Services & Funding Options – Sensory Connections

Occupational Therapy

We address needs around the following areas:

Sensory Processing
Emotional regulation and social emotional development
Sensory Integration – balance, coordination, and using two hands together
Motor planning and sequencing
Fine motor hand skills
Visual perceptual skills
Gross motor skills
Handwriting abilities
Daily living activities including self care such as toileting, dressing.
Preparation for going to school
Eating and feeding
Attention and organisational challenges
Learning and Academic Abilities
Play skills
Peer play skills
Dealing with daily challenges for example staying calm while transitioning, tricky behaviours.
Advice regarding therapy equipment and resources

Therapy is provided through a range of individual and peer consultations. We provide parent coaching and family support programs. We can set up home and school programs.

Our therapists are trained in providing a range of individualised OT interventions using a relationship and developmentally based approach.

These include such tools as Floortime, Social Thinking, Sensory Motor Integration Therapies, Auditory therapies such as Listening Programs, Interactive Metronome,.and the SOS Approach to Mealtimes

We also incorporate concepts and strategies from approaches such as the Zones of Regulation and Self Regulation Approach

Speech and Language Pathology

We address needs around the following areas:

Developmental precursors which are the building blocks for language development
Specific language disorders or delays across understanding and using language
Auditory processing difficulties
Childhood Apraxia of speech
Speech sound disorders
Symbolic Play development
Social skills support
Social emotional developmental skills
Thinking and reasoning capacities
Preparation for transition to school

Our therapists use a range of different interventions informed by relationship and developmentally based approaches including:

Individual and Peer group speech and language therapies targeting a range of speech, communication and language challenges
Specific assessments when required
Social skills
Parent coaching and family support programs
Parent education sessions and provision of information on a range of developmental issues
School & Kindergarten Visits
Phonological awareness challenges and literacy difficulties (reading, reading comprehension and spelling).

Therapists are trained in a range of intervention tools including Floortime, Hanen, Prompt, Social Thinking, SOS Approach to Mealtimes, and Augmentative Communication,

Peer Social Skills Programs

We run an intensive multidisciplinary early intervention group program, 2018 Little Steps Kindy and other term based group programs. We run a 2018 Sensory Connections January Summer Group Program We also run holiday programs during the year during school term breaks. Outside of these programs we provide opportunities for peer based sessions through the matching of children into social peer sessions according to their developmental levels and goal areas.

Funding Options

Health Scheme Rebates Available

Our therapists are all registered as Medicare Allied Health providers, and with all the Private Health Insurance Funds for delivery of individual allied health services under the Enhanced Primary Care (EPC), also called Chronic Disease Management (CDM, referral by GP), and Helping Children with Autism (HCA, referral by Paediatrician) initiatives. These provide rebates towards the cost of therapy services.

Most of our senior Occupational therapists are also accredited by OT Australia as providers under the Initiative in Mental Health Scheme (MHCP or BAMH, referral by GP).

Department of Social Services Programs

Sensory Connections Occupational Therapy Services is an authorised lead agency on the Early Intervention Service Provider Panel under Dept. of Social Services (DSS) Helping Children with Autism Package (HCWA) and Better Start Initiative (BSI) program. Families who have a child who meets the eligibility criteria can use this funding support to access Sensory Connections Occupational Therapy Services.

National Disability Insurance Scheme

Sensory Connections Occupational Therapy Services is a registered Disability Services Organisation (DSO) with both NDIS and WA NDIS programs. Families who have a person with disability or developmental delay that meets the eligibility criteria for either of these schemes can use their individual or self managed plan funding to access Sensory Connections Occupational Therapy Services, for supports and Therapy.

As the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is rolled out across Western Australia, children supported through HCWA or Better Start will transition to the NDIS

Information about Eligibility