BUSHkids Annual Report 2018-2019

CONVERSATIONS: HERVEY BAY BUSHkids a great starting-point to access Parent: Katherine* “Andrea* is my six-year-old daughter.When she was about 12 months I started to recognise that her development was a little different to other children. It wasn’t until she was four that we pursued a diagnosis.We took her to Autism Queensland and to a Psychologist and they said Andrea had level 2 ASD.We got the official diagnosis just before she turned six and it was then we realised our son Jason* also needed some developmental support. “Some friends suggested we go to BUSHkids and it’s really helped us. BUSHkids has held our hand and shown us how the system works! It was so daunting not knowing who to talk to and how to get support and it’s that guidance through the system that’s been the biggest help to us. “Both Jason and Andrea have also benefited from the programs BUSHkids provide. Jason took part in the Read and Grow program which was absolutely fantastic; it really helped him. As a teacher, I used to do speech intervention in schools and, for me, I could see what they were doing, building on the sounds and helping the kids develop their skills. Jason was very engaged and a very different boy in the program than he was in other settings. It was really special for me to see him feel safe and want to participate. He was so sad after his Read and Grow program ended; he says that BUSHkids is his favourite place in the world! “For Andrea, BUSHkids has helped us navigate the system and get the support she needs.Working with BUSHkids was very collaborative: they looked at where Andrea was in development, what our goals were and what support she needed to get there. I found working with Christine, the Early Intervention Facilitator, particularly productive.With her experience as an early childhood educator she understands a child’s developmental stages and that was really helpful for me, providing guidance and helping us set goals for Andrea’s progress. “It’s a great service, a great starting point to have a conversation with someone who knows the system and knows the best path for your child. And the best thing is, when I spoke with BUSHkids it felt like they were listening as well as helping and that’s so important for a parent.” Clinical: Christine Batt, EIF Hervey Bay I worked with Katherine to get a full understanding of the abilities and challenges for her children as well as what her hopes and aspirations were for their future development. Andrea now has an NDIS plan and is accessing ongoing Early Childhood capacity-building supports. Jason engaged in a Read and Grow program and has been supported through NDIS access and we are now developing an NDIS plan for him. For me it’s been a pleasure working with Katherine: she is so supportive of her children. To be able to help her access NDIS support that her children need is so rewarding; however, watching little Jason coming out of his shell during the Read and Grow was a massive highlight for me. He was so engaged and got so much out of the program, and I could see that meant so much to his mum.

ECEI EarlyStart Hervey Bay

Service area: Fraser Coast, North Burnett, South Burnett and Cherbourg Local Government Areas EarlyStart offices: Hervey Bay, Kingaroy At the same time as the Maroochydore and Gympie teams, Maryborough EarlyStart team began training in July 2018 and soon began community engagement activities and working with families from new premises at Hervey Bay. Our satellite centre in Kingaroy opened in October 2019 with an Early Intervention Facilitator (EIF) covering the South Burnett and Cherbourg areas, supported by the full Hervey Bay team. The Maryborough service area team consists of 11 full-time staff including a Team Leader, Early Intervention Facilitators, Occupational Therapist, Speech Pathologist, Social Worker and Administration Support supported by casual EIF staff who help with initial supports. We work closely with the Cherbourg community and BUSHkids was welcomed into Gundoo — the local early learning centre — to deliver weekly initial supports and reading groups. Feedback has been very positive, and we are looking to provide more targeted support around communication. There has been excellent community collaboration in Cherbourg between BUSHkids, Queensland Health, NDIS Access Teams and the Cherbourg community, which has led to the creation of valuable ‘access clinics.’ With all the relevant stakeholders in one place these clinics focus on fast-tracking children from diagnosis through to NDIS access in one day, and this has been very successful in helping families in Cherbourg. Community engagement and community capacity-building activities have included attending Disability Action Week events, ACT for Kids day in the park, a playgroup for families of children with ASD held at the Hervey Bay Neighbourhood Centre , and 1-2-3 Magic © and Emotion Coaching programs for parents in Kingaroy. A new partnership with Centre for Children‘s Health and Wellbeing allowed BUSHkids to present ‘Healthy Kids’ to early childhood educators in Hervey Bay, focusing on speech and communication.

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