Every week, I meet with parents who have been waiting for months to access early intervention. It’s an anxious wait for treatment that could transform the life of their child with developmental delays or autism. But as much relief as they may feel from walking through the doors of my practice, or those of other experts, it is by no means the end to their journey. They have merely reached the starting line for a long trek ahead.

Their children are part of a growing number who reach school developmentally vulnerable in two or more areas on the Australian early development census – a number that has risen to 12.5 per cent in 2024.

The Thriving Kids initiative offers an opportunity to get things right.Credit: Marija Ercegovac

Once parents get the intervention they’ve so desperately sought, they will have to juggle work and preschool or school to get their child to therapy sessions. Some parents have to take time off and take children out of school to get them to weekly appointments. The work required to see two or three different therapists starts to add up.

For some years, Australia’s system has favoured one-on-one therapy at the rooms of health professionals, meaning children had less exposure to group therapies to help them practise their skills. All those interventions were available only if your child was eligible for the National Disability Insurance Scheme or you had the resources to advocate strongly enough for them. If not, your child missed out.

The Thriving Kids initiative announced by

© The Sydney Morning Herald