What you need to know about early intervention for disability

After receiving a disability diagnosis, it’s normal to feel a wide range of emotions. Feeling overwhelmed is common when it comes to finding early intervention supports. Interaction can support you to learn about early intervention, why it’s important, and how you can access supports.

What is early intervention for disability?

To put it simply, early intervention means getting supports as soon as possible. The aim of early intervention is to alleviate the impact of a disability on a person’s overall wellbeing, capacity and functioning. In general, early intervention also benefits a person by reducing their future needs for supports.

What does early intervention look like?

Early intervention for disability can be accessed from a wide range of healthcare providers and services. It can begin at the first signs of disability before an official diagnosis, and may involve seeing a GP or paediatrician for a check-up or assessment.

The specific therapies and treatments depend on the nature of a person’s disability. This is why receiving a diagnosis as early as possible can improve the effectiveness of supports by tailoring treatment for a person’s specific needs.

There are a wide range of therapies and treatments that address various areas of a person’s health. These include, but are not limited to:

• Speech therapy
• Behavioural supports
• Psychological or counselling services
• Medical services from a GP or other specialists
• Physiotherapy

Click here to read about the different support services available.

How to begin early intervention for disability

It is important to speak to a medical professional at the earliest signs of disability. A formal assessment may be recommended by your doctor in order to determine a diagnosis, and treatment plan.

The NDIS provides supports for people 65 years and younger. If your child is under 7 years old, you do not need a specific diagnosis of disability to receive supports.

However once a person reaches 7 years of age, a diagnosis of disability is required to access the NDIS. You can find out more about your eligibility for NDIS supports here.

If you are eligible for NDIS supports you can begin an application and once approved, you can start to plan how you will use your NDIS funding.

This process can be overwhelming, especially when navigating the range of different supports available for people with disability. However, working with a Support Coordinator can help ease the process. For more information of support coordination and early intervention for disability, contact Interaction using the form below.