1: Information about Student Placements

Stepping Stones will be hosting 1 Occupational Therapy and 2 Speech Pathology students in 2024. 

All students will be in their final year of study, and (assuming they pass), will be graduating at the end of the year. 

In Term 3, we will have one OT and one SP student at the same time. We are aiming for them to work closely together to learn from each other, as well as from our team. 

In Term 4 we will have one SP student who will provide ongoing therapy support to some of the clients that had been seen by students in Term 3. 

Hosting students is a great opportunity to support more clients given the shortage of therapists nationwide, but also helps Stepping Stones to meet new potential employees for the future. 

The students will have their own small caseload of clients to support, and the way support is provided is under strict guidance. Students are given significantly higher amount of times to plan, research and prepare for their caseload given that they are still on their learning journey. 

Each student will recieve intensive supervision with a Senior member of our staff. This usually looks like one hour of supervision per day of work, however sometimes supervision is chunked if for example the supervisor is only available part time. 

Some sessions will be attended by both the student and the supervisor for learning and student assessment purposes. Some sessions will be video recorded to be shown to the supervisor at a later time. 

Before any session occurs with a client, Supervisers need to approve the therapy and assessment plans that are written in detail for each session by the student. This ensures that students are always following Evidence Based Practice guidelines. 

2: Options for therapy

Stepping Stones is seeking new clients who fit specific areas of need, who can be seen by SP and OT students. This is to ensure that we are providing the right opportunities for learning to our students.

We are looking for:

- Neurotypical (i.e., no formal or pending diagnoses) children aged 3-10 who are experiencing delays in one particular area that would benefit from Speech Pathology OR Occupational Therapy. Eg children that are hard to understand, difficulties with reading/writing/spelling, have fine/gross motor difficulties, have language concerns etc.

- Children who have access to Early Intervention NDIS funds, and would like to receive JOINT Speech Pathology and Occupational Therapy sessions to target multiple areas of development at the same time. 

- Children who have access to any NDIS funds and have one particular goal that they'd like to receive intensive, short term therapy to support (i.e., twice weekly for the term). 

3: Terms and Conditions for accessing SP and OT students

To make the most of the limited time we have with our students, we have set guidelines that would need to be followed:

- Therapy will occur ONLY in clinic locations - no school visits. 

- Therapy will occur ONLY during school hours. Students are not available for therapy after 3pm.

- Clients must be willing to commit to the full term for therapy appointments. Repeated cancellations will mean that your position is offered to a new client.

- Parents need to be actively involved in all sessions, and willing to commit to the home practice suggestions offered between therapy sessions. 

- There must be an understanding that you will likely NOT be offered ongoing therapy once our students have finished their placements. You will be placed on our waitlist (and prioritised as 'previous clients'), and we would contact you as soon as a position became available. 

- Student sessions are charged at the same rate as our Therapy Assistants. 

For NDIS clients this means the current Therapy Assistant hourly rate, as published in the NDIS Pricing Arrangement and Price Limits.

For privately paying clients this means $110 per hour. For example, a 45 min therapy session will cost $82.50

These costs are to cover the intensive supervision that is provided. Where supervisory staff also attend appointments to support the student, this is at no extra cost.

If the Senior Supervisor needs to complete an assesssment with the client prior to the student starting, this will be charged at our standard Speech Pathology/Occupational Therapy rates. We will discuss this with you if you are selected as an eligible candidate for student supports. 

Reminder, to access these services:

- Therapy will NOT occur at schools

- Therapy will NOT occur after 3pm

- Therapy will be charged at our Therapy Assistant rates

- You must be willing to commit to the full term of support (unless goals are reached earlier than this period)

- Parents must be actively involved in all sessions

- You will not be guaranteed ongoing therapy once the student placement/s have finished.