How our teams work

A Family-Centred Philosophy

Family centred practice is at the heart of how CDNTs work. We recognise that parents and caregivers know their child best. We listen to your family's priorities and work in partnership with you to make decisions about your supports. You and your child, where appropriate, are actively involved in setting goals and planning supports to fit your unique circumstances. 

Children develop and learn through taking part in daily life and activities with their family, school and community. The team will support you to make the most of these natural learning opportunities in your everyday life. 

With your keyworker you will develop an Individual Family Support Plan to record your priorities and the supports and actions that will help your child participate and thrive in everyday life.

For instance, it could include helping your child to participate in community activities, preparing to start school or move to secondary school. The IFSP is regularly reviewed and adapted to reflect your child's and your family's changing needs.

See National Disability Authority review of Family Centred Practice for more information.

Setting goals in your IFSP

The IFSP is an opportunity to reflect on what  is working for you and your child now and what you and your child might like to be different. 

The number of goals active at any one time needs to be achievable and realistic for you and your family. Two to three goals at any one time is suggested as reasonable in most circumstances.

An example of an IFSP goal might be: ‘Matthew will visit his local playground weekly’.

Team supports

Interventions can be provided by individual CDNT members or team members working collaboratively. It may include individual, targeted and/or universal supports. See the next page in this section for examples of types of supports a CDNT can provide. 

Using the same example of Matthew attending the local playground, the example of team supports here might be: providing Matthew with appropriate orthotics for active play, preparing him for the activity through the development of visuals and a communication system, or identifying a family member or peer to visit the playground with.

Family Strategies

This is the part where you discuss how the family and others around your child every day, such as carers or teachers, are going to help in meeting this goal. The CDNT will provide you with information, advice, and guidance around strategies that can be used.

An example here of family strategies would be the plan and structure agreed by the family for taking Matthew to the playground and using the supports developed for his attendance and enjoyment of this activity. 

To read more about how an IFSP works, see this document, National Guidance for Children’s Disability Network Teams on Individual Family Support Plans. This Guidance document also includes sample IFSP templates.

Supports available

The CDNT will suggest different types of supports that they think will be helpful for your child. The types of supports recommended for your child and family will depend on the goals identified through the IFSP. The CDNT will match the best type of support with the goal your family wants to address. 

The types of supports your CDNT might recommend for your child and family include:

Information sessions, talks and workshops

Also known as 'universal supports' empower parents, families and other caregivers to support children and young people. They may include:

  • How to support your child's sleep 
  • Toileting support
  • Transition group e.g. supporting your child for the move from primary to secondary school
  • Supporting your child's play and interaction 
  • Information on eligibilty and entitlements 
  • Expanding your child's diet

Targeted Supports

Targeted supports are provided to children or parent's of children. These are individual and group interventions for children who have identified similar needs.

Examples of targeted supports include:

  • Communication workshops
  • Family Lámh Courses
  • Regulation workshops
  • Understanding Sensory Differences
  • Understanding autism e.g. Early Bird
  • Sibling workshops

Individualised Supports

These are known as ‘individual supports’ as they are supports for needs that cannot be met through universal and targeted supports.  At this level the clinicians will provide direct support to the child or family individually or in small groups.

Individualised support is where a child has a certain clinical need, such as difficulties with movement, communication, feeding, eating, drinking, or swallowing. Not all children with complex needs, arising from a disability, will need individual support.

Examples of individual supports would be:

  • Postural management 
  • Cognitive assessment
  • Home and school visists