How To Register Your Child with Kids Plus Foundation

•  Eligibility

•  Talk to Your Paediatrician

•  Register Your Child

•  What Other Families Say......

1. Eligibility

• Babies, children and teenagers (0-18 years) with physical motor sensory difficulties which may include include cerebral palsy, brain injury and stroke.

• Resident in the Barwon Region

• Holder of Medicare Card

• Entitlement to Carers Card

2.Talk to Your Paediatrician

We recommend that you discuss the Kids Plus Therapy Program with your paediatrician. The paediatrician may then refer you to Kids Plus or you can register your child yourself.

We do request your child's reports from your paediatrician to be attached to your referral or registration.

3. Register Your Child

To Register, download the form here.

What Other Families Say......

"We are grateful for the wonderful work and advice we have been given. We are implementing the feeding advice with our daughter and have already seen an improvement. Our daughter sat up on her own for the first time ever last night, using her elbow as advised by our physiotherapist. This is a huge milestone.."

"The new ways of doing things has improved her self esteem that you can see it in her."

" Continuous regular therapy has seen him develop in mobility, coordination, comprehension and his communication skills. Many family members and friends have commented how he seems to have "taken off" all of a sudden."

"Kids Plus should be highly commended for providing to our children the opportunity to access this specialist paediatric program, and for families to network and gain beneficial information and support which we may never otherwise access. Any opportunities to harness even the smallest potential that our children have (however minuscule those achievements may seem to mainstream society) is crucial to inject positive energy into our lives."

"He has benefited enormously from just a few intensive sessions of Kids Plus. The therapists obviously have enormous experience in handling difficult patients. They have been able to keep him focused on a task for long enough to benefit him. He has reached his goals, particularly in OT and physio quite quickly."

"Looking back on the past 12 months we marvel at the milestones that our son has met. The first few weeks he seemed very unwilling to participate and at times quite unhappy but, given his history we recognised very much the importance and value of regular speech, PT and OT. With each visit we were amazed to see how focused and in tune each therapist was with our son in building up a rapport which allowed them to assess his needs and help him achieve his goals. They were able to pick up on his strengths and weaknesses and activate a plan accordingly. It was obvious that each session was individualised for the client and this seemed to allow for a very unique and personalised plan.

Finally we had a happy little boy who was able to do a lot of the mischievous stuff that other toddlers were doing. Things that we had taken for granted with our first child but with him every little milestone is one of those champagne kind of moments. He has recently learnt to say 'Mum', a word that's never sounded so sweet and is the greatest reward. He is now approaching his second birthday and like those milestones it will be a huge celebration of life. "

"Our daughter learnt to sit independently, and I am very proud to say, started crawling on the 18th March 2005! Her father and I were so excited and in tears as you can imagine. Such big milestones for our "special" kiddies that I think parents with "normal children take for granted. All we want for our kids is to be like other kids with some normality and to live healthy long lives. "

"What we were aiming to do was to harness his natural desire to walk and use his Hart walker effectively. We aimed at strengthening his trunk and head control by sitting astride a bench and using his feet/legs for balance and support and focusing on an activity in front of him. After a slow start we managed to refine the activities to a level that he was comfortable with and progress to a more difficult level."

"I would like to thank the individuals and organisations who fund Kids Plus Foundation because without your help and support we wouldn't get this wonderful therapy program for our kids. I would also like to thank the therapists for their hard work, dedication and support and understanding because without these great therapists my daughter would not be achieving or progressing."

"How fortunate we are to have such a fantastic Therapy Program here in Geelong run by Kids Plus Foundation. My daughter has made exceptional development to date. Starting with minimal strength and stability and very little verbal communication, she has been able to build on these through positive experiences with one on one interaction. She can now walk with the aid of her Crocodile walker. Stand to play at a table. She is now communicating back without prompting for a response. She is now more motivated. Her confidence has increased remarkable and her social interaction encouraging.

These small milestones could not have been achieved without regular therapy session offered through the Kids Plus foundation. A very special thank you to each therapist for being so adaptable to all the children's needs. For their ongoing support, ideas and information on home programs and reassurance. It really is a credit to have these dedicated therapists working for our children."

"During this time I have watched my son's self confidence grow and grow.He has so much determination and the therapists at Kids Plus have shown us the right direction to go in. And because of this, he has learnt so much. He can now sit and stand unaided, he can climb safely up onto his slide and go down again unaided. He can climb safely up onto the couch and sit himself down. He is now attempting to dress and undress himself wit help and is also using spoon and fork correctly. The best part is seeing how much joy and how proud he is in himself each time he learns a new skill. We are so proud of the cheeky little boy he has become."

" At almost four years old he took his first steps!! Although it has been a goal of ours for a long time, we were beginning to think it may never happen. After working towards this for almost 4 years, we were all very emotional and excited to see our baby walk unaided for the first time. He even gave himself a clap. We know we have a long way to go, but we won't let this overshadow the excitement of the first few steps."

"As always, the therapists have been a great support, full of advice and happy to listen to all our questions however ridiculous they may be. We have also met some other families in similar situations which help you feel not so alone. Our son loves going to therapy and is always excited to see the other kids and his very special therapist. They have helped him realise his goals we had only previously dreamed about, and facilitated the change from a cross and frustrated boy to a happy and confident one."

" Achievable goals set each Program at Kids Plus keep the hard work in perspective with a sense of optimism."

" By 14 months when we saw the paediatrician again she was still not doing the "normal" things. After having a development assessment done, it showed that she was only at the 6 months level. She has now been diagnosed as having Motor Neuro Developmental Delay. After our first Program with Kids Plus she is already starting to catch up with the normal things."

"My daughter has been involved with the Kids Plus Program model for five years. Over this five year period, she has been able to show some huge steps with her eating skills (she is orally fed). She has also been able to drink from a normal open cup which has been an absolute bonus for her, as drinking from a spout cup is not really age appropriate for her at 11 years old. Being able to sit (aided) on a bench to access toys etc has been great for her. Transition (sit to stand) is also very important as she gets older.

My daughter has cerebral palsy. She is affected in all four limbs in her torso and her head control. So you can imagine these steps for her have been a huge help to her every day life. Without the help of Kid Plus we would not have able to achieve any of the goals, ourselves at home."

"Our family moved from interstate a year and a half ago. It has been difficult for our child to develop trust as he has had the same therapists and medical team since he was born 3 months prematurely. The thera• Evaluation Projects & Reportspists have both helped him to move on again and we can slowly see him progressing. He now enjoys both OT and PT therapies and we can see his self esteem and self image improving. He is not as frustrated and will tell the therapists what he wants. His walking, sitting balance and two handed play is improving and his attention span and tolerance is longer."

"I have also learnt invaluable techniques to help our son at home. "

"She is now using some sign language and has a bunch of clear words. We are ecstatic to say that our gorgeous girl is now taking steps and walking in her mini walker with the help of us slightly pushing it. We are looking forward to the day hopefully very soon when she walks in the walker without assistance."