Frequently Asked Questions

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24-hour supports

• In an emergency, call 000
• Lifeline: 13 11 14
• Kids Help Line: 1800 55 1800
• National sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line: 1800 RESPECT
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) Crisis Connect: 1800 048 636
• Suicide Call Back Service

ADHD

• AADPA Australian Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline For Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• AADPA summary of recommendations
• AADPA Factsheets
• ADHD WA
• Dr. Russel Barkley factsheets
• Medication log/ symptom tracker
• Medication management app
• Reflect Health ADHD resources
• Youtube video: Australian Psychiatrist Dr Dianne Grocott on how to Understand, Manage and Delight in the Busy Brain. 
• YouTube videos of Clinical Psychologist Dr Thomas E. Brown

Aged Care

• Apply for an assessment
• City of Stirling Care Finder
• GEAT2GO for equipment and technology 
• My Aged Care
• My Aged Care Information booklets
• Short Term Care

Autism Spectrum Disorder

• DDWA Autism Parents Handbook
• National Guideline for the assessment and diagnosis of autism in Australia
• NeuroWild
• Please see section below on Pathological Demand Avoidance

Boundaries

• Becoming Boundaried

Child Development 

• Child Development Service - "The metropolitan Child Development Service provides a range of assessment, early intervention and treatment services to children with developmental delay or difficulty that impact on function, participation and/or parent-child relationship".

Domestic abuse

• Centre for Women's Safety and Wellbeing - directory. There is a section on "Information for women with disability"
• National sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line: 1800 RESPECT
• Relationships Australia, Western Australia

Driving/ transport

• ACROD parking permit applications
• MACA Hub - Safe transport for children with disabilities

Eating

• Dietitians Australia - Find a Dietitian
• Parent/Caregiver Workshop - When Children Won't Eat (and how to help!)

Equipment and assistive technology

• AC Mobility
• AssistKids Equipment Library through Ability WA
• Australian Rehabilitation & Assistive Technology Association (ARATA)
• Australian Mobility Equipment
• Motum

Finances/ money

• Centrelink - Speak with a social worker
• Centrelink - Getting support if you're caring for someone
• Centrelink - Payments for carers
• Centrelink Carer Payment – Medical Report  (form SA427).
• Centrelink Carers Allowance - applications (form SA426 or SA332a)
• Companion Card WA
• Financial Wellbeing Collective
• National Debt Hotline - free financial counselling
• The Spiers Centre
• Vinnies - financial counselling

Food assistance/ aid

• Food bank
• The Pantry

Goal setting

• F-Words (functioning, family, fitness, friends, fun, future)

Grants

• Steve Waugh Foundation - Rare Disease Grants
• Telethon7 
• Variety WA

Hospital

• Perth Children's Hospital - Keeping Kids in No Distress (KKIND) - "...aims to help children cope with medical trauma, anxiety and distress caused by illness, injury or hospitalisation."
• Ronald McDonald Learning Program - tutoring "for students whose education is disrupted due to a medical illness or injury".

Legal

• Circle Green Community Legal
• Legal Aid WA
• Legal guardianship: https://www.wa.gov.au/service/justice/civil-law/become-guardian-or-administrator-person-disabilities
• Legal guardianship: https://pwdwa.org/how-we-help/guardianship/
• Sussex Street Community Law Service - Individual Disability Advocacy Service (IDAS) - NDIS appeals advocate

NDIS

• Changes to NDIS funded supports
• Changes to NDIS legislation
• Complex Support Needs planning teams - "...the Complex Support Needs pathway will have dedicated NDIA Complex Support Needs planning teams and a network of specialised planners with strong experience in high level coordination and/or allied health experience."
• How to apply
• If you have a complaint about the NDIS/ NDIA, email: complaints@ndis.gov.au
• Local Area Coordinator (finder): Perth: 0-7 year olds Wanlsea, 7+ year olds Mission Australia or APM
• NDIS Act 2013
• National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
• What does the NDIS fund? NDIS supports lists

Pathological Demand Avoidance

• Book, "Can't Not Won't: a story about a child who couldn't go to school" by Eliza Fricker
• Book, “'I Can't go to School!': The School Non-Attender's Workbook” by Suzy Rowland  
• Book, “The Teacher's Introduction to Pathological Demand Avoidance" by Clare Truman
• Eliza Fricker - missing the mark (Instagram) 
• Kristy Forbes
• PDA Perth WA Parents Community and Support Page (Facebook) 
• PDA Society
• PDA Society - PANDA "Helpful approaches for a PDA profile of autism"
• Square Peg Round Whole
• The Kidd Clinic PDA resources 
• The 5-Point Scale and Anxiety Curve Poster

Psychology

• Australian Association of Psychologists Inc - Find a Psychologist
• Australian Association of Psychologists Inc - Handout - NDIS and Mental Health Care Plans in Psychology Services

