When a friend casually suggested Ginny might have autism, Karen was sceptical. Nonetheless, she decided to google autism, and was surprised when much of what she read reflected their exact situation. Due to their location, there were no local service providers who could conduct a comprehensive assessment with Ginny, but their family doctor recognised that Ginny’s developmental health needed to be assessed by several different clinicians, so she referred Ginny to Royal Far West.
A few months later, their application for a place in our intensive, residential Paediatric Developmental Program was approved and Karen describes their first visit to Manly as “like walking into a warm hug”.
At their first visit, they attended appointments and assessments with our team of paediatric healthcare specialists including doctors, nurses, psychologists, speech pathologists and occupational therapists. Through these assessments, Ginny was diagnosed as having autism and anxiety.
Our health team worked with Karen and Brett to help them understand what Ginny’s diagnosis meant, what therapy and services she needed, and how, as parents, they could best support her. The team also put together a comprehensive plan to help manage Ginny’s autism and anxiety, which included therapy sessions, plus strategies that Ginny, her parents and teachers could implement at home and school.