EIBI Full Service Model

Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) is an evidence-based intervention approach that assesses an individual’s behaviours and works to both increase positive learning and decrease those behaviours which may be socially isolating, physically harmful or which present a significant speedbump to learning. Primarily, ABA is about helping an individual to learn or re-learn how to achieve, to live life fully, and to reach their potential. 

ABA focuses on breaking down complex skills, to smaller, more achievable steps.  ABA achieves effective results, has an immediate impact and uses practical ideas.  Children are never punished for failing to master a task, but every achievement is rewarded with enthusiastic encouragement. 

A typical EIBI ABA therapy session involves teaching a child specific skills, whether that be identifying colours, learning to hold a spoon, learning sounds or words, or simply learning to play.  The skill or task is broken down into its most simple form and taught in a way appropriate for that child. Each one of the sessions is documented and results recorded so that problem areas may be accurately identified and targeted. ABA relies on success and positive reinforcement and every achievement is rewarded with enthusiastic encouragement.  

ABA is used in a wide range of settings, such as medical, educational, mental health, rehabilitation, and health and exercise. It is recognised as one way for people on the autism spectrum to “learn how to learn” and has been subjected to rigorous scientific investigation around the world.

Every program at Learning for Life is tailored specifically to the child, taking into account the child’s (and their family’s) preferences, strengths, interest, needs and challenges. Our practice reflects our core belief that the children we work with have the right to the same choices, opportunities and experiences of all children and that their rights and choices are important. We promote children’s inclusion in their natural environment through participation in daily routines, at home, in the community and in early childhood education settings. We also recognise the importance of family and seek to ensure parents have the information, resources and support needed to participate in and benefit from the program. 

Therapy sessions are predominantly conducted in the child’s home.  In addition to enabling re-enforcement of involvement in daily routine tasks, home based therapy allows for more natural family involvement and, in turn, greater rate of skill generalisation across people and settings.  Our programs also work within kindergartens or childcares to engage other children and/or staff and to generalise skills into different settings.

We prioritise a child’s happiness during their ABA experience and believe that a happy child can and will learn. Our programs are centred around the joy of learning, where each milestone achieved is celebrated and fun is an essential ingredient for skill development.  In addition, resilience is actively promoted in a safe and nurturing way in order to empower the child and provide a pathway to independence and choice. When seeking to address challenges we look to the underlying cause to better understand the challenge, taking into account the right or need of the child to engage in actions or behaviours even if they might otherwise be considered unusual.

Learning for Life Early Childhood Clinical Consultants are responsible for planning and designing the child’s EIBI program (including undertaking risk assessment, goal setting and devising strategies to support goals agreed upon) as well as supervising the Therapy Assistants’ implementation of the program. While Therapy Assistants deliver the day to day therapy sessions throughout the week, the Early Childhood Clinical Consultant is the key touchpoint for parents/guardians about the child’s progress, conducts observations and assessments of the child ascross all learning environments (to assist in program development and goal setting, supervises the Therapy Assistants in the delivery of the program), works with the parents/guardians to set learning goals and is available for parent/guardian questions, training and/or consultation as necessary. 

Our Early Childhood Clinical Consultants also work proactively with a child’s broader support network, whether that be the child’s kindergarten teacher, paediatrician other allied health professional.

Each of our Early Childhood Clinical Consultants have relevant undergraduate and/or masters degrees, at least three years ABA experience working with young children with Autism and are registered with the Association for Behaviour Analysis Australia (the peak regulatory body for behaviour analysts in Australia). Some of our Early Childhood Clinical Consultants are also Board Certificated Behavioural Analysis or registered psychologists. All of our Clinical Consultants meet the NDIS Quality and Safety Commission’s requirements for an Early Childhood Professional and deliver support in line with the NDIS Practice Standards and Qaulity Indicators for Early Childhood Supports.

Each Early Childhood Clinical Consultant is supported by our Clinical Director and undergoes continual professional development and internal training and supervision.

Bios for each of our Clinical Consultants are available on the “Our Team” page on our website.

Therapy sessions are predominantly conducted in the child’s home.  In addition to enabling re-enforcement of involvement in daily routine tasks, home based therapy allows for more natural family involvement and, in turn, greater rate of skill generalisation across people and settings.  Our programs also work within kindergartens or childcares to engage other children and/or staff and to generalise skills into different settings.

We prioritise a child’s happiness during their ABA experience and believe that a happy child can and will learn. Our programs are centred around the joy of learning, where each milestone achieved is celebrated and fun is an essential ingredient for skill development.  In addition, resilience is actively promoted in a safe and nurturing way in order to empower the child and provide a pathway to independence and choice. When seeking to address challenges we look to the underlying cause to better understand the challenge, taking into account the right or need of the child to engage in actions or behaviours even if they might otherwise be considered unusual.

