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Our Bayswater Center currently has Speech appointments available with our lovely therapists. Please get in touch with our reception team for more information and how to make an appointment. 

Working with children, we know that families can have many reasons where they need to cancel their appointments with our consultants. This year, particularly with COVID restrictions, we are seeing more clients and their families having to isolate, and therefore cancel their appointments, than in past few years.

In the past, we’ve certainly tried to be flexible with our Cancellation Policy. We often haven’t applied a cancellation fee when a child has been genuinely unwell.

However, we will now be enforcing the policy for all cancellations that are within 48 hours of an appointment. Please read the information to further understand why we have to use a Cancellation Policy and enforce a Cancellation Fee.

What’s in our Cancellation Policy?

Every new client coming into the Centre is asked to read and sign the Cancellation Policy. Our Cancellation Policy asks that you let us know within 48 hours of your appointment that you are unable to attend.

For clients who are coming into the Centre on Mondays, we ask for notice by 3pm the previous Saturday if you need to cancel your appointment.

Our Cancellation Fee is the full fee that would have been charged for the session.

To help you avoid a cancellation fee, we SMS all clients with a reminder 48 hours before your appointment. This is a good time to consider if a cancellation might be necessary.

Why do we have this policy?

We have our Cancellation Policy in place for a number of reasons. The primary reason is that this time frame allows our Reception Team enough time to offer the appointment to another family.

All of our services have very long waitlists with families who are very keen for support.  When a space becomes available in a consultant’s diary, it is an opportunity to try and offer it to another family in need. Cancelling your appointment without 48 hours’ notice means that we are unlikely to be able to contact another family who might be able to make arrangements and take your cancelled appointment.

As well as being able to support our families, the Child Wellbeing Centre is also a business. We therefore rely on the income from appointments to pay our staff.

But what if the child is sick or a close contact?

In the past, we have tried to be flexible and waived Cancellation Fees when a child was sick, but this is no longer a possibility. We are currently experiencing many cancellations due to children being COVID close contacts. Unfortunately, high volume restrictions still impact this considerably.

While being in isolation means that your child can’t come into the Centre, you can still proceed in most instances with a Telehealth session. This is when our consultants talk to you and your children online. In fact, many of family’s are doing this very successfully. with great feedback from the kids.

When won’t we be charging a Cancellation Fee?

None of us want to enforce a Cancellation Fee. If we are able to fill your cancelled appointment (even if you’ve given us less than 48 hours’ notice), we won’t charge you a Cancellation Fee. This is in line with our core value of Integrity. We will do our absolute best to find another family to take up the cancelled appointment time.

However, if we do charge a Cancellation Fee (you’ll receive this advice on the day of the appointment), we ask that this is paid before you schedule or attend your next appointment with us.

Please consider going ahead with a Telehealth appointment when you cannot attend the Centre. All you need for this is access to a device (even just a phone) and the internet.

Lastly… we know Cancellation Fees may seem unfair when it’s due to illness or COVID. However we ask that you work with us so we can support all of our children, families and staff during these difficult times.

Speech Pathologists can help children in a myriad of ways:

• Language (understanding and expression)
• Speech (articulation, stuttering, motor planning/Childhood Apraxia of Speech)
• Social Skills (greeting others, conversation skills and making friends)
• Literacy (phonological awareness, reading, writing and spelling) and
• Stuttering (a condition that affects the rhythm or flow of speech) 

Within the Child Wellbeing Centre we have five speech pathologists available to work with clients.

• Leonie Stotzer work from our Midland offices and
• Palavi Parmer and Aiesha Elliott work from our Bayswater office.

With the team recently growing, we currently have capacity to take on new clients.  Please call Reception on (08) 9274 7062 to find out more about our services.

There are a number of reasons a child may come to see a paediatric (child) occupational therapist.  The best-known reason is to help with printing and hand-writing. Occupational therapists can do so much more though!

What is Occupational Therapy?

