Our Mission
It is super hard to put our mission into words. Obviously we want to provide you and your family with high quality services but we want much more than that. Overall we seek to provide you with services which enable your child and family to have a meaningful and purposeful life. One which services your child’s values and your values. Both of which are super tricky as no one’s meaning and purpose is identical to another’s.
To really put it to words, I went back to reading your christmas cards which helped me to put my feelings and thoughts to words.
We want to be part of your ‘I Can’ network, to show you how it is ok to be you and how we much we care for ‘you’ to be ‘you’.
We will relish the fun and joy of working with children.
We will celebrate your wonder and our connection.
We will recognise your abilities and where we can grow together, respecting your limits, worries, hesitations and doubts but at the same time pushing you to realise your competencies.
We will support, be open ears and open hearts, find connection and empowerment where ‘stuff’ is hard, we will always show you hope.
We will never judge but empower you with knowledge and kindness.
We will ensure you stay ‘you’ whilst on the journey of development.
We love our client relationships!
"Interpersonal experience shapes the mind as it continues to develop throughout the lifespan…Interactions with the environment, especially relationships with other people, directly shape the development of the brain’s structure and function"
— Dr Dan Siegel
How we work!
To enable our mission we use highly specialised frameworks which let us be ‘us’ and you, ‘you’ whilst developing skills. These are DIR Floor time, Synergetic Play Therapy, Sensory Integration, Interpersonal Neurobiology and Neurodevelopmental models of therapy. These are things we do not learn at university and are trained in at Transforming Kids because we recognise the value in these frameworks enabling development. This is also what separates us from other clinics; We continuously train our staff to enable continuous improvement and have amazing sensory rooms.
Within all these models, we find your foundation, ‘where you are at’, ‘your level of development’ and through a bottom up model, grade development up to higher order skills. This means we start at core skills, ensure the basic foundation of neural connections (for that skill) are there and then build. Just like we cannot walk before we are born, we start small whilst thinking big. We don’t like to double back so we ensure we build from the bottom up rather than making a scattered skill or floating home.
We make goals which last for school terms and review these with you. We get you involved through in person or our free online training. We know that development means we need strong caregivers who understand and are part of the journey.
TK Team
Bridie
Every Health Professional has their individual degree form University BUT the way one clinician or business practises when compared to another can be VERY Different. The Models or frameworks we use, changes how your SLP, OT or counsellor practises. Our Frameworks which are outlined below result in our clinicians having a Neurodevelopmental approach to intervention. This means we work from the skill you have, building skills whilst engaging rather than a top down model which demands a skill the person does not have the foundational skills for. Another way to think of this, is we build our skills, like a house, the foundation, the framework and so on rather than building a roof which has to be supported magically in the air.
It’s up to you as the client, family or support person to find the right framework for you. Our frameworks are based upon current research showing how the brain functions, how it should develop and how to get functional skills which will last a life time. We support this process by using our frameworks and developing term focused goals to continue to climb the ladder of development.
Neurodevelopmental Models or frameworks follow current and emerging research around neurodevelopmental disorders. Neurodevelopmental disorder such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, Cerebral Palsy and Mental health conditions develop throughout the course of early development and life as a result of neural circuitry. Neurodevelopmental models of intervention, utilise best practise principles to support the development of neurodiversity people through a bottom up framework. Click the link for further information on Neurodevelopmental disorders.
DIR Floor-time
DIR Floor-time is a framework for typical development of social, emotional and cognitive reasoning skills. We use DIR as a framework for how to engage with clients regardless of age. With clients with Neurodevelopmental disorder, DIR Is amazing at helping us to engage at their current ability, to gain their attention, focus and build skills within varied forms of play. It also makes intervention fun as everyone can get involved.
Synergetic Play Therapy
SPT is a framework of social and emotional development. It aids our understanding of emotional and psychosocial development meaning the knowing how we feel and why. It enables our clinician’s to build emotional intelligence and ultimately behavioural control in an interactive model where we develop neural connections that are generalised to real life situations independently rather than teaching explicit emotions without experiences.
Sensory Integration
Sensory Integration is how our brain collects, processes and creates outputs for everything we do in the day. Coding language, motor skills, toileting all involve a process of collection, perception and reaction to sensory data in our body and world. We use a neurological approach to sensory integration, training our clinicians in the sensory systems, how the connect within the body and brain and how to troubleshoot the senses, integrating these for the purpose of our discipline; for speech pathologists it might be language coding, understanding social emotional language, creating verbal outputs, OT’s; toileting, cognition and motor controls, counsellors and social and emotional skills. Regardless of the skill we need to acknowledge the important role SI plays in skill development and acquisition.
Bottom up Framework Models
A Bottom up model focuses on addressing skills in stages, building the skills within an order of natural development to enable a skill to be well rounded and a skill which can be used in every situation and environment rather then requiring a prompt or condition.