Therapy Assistants work under the direction of the Early Childhood Clinical Consultants, carrying out ABA based strategies and therapy techniques, to implement a child’s EIBI program. Therapy Assistants work one-to-one with the child, other than where a second Therapy Assistant also attends a session for training purposes. Clients are not charged for the attendance of a second Learning for Life Therapy Assistant as this is an internal training cost absorbed by Learning for Life.

Each Early Childhood Clinical Consultant is supported by our Clinical Director and undergoes continual professional development and internal training and supervision.

Bios for each of our Clinical Consultants are available on the “Our Team” page on our website.

Each Therapy Assistant undergoes the Learning for Life certified training program, involving a combination of practical (on the job) training and theory. The practical training happens during the child’s therapy sessions and involves an experienced therapy assistant training the new therapy assistant while delivering the therapy session. This training program is overseen by senior Clinical Consultants. Therapy Assistant training is ongoing, and proactively supported by senior Clinical Consultants, even once a Therapy Assistant has met the criteria required to conduct therapy sessions without another staff member present. Many of our Therapy Assistants are also studying related courses (such as psychology, speech pathology or occupational therapy) while working as a Therapy Assistant.

Each EIBI Full Service Model client is allocated a therapy team comprising a mix of Therapy Assistants with differing levels of experience.

Frequency of therapy is determined on a case by case basis and very much depends on the individual child’s needs and goals. Learning for Life strongly recommends that the family works with the Clinical Consultant to deliver as close to the clinically recommended hours of intervention therapy deemed appropriate to their child in order to provide the child with the opportunity to gain the maximum benefits the ABA therapy has to offer, However, many factors will impact whether this is practical or appropriate for the child.    

When a child first commences the EIBI program the frequency of sessions will be lower and gradually increase over time. Likewise, as a child is completing the program, the frequency of sessions will gradually decrease to allow for a smooth transition.

Each Early Childhood Clinical Consultant is supported by our Clinical Director and undergoes continual professional development and internal training and supervision.

Bios for each of our Clinical Consultants are available on the “Our Team” page on our website.

It is important that families make themselves aware of other relevant supports and therapies available for children with Autism when considering whether to enrol in the EIBI program. Paediatricians should also be able to advise you about other therapies and the Autism section of the Raising Children Parenting Website is a great source of information.

Learning for Life believes in a holistic approach to support provision and respects parent choice as to what supports are right for their child. In some cases, Clinical Consultants may recommend other therapies be run in conjunction with therapy such as Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy and opportunities for supported socialisation (such as playgroup or kindergarten). Unless otherwise recommended by your Clinical Consultant, we would expect such therapies and programs to be an addition to and compliment the therapy hours conducted with Learning for Life.

If a client is considering biomedical treatments for your child we ask that they consult with their Clinical Consultant first as such treatment can impact the progress and validity of our program.

Learning for Life offers a home and community-based service, whereby therapy sessions may be carried out in the child’s home, kinder, childcare or even grandparent’s house. While we do not offer centre-based service as a standard practice, we can accommodate some sessions in our centre located in Kew.  

Therapy sessions run Monday through to Saturday. Therapy sessions are usually 3 hours in length and may be scheduled as afternoon or morning sessions (or both) between the hours of 8am and 5pm. Although timetabling may vary from child to child (including accommodating children who still have day time naps), there is limited flexibility in when each child’s hours are delivered due to staff commitments at other client sessions and meetings.

Therapy sessions are usually run in 3 hour blocks with the Therapy Assistant completing session specific administration (such as prior session notes review, data recording and team notes) for the first 15 minutes and last 15 minutes of each session.  Within the session the Therapy Assistant will teach specific skills (as directed by the supervising Clinical Consultant pursuant to the plan and goals agreed with the child’s parents/guardians) by breaking down the skill into its most simple step by step form and at a pace appropriate to the individual child.  This is done in the form of play with a focus on fun, positive reinforcement and celebration of achievement, not matter how small. While a 3 hour therapy sessions may sound like a long time for a young child to be doing therapy, they are spending this time playing with the full attention and engagement of an adult. Play incorporates games, activities, themes and toys that the child is interested in, and short breaks (as well as access to snacks) are included as needed by the child.

As and when appropriate, some therapy sessions may incorporate “community outings” in order to generalise skills learnt into the child’s community and wider environment. This might involve a Therapy Assistant taking a child for a walk around the block, to the local playground or even into a local shop. Community outings only take place as relevant to the achievement of specific goals within a child’s program, in accordance with a risk management plan and with the consent of the parents/guardians. 

Clinical Consultants will also attend sessions to provide in person supervision of the program.  This will vary to best met the needs of the individual program, but may include attending a session to observe one of the usual scheduled therapy sessions, or attending a therapy session conducted at kinder, or attending a community outing, or a video call with parents.

The Clinical Consultant monitors the child's progress through providing 1 hour of supervision for every 6 hours of scheduled therapy (capped at a maximum of 3 hours per week). The format of supervision varies to best meet the needs of the individual child, family circumstances, locations of therapy delivery and number of therapy assistants.

