Mitchell and his family meet with Mitchell’s Occupational Therapist (OT), Psychologist, and Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) every 4 months or so. These meetings, facilitated by Mitchell’s Support Coordinator, help in a number of ways.

•  The allied health professionals have the opportunity to share information and insights, and coordinate their supports. This allows us to make the most of their investment of time and effort in Mitchell’s life.
• A more holistic understanding of Mitchell is built up and we (Mitchell’s parents and his Support Coordinator) have the opportunity to ensure his allied health supports remain person-centred.
• Everyone gets a clear understanding of where Mitchell is at and celebrate progress.

It has been a pleasure to watch Mitchell’s allied health professionals work together to provide what could be described as stepping stones to a better life for Mitchell.

The OT has helped us understand Mitchell’s functional capacity (his ability to do things) and helped us adjust Mitchell’s environment so he can better perform the activities and tasks that are involved in everyday life.

The Psychologist has helped us collect a lot of information about Mitchell so we can pre-empt scenarios that can lead to concerning behaviour and, using evidence-based methods, apply strategies that help Mitchell cope.

The result is a calmer, happier Mitchell who is more motivated to communicate with those around him.

The efforts of the OT and Psychologist have resulted in a calmer, happier, Mitchell. This has provided the SLP with the opportunity to motivate Mitchell to communicate more with those around him. Though functionally non-verbal, we have seen Mitchell’s willingness to communicate grow as he realises we understand him and allow him to exercise choice in, and control over, his life.