School

• Accountability for Children in Education Western Australia - ACE WA 
• AllPlay Learn - "helps to create inclusive education environments".
• DDWA Self-Advocacy Guide for Parents and Carers in the WA Education System
• Enquiry into support for autistic children and young people in schools 
• IDEA - "IDEA offers portfolio-based vocational education to young creatives, innovators and entrepreneurs. We are an academy for senior secondary aged students (Year 10 – 12 alternative) and school leavers (17 – 24 years). We arrange pathways to university, training and employment and support business startups, driven by your individual interests."
• School advocacy 
• School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA) - Application for Equitable Access Adjustments
• School of Isolated and Distance Education (SIDE). Students in Perth who are not able to go to school in person may be able to enrol for distance (online) education.
• School of Special Educational Needs: Disability (SSEND)
• School of Special Educational Needs: Sensory (SSENS)
• SCSA AbleWA - Abilities Based Learning Education (curriculum)
• Square Peg Round Whole
• Square Peg Round Whole WA parents Facebook group 

Sex and relationships

• SECCA Sexuality, Education, Counselling and Consultancy Agency

Service finders

*Note: some of these websites receive funding from providers to be listed on them.

• *Karista
• My Community Directory
• *Perth Kids Hub - paediatric/ children
• WA Connect
• WA Family Support Network - family support services - helps connect you with services.

Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) 

I.e. Dyslexia (reading), Dysgraphia (writing), Dyscalculia (numeracy). 

• Dyslexia SPELD Foundation (DSF)

Sports

• Autism Swim 
• KidsSport grants - up to $500 per financial year for WA children aged 5 to 18 with a valid Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card.
• Ocean Heroes - surfing the spectrum
• WA Disabled Sports Association (WADSA)

Support services

• Advocacy - Contact your local Member for Parliament
• Advocacy - Developmental Disabilities WA
• Advocacy - Midlas
• Allergies - Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy
• Carer Gateway
• Carers WA
• Crisis Care
• Communicare
• Department of Social Services
• Every Australian Counts - advocacy
• Head to Health - free/ low-cost mental health services
• Luma - women's health and wellbeing services
• Mental Health and Medicare (website)
• North Metro - community adult mental health services
• National Continence Helpline
• People With Disabilities Australia - advocacy
• QLife - LGBTQIA+ phone and web support
• Salvation Army
• Support services and helplines for parents of babies
• TIS National - Translating and Interpreting Service
• Trinity North Community Care
• Uniting WA
• WA Child Protection

I wish I could answer this in a definitive way. This dependent on so many factors, such as:

• How much funding a current client receives in their new NDIS plan.
• If a current client needs to pause OT due to insufficient NDIS funding remaining.
• If a current client need to pause OT to focus on other therapy goals such as speech.
• If a current client needs to pause OT for health reasons e.g. a surgery; psycho-social reasons such as a family crisis; or fun reasons like travelling.
• Many of my clients have permanent disabilities, with evolving therapy goals, so there's not a set discharge date, limiting how often new places become available.
• If a current client has a crisis and needs a short-term increase in supports.
• If you are needing a short-term support e.g. an assessment and report (where I might be able to offer a place if a current client is on pause), vs if you are needing long-term support with a regular ongoing therapy appointment day/ time.

If you have submitted a contact form for an enquiry or waitlist application, I promise that I have received it and you are listed on my computer software for me to contact.  Something I love about working for myself is that I am the sole point of contact (no reception), so I can offer consistency for individuals and families. However, this does mean that it may take me time to get back to your enquiry/ waitlist application. I really appreciate your patience, and look forward to working together.

You may wish to join the waitlist of multiple therapy providers and see who has availability first.

You may wish to:

• Ask for supporting letters from the professionals in your/ your child's life e.g. Psychologist, GP, Speech Pathologist, Paediatrician, Psychiatrist etc, that list diagnosis, the impact they have on daily life, and what supports you would benefit from. If not known, they may wish to recommend that funding is included to have a Functional Capacity Assessment completed in your next NDIS plan.
• Obtain reports from medical and allied health professionals to provide evidence of how a Participant meets the NDIS "disability requirements" . 
• Liaise with a diagnosing health professional if a Participant would benefit from being assessed for, "conditions that are likely to meet the disability requirements".  Have reports outline how the Participant meets the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 - section 24 - disability requirements.
• Request an advocate from Midlas or Developmental Disabilities WA, to help you prepare for, and attend, the NDIS meeting. 
• Request an in-person meeting with the NDIS delegate.
• Document all correspondence including the first and last name of the person who you are speaking with from the NDIS, and request a receipt number of the conversation.
• Write a Carer Impact Statement, or a Statement of Lived Experience. Templates can be found online through a Google search. 
• Know what the NDIS can fund:  NDIS supports lists
• Look after yourself:  www.carerswa.asn.au 

Eligibility reassessment

• This NDIS CEO statement from 03-02-2025 states, "we have extended the timeframe for participants to provide additional information to support eligibility reassessments from 28 to 90 days." This information on re-eligibility statements from the NDIS states, "This came into effect on 30 January 2025."