Supervision may include:

• direct supervision of therapy assistants through observation of therapy sessions at home or in the community (either in person or via video conferencing);
• parent training (either in person or via video conferencing);
• delivery of therapy sessions to assist with establishing learning curriculum;
• observations of the child conducted at kindergarten, childcare or school to assist with goal setting
• analysis of data collected by therapy assistants; and
• ongoing review and formulation of learning curriculum through combining information from observations, parent feedback and session data.

The specific supervision plan for each child is adjusted to meet the direct needs of the child. The supervision plan is established at the start of the child’s program and then reviewed at least each term.

We provide service throughout inner and greater Melbourne. Some areas are more difficult to staff Therapy Assistants in and this may impact ability for us to take on new families in certain locations from time to time.

While we can run some sessions from our centre, we are not a centre-based service and do not offer full programs in the centre on a permanent basis.

Our office is located at 25-27 High Street South, Kew, Victoria 3101, between Kew Junction and Barkers Rd. There is on and off-street parking available and the number 48 and number 109 trams run directly past the centre.

Enrolment in Learning for Life’s EIBI services is open to children who:

• have a diagnosis (or provisional diagnosis) of Autism Spectrum Disorder;
• are under the age of 6; and
• have not yet commenced primary school (whether in mainstream primary school or a specialist primary school).

Parents/guardians of eligible children may submit an Expression of Interest Form to register interest in our service, but access and enrolment will depend on our capacity at the time. If a child turns 6 or commences primary school before accessing service they will be removed from the Expression of Interest Register as they will no longer meet criteria for access.

Yes - If your child has plan with funding available under the Capacity Building – Improved Daily Living category whereby the nature of supports within this category are either not specified or refer to any of:

• early intervention therapy;
• Applied behavioural Analysis or ABA;
• other therapy (or therapy generally); or
• supports provided by an allied health assistant or therapy assistant.

Learning for Life is an NDIS registered service provider. We are therefore able to support participants whether on an agency-managed, plan-managed or self-managed plan.

Yes – although NDIS funding can be used to cover the cost of our EIBI programs, NDIS funding it not a prerequisite to accessing service. Where funding allocated in a client’s NDIS plan is insufficient to meet the clinically recommended hours of therapy, and the client is not in financial position to meet the shortfall, the client may be eligible for a fee subsidy under the Learning for Life Fair Access Subsidy Program.

Yes – as noted above, although NDIS funding can be used to cover the cost of our EIBI programs, NDIS funding it not a prerequisite to accessing our services. Clients are responsible for paying service fees directly regardless of how they fund it. Clients who are ineligible for NDIS funding (e.g. due to VISA status) or who are waiting on their first NDIS plan, and are not in a financial position to cover the full cost of service, may be eligible to apply for fee support via the Fair Access Subsidy Program.

Families who do not have NDIS funding, or who have NDIS funding which is not sufficient to meet clinically recommended ABA therapy hours, may be eligible for fee subsidies if they are not in a financial position to cover the cost of service. Application for the Fair Access Subsidy Program is via application form and open to clients of Learning for Life (but submission of an application does not guarantee provision of fee subsidies).

Yes – Learning for Life is a child safe organisation and is committed to the protection and well-being of children and young people. Our Child Safe and Vulnerable Person Policy is available for viewing on our website.

Learning for Life has strict recruitment and screening practices, including the requirement for all staff to have valid and up to date Working with Children Checks and National Police Checks. All new staff also undertake child safety training as part of their onboarding process and sign specific acknowledgement of our Staff Code of Conduct (noting that our Code of Conduct Policy is also available for viewing on our website).

In addition, Learning for Life implements a Child Safe Risk Management Plan for each family enrolled in the full service EIBI program.

Our General Manager - Operations, Victoria Crane, is the Learning for Life Child Safe Officer.

Our Client Confidentiality & Privacy Policy is available for viewing on our website. As outlined in our policy, we will only use the information provided to us by clients for the purpose it is collected and ensure our information storage systems are secured appropriately. In addition to the requirement for staff to follow privacy protocols in our policy, each staff member signs a Confidentiality Deed as part of their employment contract.

Our General Manager-Operations, Victoria Crane, is the Learning for Life Privacy Officer

Our Client Complaints & Feedback Policy is available for viewing on our website. Feedback or complaints can be made in a number of ways, including:

• anonymously via our online feedback form;
• via mail, email or verbally to our Practice Manager at PO Box 7118 Hawthorn North VIC 3122 or timetables@learningforlife.com.au or 0448 127 508
• via email or verbally to our CEO, Clinical Director, General Manager-Operations or your allocated Clinical Consultant.

Please email enquiries@learningforlife.com.au if you have any remaining questions or would like a Learning for Life staff member to call you to discuss further.