How will a Therapy Assistant support my child's:

• Occupational Therapy goals
• Speech Therapy goals
• Physiotherapy goals

The benefits of having a Therapy Assistant can include:

• Increased opportunity for your child to achieve sustainable outcomes.
• Improve access and frequency of sessions without compromising on quality.
• Reduce costs, so you can receive more. A Therapy Assistant will provide you with increased value for money. 
• You already have many competing demands on your time and attention; by engaging a Therapy Assistant to support the implementation of your child’s program, you will have more opportunities to learn from the Therapy Assistant and to implement ideas into everyday experiences.
• Your child may respond better to and work harder with a Therapy Assistant than a parent.
• Your Therapy Assistant will be under the supervision and guidance of a qualified Firstchance Therapist.

How does it work?

Our Therapy Assistants is supported by a qualified and experienced Firstchance Allied Health team member, who develops a program of supports based on the goals developed with you.

Therapy Assistants work alongside our qualified and experienced Firstchance Allied Health team member, who will train and regularly review the work undertaken by the Therapy Assistant. A comprehensive program of supports will be developed to meet the needs of your child. 

They are supervised by your child’s qualified professional who will monitor and review the goals on a regular basis to review if any changes are required.  You will be consulted by our qualified professional to ensure we continue to achieve sustainable outcomes for your child.

What is the difference between a Therapist and a Therapy Assistant?

Qualified Professionals - Are professionals such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, and specialist educators, are trained and have high-level skills in their discipline area. At Firstchance they are responsible for assessing, identifying, diagnosing, making recommendations, and supporting children with a disability or developmental delay or health conditions.

Qualified Professionals will maintain responsibility for assessments and clinical decision-making including working with you to identify, prioritise and review goals for your child and developing a program of supports and strategies which can be implemented by the Therapy Assistant.

Therapy Assistant: can be university students training in Allied Health or qualified and skilled staff who have experience working with children and families. Therapy Assistants are employed under the supervision of a qualified professional who is required to develop goals with the family and develop a program of support for the Therapy Assistant to implement. The Therapy Assistant will be regularly supervised by a Qualified Professional.