Early Start Intervention Program

The Early Start Intervention Program is a 12 month therapy program for young children with significant developmental delay and/or a diagnosis of the following:

• Abnormal muscle tone including hypertonia, hypotonia, dystonia and/or spasticity
• Congenital Malformations or anomalies including craniofacial anomalies
• Diagnosed hearing and/or visual impairment
• Feeding Difficulty/Failure to Thrive (FTT)
• Hydrocephalus
• Microcephaly
• Musculoskeletal Anomalies i.e. short stature, limb deformity, spinal deformity
• Prenatal Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR)
• Seizures/Epilepsy

The ESIP program provides children accepted into the program with multidisciplinary therapy services including a combination of individualised physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology and group based aquatic hydrotherapy.

The aim of the program is to:

• Provide evidence based care and therapy supports across the home and community
• Work towards achieving individualised goals including improving motor function
• Provide parents and caregivers with the knowledge, skills and confidence to embed therapy into everyday routines
• Increase participation at home and in the community
• Reduce the incidence and onset of secondary impairments
• Connect families and assist in the development of informal support networks
• Assist families in advocating for future services and therapy support

Therapy services will be provided in the home environment with aquatic group based hydrotherapy provided in Rocky Bay’s hydrotherapy pool at Mosman Park.

Yes. The program is based on numerous peer-reviewed studies into the benefits of therapy for children in the specified age group and diagnoses.

The program will run once per week for a 12 month period, plus hydrotherapy sessions (daily, one week per month).

The ESIP program is based on the framework outlined by the National Guidelines for Best Practice in Early Childhood Intervention (ECI).

There are no costs associated for eligible participants as out ESIP program is funded by Telethon. Children with NDIS funding packages are not eligible for ESIP, however can access Rocky Bay’s therapy services at our hubs across the Perth metropolitan area.