Splash Paediatric Therapy bridges NDIS service gap in NT schools
A southern NDIS provider is set to bridge the service gap the Territory’s youngest learners are facing. Here’s how the project will work.
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The Territory’s youngest learners will have the chance to flourish should a new partnership with a southern allied health provider go ahead.
Melbourne-based Splash Paediatric Therapy director Lisa Clark said a six-week pilot program was planned in response to workforce retention issues among allied health providers but will also focus on bridging NDIS service gaps in regional and remote areas.
She said the project was a “six-week block of intensive services” which embedded occupational therapists and speech pathologists in Top End schools.
“The feedback from parents has been fantastic – I think for them, it’s just actually getting a service,” she said.
“If you’ve got a three or four or five-year old-child, and you’re hearing from school, ‘this is happening, they’re having trouble, they got in trouble because they do this, they had an argument with a child’, being able to come in and actually understand why that’s happening is probably the biggest thing.
“The flip side is parents who know what’s happening for their child, they might even have a diagnosis, they’ve got (NDIS) funding ready to go but they can’t find a service to support them.”
If the project proves successful, Ms Clark plans to embed therapists and pathologists in regional schools for up to a term at a time and offer distance support via Zoom.
Ms Clark said offering temporary, regional stints to her staff was a great way to keep the Splash workforce engaged without jeopardising their work in Melbourne.
During their six-week stint, occupational therapist Georgie Schaedel and speech pathologist Rebecca Hale are working with kids individually and in classrooms to identify any developmental barriers that could be holding a child back in the school environment.
Ms Schaedel said her work focused on classroom engagement.
“We’re working a lot on fine motor skills, how they’re participating in the classroom, thinking about their learning and productivity skills as well as self care and play and leisure skills,” she said.
“They’re always so eager to learn and sometimes they just need a bit of one-to-one support.”
Ms Hale said she focused on literacy, language, speech, social and even feeding skills.
The pair are also empowering teachers to modify their own work to suit kids and their unique needs.
The project launched three weeks ago and primarily operates through a close-knit partnership with Girraween Primary School.
Parap Primary School, Nakara Primary School, Rosebery Early Learning Centre and Humpty Doo Primary School are also engaged in the pilot.
Girraween Primary School principal Megan McKenzie said the parent of a child engaged with Splash’s pilot program had noticed a difference in his behaviour in just three weeks.
“She said she just can’t wait for the longevity of it,” she said.
“We’ve noticed as well – this is a child who was not ready to learn in any way, shape or form ... and he’s a completely different child now.”
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