Early Intensive Intervention Therapy

Early intensive intervention therapy consists of multiple weekly 1:1 sessions with a Therapy Assistants and program consultation by one of our Senior Program Supervisors. Early Childhood Intervention is one of the most effective evidence-based intervention approaches for children with Autism and other support needs.

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Your Journey with us

1. Free Introductory Consultation

We offer all families a free phone or telehealth consult with our clinical director, so we can learn more about your family and what services may be best for you.

2. Intake Assessment Appointment

All families start with an initial assessment. This consists of a 2-hour appointment in our Penrith Clinic with our clinical director. We will assess your child and their needs through an interview and observation. We also provide you with a summary report of our assessment results and recommendations for next steps. 

3. SPARKS Program

SPARKS is our introductory parent training program run over 6 weeks and the first step in order to kick start your early intervention program. We know that children need to feel comfortable and safe coming into the clinic and that every family has different needs.

This program allows us to get to know you and your family and give you the skills to be successful at home prior to commencing intensive early intervention. 

4. Intensive Early Intervention Program

Early Intervention requires the intensity to be successful. The intensity required will depend on your child's individual support needs and associated goals. This is typically discussed during your initial assessment and may range from 6-20 hours of therapy at our clinic per week. Your program supervisor will also provide a minimum of 20% supervision of your therapy hours per week.

5. Ongoing Monitoring and Review of Progress

Once therapy has started, our program supervisors will constantly monitor and adjust your child's program. This is achieved through observing behaviour therapy sessions, reviewing data, collaborating with your other allied health professionals (e.g. Occupational Therapists, Psychologists, Speech Pathologists), or team meetings with your family to review progress towards the goals set for your child. Team meetings typically occur every 4-6 weeks. Your child may also require re-assessment of their development and skills from time to time in order to measure their progress across skill areas. 

The pace and aims of this process are continually informed by feedback provided by the autistic person, both in terms of what they say and do. Gone are the days of working through negative emotional responses—those are indicators that the process needs to be adjusted, and not at the team meeting, but at that moment. We make it a priority to support young children throughout the entire early childhood intervention process.

Inspired by Dr Greg Hanley 

What do therapy sessions look like?

Our priority at Scarlett's Autism Therapy Centre is engaging your child in learning in a way that honours their autonomy and is fun! We call this "happy, relaxed, and engaged". Therapy will consist of a combination of child-led, and adult-led activities. These include play, language and other programs depending on your child's needs, developmental concerns, and goals. We spend significant time building rapport initially and then maintaining rapport throughout their therapeutic journey. We believe that children do not learn when being coerced and never partake in restrictive practices. Parents are encouraged to practice skills at home and receive regular parent training from their program supervisor.

Who's on the team?

We take a team approach here at Scarlett's Autism Therapy Centre. This means that there may be more than one therapist who works with your child. We do this to ensure your child has the best chance of generalising their skills and to minimise disruption in the event that someone is unwell or unable to run a session. We also know that parent involvement is crucial to program success.

Our  SPARKS program is designed to give you the foundational skills needed, and your program supervisor will work closely with you on an ongoing basis to ensure you are equipped to maintain your child's skills when they are outside of the clinic. Your therapy team will consist of: 

Program Supervisors

Your program supervisor is typically a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA) or a clinician with extensive experience and post-graduate qualifications in psychology, education or behaviour analysis.

Their role is to: 

Be your point of contact about your child's program and their progress 
Design and oversee the implementation of your program
Liaise with any other allied health support/medical professionals who may be supporting you and your child. 
Provide supervision and training to your therapists and to you (carers and parents!) 
Conduct assessments, and write reports that may be required by the NDIS

Therapy Assistants

A therapy assistant implements your program, under supervision from your program supervisor, and with support of senior therapists. They may hold or be working towards an undergraduate degree in psychology, or a related field.

Senior Therapy Assistant

A Senior Therapist helps implement your program and will have at least 2 years of experience delivering early intervention programs and demonstrate the clinical competencies to make minor modifications to a program under the supervision of your program supervisor. 

What will my child learn through our Early Childhood Intervention Program?

Goal setting is a crucial part of your journey here at Scarlett's Autism Therapy Centre. Each child is provided with a truly individualised program. Through our family-centred approach, we offer unique support requirements and goals that help them develop new skills to help them in their day-to-day life.  While we utilise developmental assessments to help us pinpoint areas your child may need support, our ultimate goal is to improve your child's quality of life in ways that are specific to you and your child. 

We do not offer a "treatment" for Autism. Our goal is never to change your child or who they are but to set goals that accomplish the following outcomes: 

Lower Distress

Behaviours of concern, such as aggression, tantrums, and meltdowns - while common in children with support needs, are not inherently part of Autism. We aim to provide your child with skills that will lower their distress levels and allow them to be happy, relaxed, and engaged more often. 

Open Doors

We want to set goals that allow your child to be able to do more of the things they love, go more places, and see more things. This may involve communication skills, social skills, joint attention, and emotional regulation skills.

Spark Joy

We want to choose goals that evoke curiosity and create joy. We call these "just for fun" programs. They aren't based solely on developmental milestones but aim to expand the variety of everyday activities your child genuinely enjoys doing.