When a child reaches school age and prepares to move on to school, what happens to the life-changing support they were able to access as part of a specialised early intervention program? Leaving a supportive learning environment is a big change and presents a series of unknowns for families. In some cases, children without appropriate support risk regressing in their skills during this transition period.
At AEIOU, we provide ‘transition support’ where our skilled team of therapist and specialist educators provide individualised therapeutic support to a child through to a new education setting.
When transition support is evidence-informed, individualised and consistent, it not only helps children survive the move to school but thrive, even.
Paige Archard, Manager, Clinical Delivery, says transition support is a win for the children, their families, and the new teaching team.
“Most educators in a mainstream setting have children with additional needs in the classroom, but they often don’t have access to the level of support or the specific therapeutic knowledge that’s required to best address those children’s individual needs.
“For teachers welcoming a student with additional needs, access to a therapist through transition supports is like a bridge to a new world. The therapist helps the teaching team make sense of the child’s needs, and helps translate and embed evidence-based therapeutic supports into that new setting so the child is well-supported.”
AEIOU offers individualised transition support to help children move into Prep, kindergarten or another learning environment. Paige says the most significant benefit for the children is the consistency of care the AEIOU transition program provides.
“Having a therapist who knows the child, their goals, and the specific strategies that have been working well for them in their early intervention journey, is key to a successful transition.
“Their new educators don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Plus, using those familiar clinically informed strategies can be a source of comfort to the child in an otherwise new environment.”
Melinda Luscombe, now an alum parent, said, though she had to make the tough decision to change schools early in her son Remy’s first year of school, AEIOU’s transition program was instrumental to how well her son progressed beyond the early intervention program.
“After changing schools due to a lack of support, having a familiar AEIOU Occupational Therapist helped Remy immensely.
“The OT was able to work with him in his school, and also make clinical recommendations to his teachers to continue developing his skills in his new learning environment.”
To find out more about AEIOU’s transition program, email info@aeiou.org.au or phone 07 3320 7500.
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