Early childhood intervention teaching
One main contact, one plan
A young child with developmental needs can end up with four professionals, four sets of goals and four appointments a fortnight — and a parent doing the job of holding it all together. That is a lot to carry, and it is rarely what helps the child most.
The key worker approach is the alternative, and it is what the NDIS early childhood approach recommends. One person from the team becomes your main contact. They work directly with your child and your family, and they draw on the rest of us behind the scenes rather than adding appointments to your week.
How it actually works
Your key worker is usually the professional whose skills best match what your child needs most right now — often an early childhood teacher, sometimes a speech pathologist or occupational therapist. That can change over time as your child’s needs change.
- One person you deal with — who knows your child, your family and your week
- One set of goals — agreed with you, not one list per discipline
- Fewer appointments — the team contributes through your key worker rather than separately
- Specialist input when it is needed — our physio or dietitian joins for a specific question, then steps back
- Work in your real settings — home, kindy, day care, rather than a clinic room
- One point of contact for your kindy — educators are not fielding four different professionals
Why this is the recommended approach
Young children learn in the ordinary moments of their day, not in the forty minutes a week they spend with a professional. So the thing that actually changes outcomes is what the adults around the child do the rest of the time — you, and their educators.
A key worker has the time and the relationship to build that, which four people each seeing your child briefly do not. It also means somebody is holding the whole picture of your child, rather than each of us seeing our own slice.
The trade-off is honest: you see the specialist less often directly. What you get instead is their thinking, carried into your week by someone who knows your family. For most young children that is the better deal, and we will tell you when we think it is not.
When we would not use it
A key worker approach is not right for everything. Where a child needs intensive, hands-on work in one discipline — a feeding plan that needs weekly review, a fluency programme with a tight evidence base, a physio programme after surgery — direct therapy with that clinician is the right call and we will say so.
Many families end up with a mix: a key worker holding the whole picture, plus direct sessions in the one or two areas that need them. What we want to avoid is four separate programmes by default, because nobody can sustain that and it rarely helps the child most.
Funding and eligibility
We work with self-managed and plan-managed NDIS participants, and with private clients. Our early childhood teaching service is delivered under the NDIS early childhood approach for children under 9.
If you are not sure what you are eligible for or how your plan can be used, ask us — we will talk it through plainly and tell you where to go for the parts that are not ours to answer.
What getting started looks like
We work out what your child needs most right now, who is best placed to lead, and what the rest of the team contributes.
- A conversation with you. What you are hoping for, what is hardest at the moment, and what your week can realistically hold.
- Getting to know your child. Through play and in their own settings, not through testing.
- Working out the priorities. Two or three goals that would make a real difference, agreed with you.
- Choosing the key worker. Matched to those priorities, and revisited as things change.
- Deciding where specialists are needed. Which disciplines contribute, how often, and whether anything warrants direct therapy instead.
- Connecting with your kindy or day care. So the educators have one contact and the same plan.
- Agreeing how we review. When we check whether it is working, and what we would change if it is not.
We will share what we noticed, agree the goals with you, and set out who is doing what — including what the kindy or school will be asked to do.
Where we see children
- In our Springfield clinic
- At home
- At daycare, kindy or school
- In the community
Frequently asked questions
Does a key worker mean my child misses out on specialist input?
No — it changes how that input reaches them. The specialists stay involved, contributing through your key worker and joining directly when a specific question needs them. Where a child genuinely needs regular hands-on work in one discipline, we recommend direct therapy as well and say so plainly.
Can we change key workers?
Yes. The right key worker depends on what your child needs most, and that shifts over time — a speech pathologist may make sense at three and an early childhood teacher at four, as school gets closer. The relationship matters too, so if the fit is not right, tell us.
Do you take NDIS funding?
We work with plan-managed and self-managed participants. We are not a registered NDIS provider, so we cannot work with agency-managed plans. If you are not sure which you have, we can help you work it out before you commit to anything.
Ready for one plan instead of four?
We’ll partner with you to create a plan that works for your family — with access, empathy and hope.
Request an appointment ECI teachingOr call 0480 841 300 · hello@accesstotherapy.com.au