Occupational therapy is about increasing various aspects of a child’s independence and competency. This can include things like working on fine motor skills (think cutting, drawing etc). It can also include aspects of self-care, organisation, mobility and self-regulation (think managing sensory needs and calming down). For children, it’s about having the skills to do well at home and school.

Sometimes therapy will include working directly with the child to increase their skills. It can also look more like parent or teacher consultancy. At the end of the day, the occupational therapist will work with the child, parent and school to improve core skills – whoever can help!

How can Occupational Therapy help my child?

Occupational therapists usually start with an assessment to be clear about the child’s needs. This can come in many forms. In the first instance, the assessment may focus on development such as aspects of fine motor and handwriting,  gross motor and visual perception skills. The occupational therapist will be able to give you feedback on how your child is developing compared to peers and recommendations on how to address any concerns.

Functional assessments (such as those asked for by the NDIS) are where the occupational therapist looks at all aspects of a child’s independence. The goal here is to identify strengths and weaknesses and to make recommendations about the next steps. This kind of assessment can be helpful for prioritising goals and identifying needs. Typically this will be a much more comprehensive assessment.

Following on from assessments comes individual therapy. This is tailored to match the therapy goals you as a parent and the occupational therapist decide upon. Therapy is usually one on one and designed to be engaging for the child. There will usually be some homework tasks too as we aim to keep the good work up outside of sessions.

Occupational therapy at the CWBC

At the Child Wellbeing Centre our Occupational Therapists work with young children, primary and secondary students.

We’ve recently been joined by Jeannie Loi, Occupational Therapist who will be working from our Brockman Road office on Thursdays and Fridays. Jeannie has a background in working with children with disabilities on a range of issues (and she is very nice too!).

Please feel free to contact our Reception for more information about our services on 9274 7062.

Naomi Ward

Clinical Director

Managing strong feelings at the best of times can be challenging. Our children take their lead from us. When we are chaotic, so are they. When we are in the grip of strong feelings such as anger and sadness, they watch and learn (whether this is positive or negative) how to react and behave. When we are calm and rational, they are more likely to model this too, and if not, at least we are in a better place to help them with their strong feelings.

We want to be able to coach them through these strong feelings and teach them how to manage them well. However, that means we ourselves need to have a sense of how to do this so that we can help our children find calm. Sometimes, even if we do know what to say and do, our own strong reactions to them can interfere with a rational and helpful response.

What to do with strong feelings first?

Here are some tips to initial responses you can try:

• • Allow them to express themselves (without hurting anyone), for a minute or two. This might be verbal or non-verbal expression;
  • Reflect back to them what you think they might be feeling …“you seem pretty angry”, “do you feel frustrated?”, “are you sad?”.  Often merely acknowledging their feelings will help diminish their intensity. When children feel seen and heard, they tend to calm naturally;
  • However, when their feelings are very big and strong, we may need to let them express it further, but help them to do this more appropriately. For example “do you need to stomp out your anger?” (and stomp with them), “why don’t you hit this cushion with all of your anger?” (and stay close by), “it’s ok to scream loudly, but do it into the air or a pillow…not my face”.

How to help children calm down

Any break in this expression of feeling is the time to jump in with calming strategies:

• • encourage little ones to breathe, and in particular to blow out a big breath, just like blowing out lots of candles;
  • explain to pre-teens and teens that we need to expel the build-up of carbon dioxide that makes us feel sick and dizzy;
  • encourage them to move around, to shift the adrenalin that has built up;
  • connect with little ones again, by holding their hands and looking into their eyes, affirming to them that they are safe and not in trouble for having big strong feelings. If there was a trigger event of a conflict, address this afterwards, but not right now. Wait about 10 minutes before talking about it when you are both calm;
  • connect with teens by a touch, a text, or gesture of making them something to eat or drink. Give them the option of talking to you, if not straight away, then perhaps in the car on your next trip. If conflict needs to be addressed, deliver the pre-agreed upon consequence without negotiation or emotion.

