Our objective is to increase the number of subsidised ABA therapy programs to meet the increased prevalance of ASD, through:

 

We offer a full service treatment model through the recruitment, training and supervision of all our therapist staff.

We work to provide government agencies, medical professionals, teachers and ASD bodies with data that demonstrates the effectiveness of the ABA program on the development of our children.

The Learning for Life Autism Centre Incorporated was established in late 2003 by a group of professional behavioural management consultants who have worked in the specialist field of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and interested health professionals and parents.

Learning for Life has established a Committee of Management, responsible for determining the strategic direction, resolution of policy issues, monitoring of performance, assessment of risk and overseeing the financial state of the Learning for Life Centre.  The Committee of Management comprises 7 members from financial, legal, medical, marketing and political backgrounds, all of whom provide their skill and expertise on an honorary basis and also work to raise the profile of Learning for Life and identify influential contacts and potential supporters who can make a positive contribution to furthering the achievement of its objectives.

The founder of the Group is Tom Gleisner, high profile TV personality.  The director of the Committee is Mary Muirhead.

Learning for Life employs a team of 5 supervisors and 24 therapists dedicated to delivering the ABA therapy program to our client families

Over the past few years, we have found our client families prefer Learning for Life therapists who have undergone appropriate training, have a defined career path and have salary and workcover managed through the Learning for Life organisation.  We believe we are able to provide best-practice service provision in this instance as we are able to manage all risks and opportunities.

Due to the intensive level of treatment, ABA therapy is extremely expensive – a full time program can cost up to $62,000 pa per child. Parents wishing to embark on an ABA program have the additional hurdle of having to find a team of therapists to run their program – people with patience, knowledge, consistency and skills to teach their child with ASD

Learning for Life Autism Centre aims to relieve families of the financial and emotional burden to give their child the greatest possible opportunity of a normal life by subsiding the ABA programs.

Learning for Life offers two primary models of client family programs:

Full Fee Paying Program

In this instance, the pro-rata weekly hours up to 40 hours per week, is funded by the family with the complete program / full hours costing $62,000 per annum.

Subsidised Program

In accordance with funding constraints, annual subsidies are offered to some families.  The subsidy models offered are calculated against the Full Fee Program costs of $62,000.  The subsidies offered to our families do vary and are greatly dependent on the success of our fund raising events.  Currently our subsidies represent a saving to our client families of between $25,000 pa to $50,000 pa.

The Committee of Management reviews each family’s application on a case by case basis, with the subsidy offer being directly dependent on the success of our fund raising efforts.

Our Service Criteria

Since we are unable to guarantee access to our service at the time your child is diagnosed or requires our program, we highly recommend contacting ABIA for a list of service providers.  We advise you contact as many service providers as possible to increase your chances of receiving the right service for your child as early as possible.

• Eligibility for our service:
• The child must have a formal diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (CARS – Childhood Autism Rating Scale)
• The family must reside within the service area agreed upon by the committee
• The child must be under 4 years of age at the time of intake
• The child must not have had more than 10 hours per week of intervention prior to being accepted into our program
• Conditions of service:
• The parents / carers of the child must support the commitments that our service requires:
• From 3 years old the child must have 35-40 hours of therapy per week (research supports that this is the optimal level for catch-up and long-term success)
• All children accepted into our program will be included in ongoing research.  It should be noted that the identity of the children and families will remain anonymous at all times.  Only data, such as annual assessments of the child’s progress, will be used as part of this research process. 
• Selection of clients is entirely at the discretion of the committee
• Availability of service
• Full-fee paying positions – these may be provided at any time, on the condition that the above requirements are met and there is a supervisor and therapy team available.
• Subsidised positions – availability of subsidised positions are reviewed by the committee on an annual basis.  We do not maintain a waiting list during the year since many families seek alternative service providers if their initial requests or timeframes do not suit our schedule.  We strongly recommend that you contact us  in early December to inquire about position availability for the following year. 

Please do not wait for us!  We appreciate that the window of opportunity is limited to help your child following diagnosis of ASD.  We strongly recommend that you do not wait for one of our positions to become available. Please contact as many services as possible, as soon as possible, to ensure the best outcome for your young child.

Location

Our centre is located at Suite 7, 1153-1157 Burke Rd, Kew, 3101. The building has been provided by a family who have chosen, as a special cause, to support early intervention for young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.