Paediatric Health

We provide services to children aged 0-12 years. Our services include:

• Assessment
• Therapy (group or individual)
• Education to families, carers and professionals
• Liaison with others involved in your child’s care; including a Maternal and Child Health Nurse, kinder and school
• Referrals to other healthcare professionals, if needed

We will work with you and your child to increase the nutritional quality of your child’s diet, increase the variety in your child’s diet, increase wellbeing through managing symptoms such as constipation, provide support and ideas for healthy meals you can prepare, and monitor and support expected growth and development through the nutritional adequacy of your child’s diet.

We can assist you with:

• Fussy, selective, or poor eating
• Managing food allergies and intolerances
• Introducing solids, and assisting with progressing through to textured foods
• Underweight or poor growth
• Bowel problems; constipation
• Overweight
• Concerns about general healthy eating

• Fine motor and hand skills: dexterity, grasping, holding a pencil
• Visual-motor skills and handwriting: copying shapes and letters
• Self-care skills: getting dressed, using cutlery, toileting, fasteners
• Sensory/motor integration skills: sensitivities to textures, poor balance, clumsy, fearful of, or seeking movement e.g. swings
• Visual-perceptual skills: discriminating shapes, letters, numbers, matching skills
• Coordination and gross motor skills: hopping, skipping, catching a ball, posture

Following an assessment of your child, we will work with you to create an Occupational Therapy Care Plan. The plan is a written agreement about how we can work together to help your child best achieve the agreed goals.

A child’s therapy program may consist of one or more options including group therapy, individual sessions, blocks of therapy, a home program, monitoring, review, kinder and school visits, or referral to other services.

We value working in partnership with families and care providers to assist children to achieve greater independence, develop skills and support participation in age-appropriate activities.

You should seek a referral to the DPV Health Audiology service for a hearing test if you notice any of the following signs or symptoms.

For children:

• Has concerns about their speech/language development
• Has frequent ear infections
• Often asks for repeats or says ‘huh’ or ‘what’
• Has difficulty concentrating, paying attention, or has behavioural problems
• Sits close to the television
• Shouts or whispers when talking

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We provide comprehensive evaluation, assessment and treatments to address your child’s needs and development level. Our physiotherapists guide your child through individualised exercise programs that are developmentally appropriate to help your child reach their therapy goals.

Children are not mini adults; they are built differently, move differently and think differently. As a result, babies and children will benefit from seeing a Physiotherapist who is trained and experienced in paediatrics. Our Paediatric Physiotherapy team members are trained experts in child development, particularly in the area of movement.

A Paediatric Physiotherapist provides:

• Individualised assessment
• Goal-directed therapy
• Education for families, carers and professionals
• Liaison with others involved in your child’s care; hospitals, a Maternal and Child Health Nurse, kindergarten and school
• Referrals to other health care professionals, if needed

Our Physiotherapist may also be able to evaluate and treat your child in your home, childcare, kindergarten or school environment, if needed.

We provide services to children aged 0-12 years. For children who require long-term therapy or have a disability, we can help you to access more appropriate services for their needs, such as an Early Childhood Intervention Service or the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

We are experienced in care for the following issues:

• Misshapen or asymmetrical head shape; plagiocephaly
• Head turning preference or tight neck muscles in babies; torticollis
• Babies with curved foot; talipes
• Postural variations; flat fleet, bow legs, w-sitting
• Gait problems, when your child is walking differently; toe walking, walking with toes turned inwards, walking with a limp
• Gross motor development; difficulty with tummy time, slow to sit, crawl or walk
• Coordination problems, poor balance, difficulty with advanced skills such as skipping, hopping, climbing, throwing, catching
• Management of post-surgical or medical procedure; after fracture or chemotherapy
• Sports injuries or changes in function
• Pain or discomfort with physical activity
• Low muscle tone or stiffness

• Articulation/phonology; producing speech-sounds correctly
• Receptive language; understanding what others say
• Expressive language; using words to form sentences and express ideas
• Fluency; producing a smooth flow of speech
• Voice; using an appropriate voice quality
• Pragmatics; understanding and using appropriate social communication skills

After assessment of your child, we will work with you to create a Speech Pathology Care Plan to help your child achieve the plans’ agreed goals.

Therapy programs may consist of one or more options, including group therapy, individual sessions, blocks of therapy, a home program, monitoring and review.