What if strong feelings are becoming a problem?

If you are unsure, our experienced psychologists can be your coach. They will then be able to show you how to model becoming calm for your children to see and encourage how to teach your children with similar strategies.

We all know that parenting is not an easy journey and that many of us experience stress and anxiety or even guilt at times. If this is the case, and you are overwhelmed with your own strong feelings, we have a clinic at the CWBC designed specifically to address parenting stress and anxiety.

During these challenging times, the Centre remains open and can offer in-person sessions or online meetings.

Please contact Reception for further information.

Sharon Jones

Principal Psychologist

The holiday season for many families is a time to unwind and enjoy time with loved ones. For some families, it can be a stressful time as many of the usual services and supports are no longer available. It can also be a challenging time finding ways to keep children busy and calm. Not to mention that parents are also meant to be having some downtime too!

During the festive season, our office will shut from midday on Tuesday 24th (Christmas Eve) and then re-open on Monday 06 January 2020. Most other services shut down during this period too. If you need help or advice…for what-ever reason…there are a range of helplines to call:

Helpful numbers:

Some useful help numbers for families to have over the holiday period include:

Crisis Care Helpline 1800 199 008

Lifeline on 13 11 14

Kids Helpline 1800 551 800

Beyond Blue 1300 22 46 36

Here’s hoping that you have a great holiday and that you don’t need extra support. However if you do, support helplines can be invaluable as they provide a space  to talk through concerns while you hang in there waiting for services to resume. Helplines can also be called 24 hours 7 days a week.

As mentioned our team will start coming back from holidays on the 06 January and we hope to hear lots of great stories about Christmas (for those who celebrate) and the holidays so far.

From all of us at the Child Wellbeing Centre we wish you and your family a safe and happy holiday! See you in the New Year!

Naomi Ward

Clinical Director

Registration for Term Four group social skills programs are now open! Each term the Centre runs small  group social skills programs for children between 4 and 11 years of age. Our team work hard to make these sessions fun and motivating, while teaching the important skills needed to make and keep friends.

In each group the team employs a four-part training approach using modelling, role-playing, performance feedback, and generalisation to teach essential pro-social skills to children.  Programs are tailored to meet the needs of the children participating in groups.

All groups are run by two facilitators from our ABACAS team – currently Simone Healy and Toni Schmitz (Provisional Psychologists). Groups are run after school hours and on Saturday mornings and are open to any child needing help with developing their friendship skills.

For our last round of group social skills programs for the year, the team will be running four groups each week  in Term Four.   The program timetable is below:

Please look at our our social skills program page for more information about the various groups programs.

https://www.childwellbeingcentre.net.au/services/social-skills-programs/

For more information about the Secret Agent Society program, please have a look at the following website:

https://www.sst-institute.net/

To register your interest in the program please contact Reception on 9274 7062.

In Term Three, our group social skills programs start up again. Social skills are what we need to be able to make and keep friends. For children the emphasis is developing play and conversational skills with peers.

Fantastic Friends sessions will be run by two facilitators  (Simone, Toni or Ruby). The program aims to build and develop more complex social skills. For this age group, we will focus on a range of skills including starting and maintaining a conversation, introducing self and other people, asking questions, and apologizing. At the beginning of each term, the specific skills being taught will be customised to the group needs.

Who is suited: Children aged 8-11 years of age who need help with making or keeping friends.

Where: Child Wellbeing Centre at our Tuohy Lane offices, Midland.

When: Friday afternoons during school Term Three, 4-5.30 pm

How much: $87.80 per session

How to get involved: Contact our Reception on 9274 7062 to book an initial appointment with Simone or Toni.

At the initial appointment we will talk to you about your child’s needs so we can work out whether the group program is what they need.

For more information about our other social skills programs, please follow the link:

https://www.childwellbeingcentre.net.au/services/social-skills-programs/

In Term Three, our group social skills programs start up again. Social skills are what we need to be able to make and keep friends. For children the emphasis is developing play and conversational skills with peers.

