Children Over Seven Years

Medicare

Children over seven are not able to access early intervention funding through HCWA or Better Start programs, but are still eligible for Medicare items.

Medicare items can be claimed for children whether or not they have accessed early intervention funding, as long as they have an eligible disability.

The first step is to develop a treatment and management plan with your child’s health care professional. You can access up to four diagnostic/assessment services to assist the referring practitioner with diagnosis or to contribute to a child’s treatment and management plan. This plan needs to be in place before your child turns 13.

You can access up to twenty treatment sessions once you have a treatment and management plan in place. This may include sessions with psychologists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, audiologists, optometrists, orthoptists or physiotherapists. These sessions can be used up until your child turns 15.

Education

The Australian Government Department of Education offers a Positive Partnerships initiative for school-aged children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Positive Partnerships hold workshops and information sessions for parents and carers of school-age students with ASD. This can help you to work with your child’s teachers, school leaders and other staff.

Positive Partnerships also supports the professional development for teachers, school leaders and other school staff to build their understanding, skills and expertise in working with children with ASD.

The Positive Partnerships website has a range of resources including fact sheets, online learning modules and information on upcoming workshops.

Other Support

You can also get support from your local Autism Association or from Carers Australia. Find their contact details under ‘Other useful contact details’ on our Contact page.

Disability - Personal journey

Parents talk about school options

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