’s development?
• How much flexibility is there? In other words, how much choice will you have about the supports you can get and the professionals you can see?
• How or where will your child get supports? For example, via telehealth, at home, child care, preschool or school, or in a hospital, clinic or community centre? And can you choose?
• How will services support your child when they move to child care, preschool or school? For example, can a service professional come to child care, preschool or school meetings if needed?
• How will services support your child outside sessions? For example, will they give you resources to use between sessions?
• How will the service support the mainstream or community activities that your child is involved with – for example, playgroups or sports clubs?
• What are the long-term benefits of the therapies or supports the service provides?
• What can you do if you’re unhappy with the support you’re getting from the service?

Accessibility

These are questions about the practical side of using services. For example:

• Is there a waiting list? How long will it take to get an appointment?
• Can you and your child get to the service easily? For example, is there public transport nearby? Is there car parking nearby? Are there ramps or lifts to the service?
• Are telehealth appointments an option?
• When, how often and for how long will your child need the service?
• How long is each session likely to take?
• What are the service’s operating hours?
• Is there a cost involved?
• Is there a fee for cancelling your appointments or no longer using the service?

Service standards and staff qualifications

These are questions about the service quality. For example:

• What qualifications and experience do the service professionals have? Does the service have an accreditation system?
• Are less experienced staff members mentored or supervised?
• Is the service government funded or connected with a university or hospital?
• Does the service operate according to established practice guidelines – for example, the National Guidelines: Best Practice in Early Childhood Intervention, the National Standards for Disability Services or the National Guideline for supporting the learning, participation, and wellbeing of autistic children and their families in Australia?
• What are the service’s mission, vision and values?
• How long has the service been operating?

If you’re looking into disability professionals, associations like the Australian Psychological Society, Occupational Therapy Australia or Speech Pathology Australia have lists of members and their areas of expertise. You can check a professional’s details by visiting the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). Some health professionals don’t need to be registered with the AHPRA – for example, speech pathologists, audiologists and social workers. You can find out more about accreditation at Allied Health Professions Australia.

How to decide which services are right for your child

Once you’ve visited or spoken to the services you’re considering, you could draw up a list of pros and cons to help you decide which services might suit your child best.

If you’re still not sure after comparing the pros and cons, here are things you can do:

• Go back to services and ask more questions.
• Ask other professionals what they think might be best for your child.
• Ask other parents about their experiences.

Sometimes you might decide on a service and get started, but then you realise that the service isn’t right for you and your child after all. That’s OK – you can change services.

Information overload can easily happen, so it’s important to organise your information. You can organise and store information in many ways – computer files, binders or folders, written journals or diaries, and even shoeboxes.