June , Byron Shire EchoByron ShireTo those of you who are parents, or may become parents, imagine this . . .There is something different about your child. Maybe he or she isnt talking like other children the same age, or cant do the same physical things as other kids. Perhaps your child isnt developing at the same rate as your other kids have. Maybe your child cant seem to listen or pay attention. Or doesnt play with other kids. Perhaps there is some ongoing medical problem, like they have epileptic ts or cant eat solid foods and that is really delaying their development. Imagine how that might feel. You may never have had experience of kids having these problems, or indeed of disability of any sort. That word disability may even be a bit scary, especially when you think it may apply to someone of your own family. could progress so much faster with enough of the right teaching, so you feel quietly desperate a lot of the time. The stress is having an impact on your relationship with your specic issues. A quality
early intervention program
provides the range of services a child needs teachers, speech therapists, occupational and physiotherapists. Staff in early intervention
programs have specialist skills and can work closely with each other within the team. A good Early Intervention program will also coordinate everyone involved with the child eg. preschool or child care staff.Early Childhood Intervention ServiceThe Byron Shire Early Intervention Service thanks all those generous individuals and businesses who have supported us and the businesses on this page without whom this feature would not have been possible. Please support them. The State Government has recently withdrawn our rent funding so continued help from the local community is welcomed to ensure we continue to exist.partner and your other kids are acting out a bit. This is not the life you had imagined for you and your family.All this can happen when Early Intervention programs are adequately funded.It is possible for Early Intervention programs to make an enormous difference in the lives of these children, both now and in the future. But the current level of underfunding means that we are only doing a small fraction of what is possible.You can help byWhat do you do Where do you goYou start a process of bouncing from one organisation to another. Trying to nd someone who seems to know what you need and can help. You sit on waiting lists for assessments, waiting lists for medical people, for therapists, for teachers.These are the families that Early Intervention can help.Early Intervention is a service for children from birth up to school age who have or are at risk of developing a condition or other special need that might affect their development. There are three primary reasons for intervening early with a child with special needs To enhance the childs development, To provide support and assistance to the family, and To maximize the child and familys benet to their communityHaving a child with a disability changed my life and through the hard times, coming to grips with it, Intervention was there for me.A quality Early Intervention program can make the difference between a child who will always struggle to t in and will become an adult on a disability pension and a child who succeeds at school, goes on to nd meaningful employment and can contribute back to their community. A quality Early Intervention program can make the difference between a family that falls apart under the strain and a family that stays together and supports each other. The government currently provide some funding for Early Intervention programs, but the amount of money is nowhere near enough to do what we need to do. With current funding levels, Early Intervention programs are struggling to provide quality intervention. We do the best we can, but just dont have enough to do what needs to be done. We need about three times the money the government provides.I didnt understand the reality of my childs behaviour until I attended Early Intervention. They made it so much clearer and gave me ideas to help.Eventually, from a range of organisations that can give a little of this, or a little of that, you cobble together some program of teaching and therapy for your child, but it is the minimum of everything and none of some things. You know that your childA quality Early Intervention program provides teaching and therapy services from staff with specialist skills. It helps a family work out what they and their child need and to coordinate that happening in a way that supports the family structure. This might be regular sessions with a teacher andor therapists, coming to a group program, having support at pre-school andor working at home onYour contribution will help us to create that.1. Sponsor a child for Therapy Sessions experienced speech pathologists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists help children with special needs reach their potential. Help give our kids more therapy Therapy for a term Therapy for a year 2. Join our Committee of Management or our Friends of Byron E.I. Your time, energy and expertise will help us make a real difference in the lives of these kids and their families. 3. Make a donation to Byron Shire Early Intervention Service, PO Box , Byron Bay. Phone Byron Bay Preschool IncByron Busy KidsByron Bay Preschool Inc provides quality preschool programmes for children 3-5 years. We are a community based, not for prot organisation supporting families in our community. Further enquiries phone or All welcomeLong DayCare CentreBrunswick St, Billinudgel Catering for 3-5year oldsShara Blvd, North Ocean Shores
