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Q: What Happens During the Initial Assessment?
A: Depending upon the reason for referral, the Initial Assessment may take anywhere between 30 minutes, up to 3 hours. After talking to you, your therapist should be able to give you an indication of the likely time involved. You will be required to complete a Parent Questionnaire and may be asked to provide copies of reports from other health professionals or teachers. Standardised assessments will also be administered when appropriate. For more detailed information regarding assessments, please refer to Occupational Therapy and Speech Pathology pages of this website. Q: What Rebate(s) Can I Obtain? A: Medicare If your General Practitioner (GP) feels it is appropriate, your child may be placed on Chronic Disease Management Plan (formerly the Enhanced Primary Care Plan), registered with Medicare. Generally, this enables you to claim back a portion of their fees for 5 visits per year. If your child is placed on a care plan, we require a copy of the plan so that we can enter your doctor’s details on our invoice. Private Health Insurance You may also be eligible to claim back a portion of your therapy fees if you have private health insurance. The amount able to be claimed depends upon your insurance provider and your level of cover. Clients are required to settle all their invoices with Sydney SPOT first. They can then take their invoice and receipt to Medicare or their private health insurance company, to obtain the rebate. Please to not hesitate to contact us to ask for assistance or advice regarding rebates. Better Start for Children with Disability Initiative
The Better Start for Children with Disability initiative provides funding for early intervention services. Children are able to access Better Start funding if diagnosed with an eligible disability before they turn 6 years old. They will have until they turn 7 years old to access the funding (up to $12 000). For more information please refer to the Better Start website: www.betterstart.net.au Helping Children with Autism The Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) exists to support the Government to deliver on a broad range of policy outcomes. One such area of policy relates to Helping Children with Autism. There is an early intervention funding package for children aged 0-6 years with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Funding is for evidence-based early intervention to help improve; cognitive, emotional and social development of the child with ASD, prior to starting school. For more information please refer to the website: www.dss.gov.au Q: Do I Need a Referral? A: If you are unsure whether you or your child requires Speech Pathology or Occupational Therapy, feel free to send us an email or call us. A therapist will be able to speak to you about your concerns and advise you whether an Initial Assessment would be appropriate. Sydney SPOT accepts referrals from:
Note: If you wish to claim back funds from Medicare you must have a referral from your GP. They will need to lodge an Enhanced Primary Care Plan before the date of your first appointment. You do not need a referral in order to claim back funds from your private health insurance company. Q: Can I Obtain a Report? A: At Sydney SPOT we do not charge a higher rate for Initial Assessments/Consultations, and clients are always given the opportunity to decide whether they would like to pay for a report. |
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Following your Initial Assessment, you will always receive verbal feedback regarding the results. Your therapist will discuss the option of ordering a report. Generally, it is helpful to have results in writing, particularly if there are other professionals involved in helping your child. However, we sometimes see clients for relatively ‘straight forward’ difficulties and families decide to invest their resources directly into therapy. Reports can always be requested retrospectively. If you have an upcoming Specialist appointment, we may decide to delay writing the report until a week or two before that appointment. This enables information regarding your progress to be included in the report.
