Wondering What Getting Started With Kindred Kids Looks Like?

As with most services, there is a process for intaking new clients. This process helps us to establish what your child’s strengths are and where to go next. We call this a strengths-based approach, because we are only aiming for skills that are just above where your child is at. For example, if your child can scribble and make dots, we would not then expect them to create us a Picasso! We would aim for making lines next so that we can bridge to creating shapes. The intake process helps us determine the direction of therapy specific to your child!

Our whole intervention process looks like this:

So getting started with us will inlove our intake process of 4 different appointments and each of them is described here:

1.       Initial Consultation – at this appointment, the Practitioner will ask you all sorts of questions about your child’s development, their skills, treatment they’ve already had (if any), and what your main concerns are. Your child can certainly attend, but it may be easier for you to focus on if you are able to have alternative arrangements. The Practitioner will send you a standardised assessment to complete after this session.

2.       Assessment – The Practitioner conducts a play-based assessment using the Early Start Denver Model Curriculum Checklist (ESDM CC) with your child on all of the different skill domains to see which are not yet developed, which are emerging and which are already mastered. The Practitioner will start developing a relationship with your child and also try to assess how your child learns best, what makes them frustrated, and how they communicate that frustration. If your child needs, the Practitioner may have you ask the questions. If your child gets tired in the session, the Practitioner will switch to parent interview.

3.       Programming – The standardised assessment will need to be completed by this point. The Practitioner goes through the ESDM CC to figure out where your child is at. In the ESDM CC, there are 4 different levels. Often children will have scattered skills across 2 different levels, so the Practitioner develops goals around the lowest level observed as these act as a base for attaining the higher level skills. A comparison is also made between the ESDM CC and the standardised assessment.

4.       Parent Feedback – This appointment is about reviewing the results from the assessments and determining what therapy will look like for your child. The Practitioner may recommend you to do multiple sessions, or they may include a parent component. The Practitioner will describe the commitments and benefits for each of their recommendations. You, the parent, decide what you therapeutic options will be best for your child, and the Practitioner will let the Client Support Team know your preferences.

Once the intake process is complete, your child can start as soon as they are scheduled with the Client Support Team. Kindred Kids tries to get children in as quickly as possible as we know how important early intervention can be! Want to schedule your intake? Contact us at admin@kindredkids.com.au