We will be running two “Best Buddies” groups to help to build your child’s confidence. Groups will be using modelling and role playing to practice new skills and refine existing skills.

Who is suited: Children aged 6 to 8 years of age who need help with making or keeping friends.

Where: Child Wellbeing Centre at our Tuohy Lane offices, Midland.

When:  Group A – Wednesday afternoons from 4pm to 5.30pm & Group B – Thursday afternoons during school Term Three, 4.00-5.30 pm

How much: $87.80 per session

How to get involved: Contact our Reception on 9274 7062 to book an initial appointment with Simone or Toni.

Best Buddies sessions will be run by two facilitators  (either Simone, Toni or Ruby). The skills being taught in each term will be determined by the needs of the children in the group. However, we will be looking at a range of skills including introducing yourself, conversation skills, play skills, helping a friend, sharing, and turn-taking.

At the initial appointment we will talking to you about your child’s needs so we can work out whether the group program is what they need.

For more information about our other social skills programs, please follow the link:

https://www.childwellbeingcentre.net.au/services/social-skills-programs/

School holidays are on the horizon. Many parents will be starting to plan how to keep their children entertained during the holidays. For parents with children with disabilities this can be a bit tricky.  Not only may you need programs that match your child’s  interest but you may also be looking for programs that provide strong structure and more individualised support.

School holidays also give the chance to step out of routine, take a break and refocus for the next three months or so. This is a great time to think about the new school term ahead and what else can be done to meet the social and recreational needs of your child. Aside from all the physical health benefits that come with sport, there are many social ones too. Not to mention the opportunity to just have fun.

Stuck for ideas? Below is the list that we’ve come up with so far. The good news is that more and more organisations are offering school holiday programs and out of school hours clubs and sports for children with special needs. So expect this list to grow over time…

Let’s start with school holidays programs

MyCareSpace currently has a list of inclusive school holidays programs and it looks to be growing each term.  You can search by state or post code and then click on the link to the relevant website to find out more information. Their web address is: https://mycarespace.com.au/resources/inclusive-school-holiday-camps

A favourite of Naomi’s  for school holidays programs are those run by Autism West – The Telethon Holiday Makers Program – which caters for children on the autism spectrum aged 10-18 years. Autism West also run different groups during the school term too. Their web address is as follows: http://autismwest.org.au/social-groups/holiday-makers/

What about extracurricular activities during the term?

Here are a few that we’ve found that might be interesting and not all sport based!

The WA Disabled Sports Association (WADSA) has a directory of activities run by different organisations. You can search by topic and then click on the link to take you to the relevant website. It also has a category for “Holiday and After School Activities”. A great place to start to help you and your child work out what sorts of activities might be interesting.

https://www.wadsa.org.au/

For the children and adolescents that are more interested in music we came across this organisation – Music Rocks Australia. They provide programs for children and adults with special needs.

https://www.musicrocks.com.au/children-and-adults-with-special-needs

This program is one that we’ve had our own ABACAS team members volunteer to help with from time to time. Great for the kids who love the water – why not surfing with Ocean Heroes?

https://www.oceanheroes.com.au/

And for the children who really love their technology there is the The Lab – which provides technology clubs for children on the higher functioning end of the autism spectrum.

https://thelab.org.au/

We hope these websites are helpful.  They are just a selection of services and programs that caught our attention when looking at what’s currently out there in Perth. Have you got any programs that you’d like to recommend? If so please feel free to let any of the ABACAS Team know so we can add them to our working list and share with other parents!

Lastly, the Centre will be open during the holidays which means therapy doesn’t have to stop. If we don’t see you during the holidays we look forward to seeing you at the start of next term. For  more information about our ABACAS program please click on the following link:

https://www.childwellbeingcentre.net.au/services/aba-child-and-adolescent-services-abacas/

Penny Wong (Case Manager, ABACAS) & Naomi Ward (Clinical Director)