Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Children’s Disability Network Teams (CDNTs) work as ‘interdisciplinary’ teams. This means that team members share information, decision-making, and goal setting on each case they work on together. They work with the child and their family to write a support plan called an Individual Family Support Plan (IFSP). You can read more about how the IFSP works here.
In practice, the model of service involves a range of supports which might look like any of the following:
- Home visits
- School visits
- Group work (with children with similar needs; or parents facing similar challenges)
- Supporting AON (Assessment of Need) assessments
- Meeting with other stakeholders supporting your child and family (schools, hospitals, family support workers, local community supports, for example).
- One-to-one therapy, when needed.
If a child transfers from a Primary Care Team (PCT) to a CDNT (Children s Disability Network Team), it is because the PCT has decided that the child’s needs would be best met with support from a CDNT. The opposite can also happen. A child can be referred to a CDNT, and after review, the CDNT might decide that the child’s needs are not complex and do not require the support of their interdisciplinary team. Instead, the child’s needs can be met by their local Primary Care Team.
The length of time your child will wait for services varies in each CDNT. It depends on the type of support your child needs and the demand for services in your area. You can contact your CDNT directly to ask for updates on their waiting times.
Children are seen in order of date of receipt of referral, however some children either at the point of referral or while they are on the waiting list may have urgent needs, such as equipment breakdown. In the case of an urgent need, please contact your CDNT to update them.
Please also let the CDNT know if your child has had any private assessments to ensure your child’s file is up to date.
When your child’s case is opened, a team member will arrange to meet you and your child. At this meeting, they will explain how the team works and what to expect next – typically this will involve completing an Individual Family Support Plan (IFSP) with you. You will also have a chance to ask any questions.
The type support your child and family will receive will depend on what goals you currently want to focus on.
Individual supports (or ‘one-to-one therapy’) are provided for children and young people whose goals are best met through working one-to-one with a clinician. These might be for certain clinical needs, such as difficulties with postural management, feeding, eating, drinking, or swallowing.
Not all children with complex needs, arising from a disability, will need individual supports.
A range of supports are provided by CDNTs. These include:
- Universal strategies (group work) suitable to all families and children;
- Targeted group work, which is suitable to some children or families;
- One-to-one support for a child/ young person’s need that wouldn’t be addressed through universal strategies or targeted group work.
All these approaches have equal value. A mix of approaches or different types of approaches at different times may be needed. This choice will be depend on what is best suited to meet the child or young person’s needs, in line with your family priorities.
An Individual Family Support Plan (IFSP) sets out the main goals you and your family have for your child. These goals may change over time, as your child gets older. They will reflect elements of family life, school life, or community involvement that you want to support your child to be involved with as much as possible.
When you meet with a clinician to discuss your first IFSP, you will work together to identify what those main goals are. Examples of these could be trying different strategies to help food shopping be an enjoyable activity for the whole family; or trying different strategies to support better sleep for your child and the whole family; or preparing your child for going to a new school.
To help you prepare for your first IFSP meeting, think about what your child is good at and what they enjoy, as well as what they find difficult. Some questions worth considering are:
- What is the priority for our child and family now?
- What have we tried already? Was this successful?
- How can we work on this priority?
- Is this the best time to work on this goal for us as a family?
Targeted supports are what we call group work for children or parents who have similar needs. These groups are invite-only. This is because the CDNT has identified children or parents who need this support. Groups are also run for certain age groups to ensure content is age appropriate.
Bringing children together in groups is more fun for them and they can learn from each other. Group work for parents brings together parents who have shared challenges and gives them a chance to share their ideas and experiences.
Examples of group work include:
- Early Bird Training Programme for parents of children who have recently been given an autism diagnosis
- Hanen programmes for developing communication
- Triple P Positive Parenting.