Occupational therapy, also known as OT is a regulated health profession in Australia. In a nutshell, occupational therapists exist to help people participate in daily activities that are meaningful to them. We want to help people be able to do all the things that they both need to, and want to do. Occupational therapists look at the whole person, including their physical, cognitive, and mental health, and treat functional issues that people may be having in the areas of self-care, leisure, and productivity. They also consider the environmental context as part of therapy. For children and teens struggling with any part of their development, this can range from their handwriting, to making new friends, to concentration, or the longer term challenges that go with a formal diagnosis or disability. Whatever it is, Occupational Therapy aims to develop your child’s skills to help them live more enjoyably and independently.

If you, or anyone else who is supporting your child’s health or education (e.g. teacher, speech pathologist, doctor, paediatrician) is concerned about your child’s development or they are struggling with their daily activities, Occupational Therapy sessions may be able to help them. ‘Daily activities’ can range from focusing and learning at school, tying their shoelaces, making new friends, participating in sports, toileting troubles, feeding difficulties, doing their homework— any part of their daily life. Chat to our team today to learn more.

You can expect a discussion about what lead you to see an Occupational Therapist, including: o Past medical history o Previous/current level of physical and psychosocial function o Social circumstances o School circumstances Goal setting with the therapist, based on what you/your child want to get out of your sessions: o Short term and longer-term goals o Your occupational therapist will help you set these and make suggestions to ensure they are achievable during your time together. Discussion and implementation of an individualised program of activities and/or exercises that you can do independently on the days that your occupational therapist is not there, including further activity suggestions if required: o This often involves fun activities like drawing, craft, jumping, obstacle courses or playing games. But every activity — including the fun ones — are all helping your child develop their skills so that they can engage in life easier. o Adjustment and progression of these activities and/or exercises at each session o Modelling and explanation of activities with your occupational therapist in to ensure you are understanding the goals, and how to progress this activity across environments. o Your child’s occupational therapist may also recommend they join one of our group programs to help reach their goals. Education on how to take further control of your/your child’s health and wellbeing, in alignment with the goals that you have set together A plan for future sessions and what to do in-between visits. The frequency of how often you will see the occupational therapist will visit depends on the participant’s needs. This will be determined during the Initial Assessment and an estimate of how many Occupational Therapy hours will be provided and agreed upon in order to make a future plan. Your occupational therapist would be more than happy to liaise further with others involved in your child’s care to ensure a wrap-around effect can be achieved so that optimal goal setting and attainment can occur.

PURPOSE Outcomes Therapy is bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and will protect your information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles and the Information Privacy Act 2009 (QLD). These principles govern how we can collect, use, store and disclose personal information, how individuals may access and correct personal information held about them, as well as ensuring the quality and security of your personal information. COLLECTION OF PERSONAL & SENSITIVE INFORMATION During your engagement with Outcomes Therapy, we will only collect necessary information about you/your child that will enable us to provide you with requested supports and services. Information will be collected from you and from other stakeholders where you have provided consent. We will keep you informed about the types of information we collect and how it will be used. USE OF INFORMATION Typically, we may request information about you that will enable Outcomes Therapy to: • Determine your eligibility and access for our services; • Identify you, your child and relevant family members; • Have a better understanding of you or your child’s support needs; • Provide our services to you; • Work collaboratively with other stakeholders who provide services to you where you have provided consent; • Report internally and conduct research and program evaluations. Information used for reporting, research or evaluation of Outcomes Therapy services will not contain details that identify you or your child. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION We respect your privacy; however, we would like to be able to give you the best possible service to help you and your family, which may mean sharing your information with other stakeholders. When information is shared with Government agencies and other support services it will be discussed with you first and your consent will be requested. No information will be passed on to a third party if you do not agree. LIMITS TO CONFIDENTIALITY There may be times when Outcomes Therapy is required by law to alert or provide information to a Government department such as the Police or Child Safety Services. Outcomes Therapy – Privacy Statement The law also permits for your information to be collected, used and disclosed without consent if we believe there’s a serious threat to your life, health or safety or that of any individual, including public health and safety, or we’re concerned about criminal activity. HOW WE PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION Outcomes Therapy protects your personal information from misuse, unauthorised access, modification, loss or disclosure by ensuring; 1. Your information is only accessible to authorised Outcomes Therapy staff such as clinicians working with you and Line Managers. 2. Electronic information is managed through secure online client management systems. Online security measures are in place to protect your information. 3. Hard copy documentation is secured in locked cabinets and securely archived or physically destroyed by paper shredding and/or disposal of in document destruction waste bins when no longer required. HOW TO ACCESS & OR MAKE CHANGES TO YOUR INFORMATION You have the right to seek access to your information and to have your information amended if you believe that information held by Outcomes Therapy is inaccurate, incomplete and/or not up-to-date. We ask that you make your request in writing and we will review and notify you in writing of the outcome within ten (10) working days. If you are unable to make your request in writing, your Outcomes Therapy clinician will be able to support you to make your request in an alternative way. COMPLAINTS If you have a complaint about the privacy of your information, or the outcome of a request to access or amend information, we ask that you contact the Director at Outcomes Therapy. We endeavour to resolve all complaints promptly and fairly. Phone: 0466 994 500 Postal: PO BOX 1403, North Lakes, QLD 4509 Email: kate@Outcomestherapy.com.au If you are not satisfied with the outcome, you may refer your complaint to the Office of the Information Commissioner in Queensland at www.oic.qld.gov.au or the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner www.oaic.gov.au NDIS Participants NDIS Participants may seek support from family, a friend or an independent advocate in making a complaint. For more information: https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/participants/disability-advocacy NDIS participants may also make complaints by: • Phoning: 1800 035 544 (free call from landlines) on TTY 133 677. Interpreters can be arranged. • National Relay Service and ask for 1800 035 544 • Completing a complaints form online: https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/about/complaints

We generally service families of children Birth to 12 years of age for ongoing intervention.

