Additional Support Services and Programs
Guidance and support can be provided for our client’s and their families across environmental settings.
We educate and empower children and families to collaborate and achieve their therapeutic goals.
Families are frequently confronted with situations and stressors. They have hopes, dreams, and concerns for their child’s future, which sometimes require support in their child’s development and well-being. Additional support services are available to provide our clients and their families with the tools to navigate early detection and interventions, transition to and from school-based services, implement carryover of therapeutic activities in the home, and identify resources that can offer them additional opportunities.
At KidSense, Milford and Danbury, CT, we consider our clients an extension of our family and collaborate in a variety of ways to ease some of the challenges families might face. We help by providing support and education for caregivers, as well as guidance to assist in coping with life changes, diagnoses, and the well-being of their children. Our additional support services strive to provide client-centered approaches that assist children and their families in reaching their full potential.
Support Service Goals at KidSense:
Ensuring the most optimal services are being provided, by offering independent evaluations, home evaluations, and comprehensive discharge planning.
Promoting the well-being of the whole child by working with families to identify relevant resources, providers, and/or interventions.
Maximizing carryover of progress and achievement of goals by consulting and collaborating with providers, teachers, parents, and caregivers across settings.
Empowering clients and families through education, so that they may advocate for their child to reach their goals.
Promoting the mental and emotional health of family members by offering a community of parents and caregivers through our support groups.
The Role of a Therapist
Committed to the Development of your Child with Dedication and Perseverance
KidSense staff can offer a variety of support services such as:
- Occupational therapists can consult and design sensory spaces for your home, as well as conduct vocational evaluations for the transition to adulthood.
- Physical therapists may conduct home evaluations to make recommendations for accessibility within your home. They may also facilitate the trialing of equipment such as walkers, strollers, etc and connect you with prosthetists and orthotists for casting and prescription of braces.
- Speech & Language pathologists can evaluate the need for Augmentative and Alternative Communication devices, as well as facilitate trials of devices through community or school-based resources.
- Independent Educational Evaluations in the area of OT, PT, and Speech & Language, with specific focus on the student's needs within the school environment.
- Tools for advocacy in transition planning, whether that be from early intervention to school-based services or from school-based services to post-secondary education & employment.
- Culturally-Linguistically Diverse Evaluations can be completed by our bilingual clinicians to evaluate students in order to appropriately support the education of diverse student populations, assist special education teams with referrals and eligibility determination, and maximize the use of resources.
How does a KidSense Therapist Help?
A KidSense therapist can help in the following ways:
A KidSense therapist will listen to a family's specific concerns and identify strengths and needs to tailor interventions that will be individualized for the client and family’s current circumstances.
A KidSense therapist can help a family identify pressures or barriers to accessing care in order to meet shared goals and objectives. Additional support services can connect a family to community services and resources.
Why Choose Kidsense for Additional Support Services
We assist parents with supporting their child’s development.
- Tailored to Client’s Needs and Specific Situations: We provide tailored solutions according to the needs of our clients. Therapy can be delivered in groups or during one-on-one sessions. Similarly, we encourage the participation of the family in goal setting and implementing activities at home.
- Comprehensive Child Support: Our services target the various and unique family situations of our clients. We provide emotional support as well as help enable families to cope with a variety of challenges they might experience.
- Collaboration with other professionals: We facilitate collaboration between our client’s families, other professionals and service providers such as teachers, pediatricians, specialists, etc.
- Diversity and Inclusion: We understand that each family has different strengths and approaches to supporting their child, and it may differ from one client to another. We honor and respect family diversity in cultural, racial, ethnic, and linguistic dimensions.
- Support in Implementing Best Practices: We help you implement the best practices to support your child’s developmental needs in your everyday life.
- Family Support and Networking: We encourage networking with other families of children with special needs or developmental delays. We value and promote a sense of community amongst parents and families so that they may feel supported and empowered to share their questions, frustrations, and joys.
- Reduce Isolation: We recognize it can be overwhelming to raise a child with special needs. Family support services and support groups can be formed based on need. These services remind you that you are not alone.
What are Support Services and Why Are They Important?
It Takes a Village to Raise a Child: Grow Your Village With Our Support
Additional support services highlight ways in which the therapists collaborate with the caregivers of children with special needs for improved outcomes. These services provide families with connections to community resources, parent education and support, consultation, advocacy, and community outreach for the children and families served.The Importance of Additional Support Services
- Knowing Where To Go: Support services can point you in the right direction when exploring additional services and resources. Our support services can provide you with recommendations on services and professionals who are well-recommended.
- Advocacy: Parents can find it difficult and intimidating to influence changes in programs and services. However, if an experienced professional voices their concerns and provides feedback, this can lead to being heard by decision-makers. We support parents and give them tools and knowledge to advocate for their children during school meetings and doctor's visits.
- New Ideas: Families can receive additional opinions and suggestions to best fulfill the needs of the child or deal with a challenging situation by implementing different tools and strategies, which we can show you.
