What could Thriving Kids, the NDIS alternative for some children, look like?

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Despite the government wanting its Thriving Kids program for children with "mild to moderate" developmental delay and autism to start next year, the system is yet to be designed. The organisers of existing support programs want the progress they have made with families to be taken into consideration. A Thriving Kids advisory group meets today for the first time and written submissions to a parliamentary inquiry are open until October 3.

Transcript

00:00Hi Sienna!

00:03Five-year-old Sienna is autistic.

00:06Hi Mum!

00:07Before starting preschool, she was non-verbal and wouldn't eat much.

00:11Sienna is like a whole new child now.

00:13She's much more confident.

00:15She is much more independent.

00:18Mum Isabella puts much of it down to this unique sensory-friendly centre.

00:24Run by not-for-profit Karana,

00:27it reserves a quarter of its places for children with disability like Sienna.

00:31She gets an occupational therapist, a feeding therapist, a speech therapist,

00:36which have all helped her so much.

00:38Educators and therapists are connected with families,

00:41so work continues at home.

00:44Building the parents' confidence and their skills and capability

00:47to support their child is really quite critical to the model.

00:51That model, Karana says, could be a blueprint

00:53for the government's NDIS alternative.

00:56Thriving Kids will be for those with what the government calls

01:00mild to moderate developmental delay and autism.

01:03It's due to start in July, primarily to ease the growth of the NDIS,

01:08which will cost $52 billion this year.

01:11But exactly how Thriving Kids will look and operate is still unclear.

01:15One of my fears is that we end up with just therapy teams in schools.

01:19The NDIS Minister Mark Butler said he's determined to deliver a better system

01:24to help kids thrive.

01:26An advisory group will meet for the first time today.

01:29Whatever happens, advocates say it's critical families are involved.

01:33Thriving families equals thriving kids.

01:36A simple message with a simple goal.

01:39A simple message with a simple goal.

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