Not every child who shows a delay of some kind requires early intervention, but if a child needs intervention, it’s important to start as soon as possible. Because every skill builds on the one before it, waiting may cause any gaps in development to grow and it could take a lot more time and therapy to close the gap. For certain issues, sometimes parent education and brief intervention is all that is required to see large changes. Ultimately, by starting earlier, it is often true that a shorter duration of intervention is required in total.

Yes. Outcomes Therapy prides itself on working within a Neuro-affirming framework (https://reframingautism.org.au/neurodiversity-affirming-language-a-letter-to-your-childs-support-network/ ) and we believe strongly that a collaborative and multidisciplinary effort between the child, their family and their other support networks help each and every individual to reach their own personal highest level of success and achievements. We have committed to providing our staff with extended continuing education and ongoing training opportunities related to neuroaffirming practice in relation to autism diagnosis and ongoing supports. We don’t believe Autism is something that needs to be changed or cured, but rather respect the individuality of each person we see.

This depends on what you have funding for (which category you are funded under), as well as how your funding is managed. We charge under Capacity Building: Improved Daily Living budget. We are currently only taking self-managed, or Plan Managed funding. We are unable to take Agency or NDIS-managed plans. If you have any queries about this, please enquire today.

The answer this this depends on your referral source (for Medicare), and will require a visit to your child’s GP or Paediatrician to set this up, if available to you. Whether your child’s sessions with us are covered by private health insurance will depend on your provider and your level of cover. All of our therapists are registered for clients to be able to claim health insurance rebates if it is relevant to their cover, however all health funds are different in their inclusions and rebates for Occupational Therapy. In saying this, in almost all cases there is an out-of-pocket expense. We recommend you check with your private health fund about what rebates you’re entitled to PRIOR to committing to ongoing therapy.

Yes, our friendly allied health professionals can complete their appointments through Telehealth, and have a lot of experience with this modality. Please get in contact today to find out more.

Generally school visits for one-off or assessment purposes can be arranged (incurring additional travel costs), but it is dependent upon the school agreeing to this service in writing. It is best for the parent to broach this with the teacher and/or Learning Support team at their school, and to CC in the therapist to this contact so that mutually convenient arrangements can be made. We visit a number of local private schools for ongoing therapy on a weekly or fortnightly basis, where schedules allow. Please ask for further details.

Generally we are able to work in a home visit or two for clients requiring some input in the home environment. As at the end of 2022, we are at capacity for regularly scheduled home visits.

Generally, our experienced therapists have found that most children require time to relax and regroup after a full day at school. We currently offer a very in-demand before-school session time from 7:30am in order to minimise time spent away from school, however most schools are very understanding that a lunchtime/mid-afternoon therapy appointment is useful for many children.

No, we do not offer weekend services, as we are strongly committed to work-life balance, and believe that our amazing therapists also need time to regroup and spend time with their own families, to maintain their health and wellbeing.

Our service agreement is a written agreement between yourself or family member/friend represented by you and the Allied Health Professional from Outcomes Therapy. This service agreement covers the supports and services that will be provided over a certain duration of time. As well as the costs for these services and when these services will be provided, our service agreement includes details about the participant (yourself/family member/friend), how payment is to be made, how any issues will be managed, your responsibilities and your allied health professionals responsibilities, cancellation policies, how the agreement will be reviewed and how you or the allied health professional may alter or end the agreement. This is non-negotiable for Outcomes Therapy providing services under NDIS, and is a highly recommended document for all clients, regardless of funding types, as it clearly sets out the proposed therapy type, frequency, and both client and clinician expectations. NOTE: A service agreement can be changed or amended at any time, with 48 hours notice, provided by either client or Outcomes Therapy.

In certain circumstances, travel fees will apply – this will be discussed prior to service delivery. Generally, for individual services that occur in a person’s home, school or childcare centre, travel will be charged at the applicable hourly rate.. NOTE: For NDIS clients, it is allowable for a business to charge a KM rate in addition for the time spent on travel as this is a cost reimbursed directly to the staff member, however as at the end of 2022, we are not charging this additional fee (This is subject to change).

Again, this is dependent upon your plan, and the type of management you have for Consumables, or Assistive Technology Budget (which falls within Core Funding). If NDIA managed then it will need to be an NDIS provider store you purchase from, and the invoice sent to your support coordinator or directly billed to your plan. If you are self or plan-managed, it can be any store with appropriate equipment. Your therapist will generally be required to help guide you to the appropriate equipment and trials as required, especially for higher cost, or higher risk equipment. Please see current NDIS information: https://www.ndis.gov.au/participants/assistive-technology-explained Discuss equipment purchases with your therapist today.

We have a 48 hour cancellation fee regardless of the situation (including weather).