- Developing Community: You can share and learn from others in relatable situations within a trusting and safe environment.
Support Services include the following:
- Designing and consultation for home sensory rooms.
- Sensory diets and home programs.
- Creating interventions to promote the child's positive social and emotional development.
- Parent sessions to assist parents in fostering excellent parent-child relationships.
- Providing knowledge, skills, and support to families to improve their child's skill development.
- Individual, family, or group counseling for a child's parent and other family members.
- Identifying family needs, as well as community services and resources that can assist in fulfilling those needs. Making recommendations and connecting the family to those resources; coordinating services, and advocating on behalf of the child and family (e.g. consultation with schools and daycare).
- Providing a database of referral sources and a network of providers to help the community make the most of its resources.
- Collaborating with other professionals to ensure that your child gets the best care.
- Educating and providing training opportunities to parents to develop self-advocacy, raise awareness of their child's needs, and discover constructive strategies to navigate your child’s development.
- Identify service gaps and ways to problem-solve them to deliver more complete and effective services.
- Assist families in discovering and developing their talents, improving their problem-solving abilities, and enhancing their sense of empowerment.
- Evaluations for executive functioning and social cognition for IEE options.
- Culturally diverse services including consults, in-services/ workshops, screenings, evaluations, and translation services to help school districts improve student outcomes.
External Additional Support Services Resources for Families, Parents and Caregivers
Resources do not supplement an evaluation and treatment plan created by a licensed therapist and should be used for informational purposes only.
Autism, Insurance and CT Laws
https://www.ncsl.org/research/health/autism-and-insurance-coverage-state-laws.aspx
Check out for the Connecticut laws related to Autism and insurance coverage.
Disability Determination Service Unit
https://www.ssa.gov/disability
The Social Security and Supplemental Security Income disability programs are the largest of several Federal programs that provide assistance to people with disabilities. While these two programs are different in many ways, both are administered by the Social Security Administration and only individuals who have a disability and meet medical criteria may qualify for benefits under either program.
Department of Social Services
https://portal.ct.gov/dss
The Department of Social Services (DSS) delivers and funds a wide range of programs and services as Connecticut’s multi-faceted health and human services agency. They support the basic needs of children, families, older and other adults, including persons with disabilities.
The Office of the Healthcare Advocate
https://www.ct.gov/oha/site/default.asp
A FREE consumer assistance service for people who have been denied health care or are dissatisfied with their health plan’s decision. Contact them at 1.866.466.4446 or visit them online.
Department of Aging and Disability Services
https://portal.ct.gov/AgingAndDisability
Programs, policies and practices are designed to Advocate for the rights of Connecticut residents with disabilities and older adults.
Social Security Disability Insurance
https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/disability
The Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs provide assistance to people with disabilities. This page provides detailed information to help you understand what to expect from Social Security during the application process.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can KidSense help me share information with other teams such as schools or daycares?
Our pediatric therapeutic services extend beyond our clinics. Upon consent, KidSense may share evaluation results and discuss a client's current treatment plan with whomever you elect. We are also available to host in-services and team coaching in the geographical areas we serve.
I'm a professional looking for support, who do I contact at KidSense?
We would love to connect! Simply email us at: [email protected] and one of our team members will contact you to determine options for collaborative therapy services.
What does getting started with Design and Consultation for Home Sensory Rooms look like?
This process starts with an OT evaluation if your child has not already had one, to assess their sensory needs. Once that has been completed, a consultation to review parent concerns in the home, as well as overall home layout will be scheduled followed by an in-home consultation and initial measuring will take place. This unfortunately is not covered by insurance and is an out of pocket expense.
What happens when a client is discharged?
Before a planned discharge, therapists dedicate sessions to preparing for a home program, reviewing progress, training clients and families on recommended activities to maintain progress, as well as signs that might warrant a re-evaluation. Once discharged, a client will be sent a copy of their discharge summary outlining their progress and recommendations. Clients are also sent discharge surveys and added to our call-back program, where we will check in periodically to see how the client is doing after discharge. We welcome and are grateful for the feedback you have for our therapists and our clinic.
Do you offer any advocacy support?
We are passionate about helping clients and their families in as many ways as possible. With our experiences working in a variety of settings, navigating special education services, medically-necessary services, transition planning, and client-centered planning we can offer a variety of family support services.
Do you offer Independent Educational Evaluations?
Families may request Independent Educational Evaluations through the PPT process. We conduct speech and language evaluations, literacy evaluations, occupational therapy evaluations, and physical therapy evaluations aimed at providing recommendations to collaborate with districts to foster academic therapy services.
Read up on Additional Support Services and Programs
KidSense Locations
KidSense Therapy Group has two convenient locations in Milford and Danbury CT, which serve our greater New Haven County area as well as the greater Fairfield County area. Both locations are fully staffed with teams of therapists as well as administrative professionals.
