Category: Early Intervention

Myhorizon Events: NDIS for Kids

Myhorizon will be hosting a special information event with occupational therapy specialist and lecturer Dr. Adele Suda for parents in February.

The event to be held at Myhorizon’s newly minted Ian McDougall Centre for Early Intervention at Capalaba will cover topics related to early childhood intervention supports, the NDIS, and family-centred advocacy, support and direction.

When: Monday 28th February

Where: Myhorizon’s Ian McDougall Centre, 1-15A Runnymede Road, Capalaba Qld 4157

Time: 10am-12pm

RSVP: Please email Kylee Honeyman, Ian McDougall Centre Manager, on khoneyman@myhorizon.org.au to register your attendance.

More information about the speaker: 

Adele Suda is a Senior Occupational Therapist and Lecturer with over 20 years experience working with children, adolescents and families (B.App.Sc. OT; Grad Cert. Counselling; PhD Candidate).

She is registered with AHPRA and the Australian Occupational Therapy Association.

Her career has focused on working with neurological/cognitive impairments such as Autism Spectrum Disorders, Cerebral Palsy, ADD/ADHD, Learning Difficulties and Sensory Processing Disorder.

She is highly experienced in developing and implementing child/family centred evidence based interventions.

Adele has worked in a number of settings including Alice Springs with indigenous communities and Newcastle Child and Family Health Network. She owned and directed a private paediatric practice on the Gold Coast QLD for 10 years.

Adele’s passion and enthusiasm for working with children, adolescents and families, has developed through working as a clinician, lecturer at Southern Cross University and also as a researcher.

Adele is also the mother of a child with support needs and has advocated for him for over 10 years through school, community and service provision.

Adele is the founder and director of Caring About Families, and works in partnership with children and their family members to plan, set goals, and create a meaningful and purposeful life.

Adele is a Lecturer at Southern Cross University in the School of Health and Human Sciences where she teaches on the Occupational Therapy program. She is also a PhD candidate with the University of Sydney studying the perceptions of family well-being for families who have a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

She is also a committee member of Autism Gold Coast Inc., actively increasing awareness and support for those with ASD in the community.

Remote communities connecting up

Families of children with disability living in Emerald, Barcaldine, and Longreach are set to benefit from our Early Intervention service’s new telehealth delivery option.

Telehealth, the use of telecommunication techniques for the purpose of providing telemedicine, medical education, and health education over a distance, will allow Myhorizon to connect with communities needing disability support services that would otherwise miss out due to the prohibitively long distances they would need to travel to access traditional bricks and mortar providers.

Geraldine McKinnon, State Coordinator of Myhorizon’s Baby Bridges Early Intervention Therapy Programme, will visit Emerald on September 15 with Baby Bridges occupational therapist Adele Suda to talk to families about the program at our Children’s Therapy for Remote Communities Forum.

Fore more information or to register for the forum during Disability Action Week, read the full article in CQ News:

Myhorizon pilots new telehealth program for families in remote areas

Myhorizon will trial a new technology-assisted early childhood intervention support service for families in Longreach and Emerald.

Geraldine McKinnon, State Coordinator of Myhorizon’s Baby Bridges early childhood intervention program, said the new program would help young parents in remote areas access vital support services such as occupational therapy, Auslan, speech therapy, children’s yoga, picture exchange communication and physiotherapy that would otherwise be unavailable to them due to distance.

“Our Early Intervention service is constantly innovating to better support families of children with disability throughout Queensland,” Ms McKinnon said. “By harnessing phone and video technology we will now be able to extend the benefits of our Baby Bridges program to children and parents who can’t attend our service centres in person”.

Myhorizon CEO Joe Gamblin said the new program would contribute to Myhorizon’s vision to create equality of opportunity for people with disability throughout the state.

“The pilot program is a natural extension for our existing early intervention service and speaks to Myhorizon’s strong ability to respond to local community disability support needs across Queensland”.

A research collaboration with Southern Cross University’s School of Health and Human Sciences is also potentially in the offing, providing additional opportunities for the program to address the dearth of evidence-based research in the area of disability and wellbeing that will be critical to designing successful support programs under the NDIS.

For further details about the program please contact Geraldine McKinnon, Baby Bridges State Program Coordinator on 07 3824 7007 or gmckinnon@myhorizon.org.au.

Construction starts on new Capalaba Centre

The first sod has officially been turned at the building site of Myhorizon’s newest and most ambitious community construction project in the Redlands.

Let the building work commence! From L-R: Ian McDougall Estate Trustee Nathan Hardman, Redland City Mayor Mayor Karen Williams, Ian McDougall Estate Trustee Ken McDonald, and Myhorizon CEO Joe Gamblin and Vice President Dr Wayne Clarke turn the first sod at Myhorizon’s new Capalaba Centre.

Attending the special event this morning was Redland City Mayor Mayor Karen Williams, Myhorizon CEO Joe Gamblin and Vice President Dr Wayne Clarke, and Trustees from the Ian McDougall Estate – Mr Ken McDonald & Mr Nathan Hardman – who have donated $450,000 to construct a purpose-designed early intervention facility within the Centre.

Mr Gamblin said the multi-million dollar project would bestow significant benefits on the local community.

“This is probably the biggest community services infrastructure project in Redland City and we are proud to have the support of Council to make this exciting initiative possible.

“Myhorizon’s Capalaba Centre will deliver strong economic benefits for the community not only in terms of jobs created through the construction period but also the additional staff we will be employing through growth from the NDIS,” he said.

Mayor Karen Williams agreed the Centre would boost economic activity in Redland City.

“This project will inject an estimated $8 million into the local economy through construction investment and new jobs and it will provide Myhorizon with a platform from which to add more services when the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) rolls out in coming years.

“Our community will gain life-changing services through the new centre once it is operational later this year and through the NDIS service streams”.

Mr Gamblin said the Ian McDougall Centre for early intervention therapy services would in particular enable expansion of Myhorizon’s existing popular service to support parents of children with disability under the age of six.

“The new Early Intervention Centre has been purpose-designed. Thanks to the generous support of the Ian McDougall Trust we will be able to reach more parents of children with disability in Redland City and enhance their experience by providing them with access to facilities that are specifically tailored to deliver our Baby Bridges programme and early intervention therapies under the NDIS”.

The new Centre will be built on Council-supported land at 377-385 Redland Bay Road adjacent the popular Redland Indigiscapes Centre. Redland City Council has given Myhorizon a 50-year lease of the footprint of the new building. Other features include space for a family case management service, employment and training services, and a social enterprise.

An opening date in October this year is expected.