Support for families with children with autism

There are a number of ways families who have children with autism can gain support.

1. Take a look at the government “Helping Children with Autism” program. This provides a range of services including playgroups, the Raising Children website, workshops, and funding for therapy. Hills Nepean is a service provider with this program so your family can gain intervention totally funded by the government.

2. Check out non-government support agencies such as Aspect, Lifestart, Learning Links, or EarlyEd. They provide service for a small fee which may include group sessions or individual intervention.

3. Search for family support such as support groups, counselling, or information sessions in your area. If you need immediate support, call Lifeline.

If you need more information about where to begin, talk with an Autism Advisor who may be able to send you in the right direction!

Services available in your Home!

IF you have a child with a developmental delay or autism, you may appreciate having professionals come to your home to support you and your family.

Speech pathology services are available immediately, to assist your child with communicating and with understanding the communication of others. Rather than having to take your child to an appointment, the speech pathologist will come to you, and will see your child in his or her own environment.

Other services include Relationship Development Intervention and Occupational Therapy. For more information, please click the “contact us” button above.

Services for Your Family

If your family has a child who has autism or a developmental delay, we may be able to provide support in your home, including speech pathology, occupational therapy, or relationship development intervention.

Experienced professionals will begin with a multi-disciplinary assessment, in order to ascertain an appropriate starting point. Part of the assessment is asking you, the family, about your needs and priorities.

Hills Nepean is about empowering your family. The professionals will work to help you gain the skills to assist your child. This may be in life skills such as feeding or dressing, or it may be with relationships, emotions, and communication.

Please contact us if you’d like to learn more about our services, by clicking the “contact us” link above.

World Autism Awareness Day

Today is World Autism Awareness Day. Let’s take a moment to celebrate the achievements of people with autism worldwide.

Sports: Anthony Crudale, a successful marathon runner.
Economics: Nobel Laureate, Vernon L Smith.
Science: Temple Grandin, doctor of animal science.
Innovator: Satoshi Tajiri, creator of Pokemon.

There are many other adults with autism who have achieved great things. People with autism can learn, grow and change just as others do. If you’re interested in helping your child with autism, please press the “contact us” button for more details.

1-2-3 Magic!

We will now be running the 1-2-3 Magic & Emotion Coaching course in April-May this year. This fantastic course not only gives parents the tools to manage their child’s difficult behaviour, but helps them to support their child’s emotional resilience. You can learn more about the course at Parentshop and find out about other practitioners running this course. If you’re not in the area, you can also buy videos and books about it.

Our course will be running at St Marys and will cost $50 for 3 sessions, including the workbook. Places will be limited, so contact us soon if you are interested.

Helping Children With Autism

Hills Nepean Intervention Service is now registered with FAHCSIA’s Helping Children With Autism program.

This means that families who have children under 6 with a diagnosis of Autism (Asperger syndrome, Autistic Disorder, PDDNOS) can access our services using the funds from the government. This funding ($6,000 a year for two years) can be used for Relationship Development Intervention, Occupational Therapy or Speech Pathology.

Our professionals will visit you in your own home, and provide assessment and intervention based on your priorities.

Please click the “contact us” button in order to gain more information about our services.

Intervention Starts at Home

Hills Nepean Intervention Service can offer services to your family in your home. This means you don’t need to travel, and that our professionals can see your child in their ordinary environment. Activities and routines can be set up with your home in mind. Home-based intervention saves you travel-time, waiting time, and gives a more realistic picture of your daily life to our professionals.

Our philosophy is that everything begins at home with the family, with the communication you use in real life, with the activities that you partake in each day. We can offer practical help for the issues that concern you in your everyday lives. Your child learns from you more than anyone else, and we can help you maximise your daily opportunities without having to spend hours in therapy rooms.

Contact us if you’re interested in tailored home-based intervention for your child with autism or other developmental disabilities. Click on the contact us button for more details and start the change today.

How Flexible is Your Child?

No, we’re not talking about gymnastics!

Flexibility is the ability to “roll with the changes”, cope with new things, and adjust to circumstances beyond one’s control. It’s one of the most important “real life” skills, because life isn’t predictable! We all need to problem-solve each day.

Many of our children find unpredictable situations difficult to cope with. They prefer black and white scenarios where they can count on rules, rather than have to figure out a different strategy each time. This can make coping with relationships difficult, as human beings are very unpredictable!

RDI can help, by assisting families to create small challenges in everyday life which help children become more flexible. To find out more, please click on the Contact Us button overhead.

A New Year, a New Start

Happy New Year from everyone at Hills Nepean Intervention Service!

With a new year comes the opportunity for a new start for you and your family. If you’d like to find out more about how Hills Nepean can help your family, please contact us. Click on the “contact us” button for more details.

Interested in finding out more?

An evening seminar will be held in early December for parents interested in finding out more about Relationship Development Intervention.

If you live in the Hills or Nepean area, please email us at info (at) hillsnepean.com.au and the details will be sent to you.

This is a great opportunity to find out about RDI and ask any questions you may have.