Early Intervention services at CBC begin as soon as possible after parents choose Auditory-Verbal Therapy and wish to enrol at the Centre. Families begin to receive guidance from their A-V Therapist (AVT) who helps answer questions and get them started. Families will receive individual A-V parent guidance sessions on a weekly basis. In addition there is the Parent Infant Program (PIP) which they may attend one morning a week. CBC has several Parent-Child Language Playgroups run by an early childhood educator and overseen by an AVT.

The Early Intervention program comprises:
• Individual A-V therapy sessions
• Parent Infant Program (PIP)
• Parent-Child Language Playgroups
• Pre-School Support Services
• Transition Planning and Support
• Parent Information Sessions
• Early Intervention Newsletter
• Audiology
• Weekly Music segment

PIP is our Parent Infant Program

The Cora Barclay Parent Infant Program runs every Friday during term time. The program is offered to families with children who are deaf or hard of hearing as well as to children with normal hearing.

It is coordinated by a qualified specialist who organises stimulating indoor and outdoor activities that aim to develop the children’s fine and gross motor skills and social interaction.

Parents organise fruit time and work as a team to pack up prior to a short group session on the mat. During this time children and parents join in with songs, show and tell, and stories before leaving.

The HANEN Program

The Hanen Program® - It takes Two to Talk is a family-focused program for parents of young children who have language delays and it addresses the need for early language intervention and the importance of parental involvement in their child’s intervention.

The program is conducted by a Hilary Ganek who is a Hanen Certified speech-language pathologist.

A pre program consultation is conducted to evaluate your child’s communication, followed by 10 training workshops which give parents strategies to help their child interact and communicate. These training sessions are conducted in groups of eight so parents draw support from each other. The program concludes with 3 individual consultations where the parent can apply strategies learned and the therapist will offer feedback.

Parent-Child Language Playgroups

The Parent-Child Playgroups meet once a week during school terms. The sessions are 1.5 hours each and children must be accompanied by their parent or carer. Groups are run by an early childhood specialist in conjunction with a staff Auditory-Verbal Therapist. These groups provide children with a socialisation experience and parents with ideas and techniques to facilitate language development. Three age groupings are available to meet the development needs of infants, toddlers and pre-school children.

Pre-School Support Services

Until the move from Gilberton to North Adelaide in February 2007, the Cora Barclay Centre ran a kindergarten on-site that was attended by both local children with normal hearing and a number (but not all) of Cora Barclay pre-school age children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

The Centre is currently holding discussions with the Education Department (DECS) and a number of independent schools/pre-schools to develop partnerships in which selected pre-schools across the Adelaide metropolitan area are specially fitted out and tailored to meet the needs of our children as they prepare for mainstream schooling.

Transition Planning and Support

A child’s entry to pre-school and later to primary school can be challenging and potentially stressful for any child and his/her parents. This can be even more challenging for a child who is deaf or hard of hearing. To help with this, the Centre provides transition planning and support from Parent-Child Language Playgroups to pre-school and from pre-school to primary school. Support includes information and advice, counselling, familiarisation visits, introductions to therapists and teachers, and peer group support.

Parent Information Sessions

Throughout the year, the Centre endeavours to provide Parent Information Sessions for families receiving Early Intervention services. This is an opportunity for parents to hear different professionals speak about different aspects of hearing impairment as well as giving them the chance to discuss their own experiences.

Early Intervention Newsletter

The Early Intervention Newsletter was introduced in October 2006 as a response to parents’ requests for more technical information, stories and advice about Auditory-Verbal Therapy and what is going on at the Centre and elsewhere that may be of interest to parents and carers of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. The Newsletter is edited by a parent and one of our AVT’s and has proven to be an outstanding success.

Audiology Services

The Centre has recently re-introduced its educational audiology service for children in the Early Intervention program. The audiologist is a key member of our multi-disciplinary team and provides hearing testing, MAPping for children with cochlear implants, and professional advice to our AV Therapists and other team members. We believe that the close on-site collaboration of therapists and audiologists is ideal for identifying, diagnosing and solving listening and speech problems.

Music Program

Singing and music are essential elements of an AV program. Nursery rhymes and simple rhyming songs about everyday activities promote prosody (speech melody), language and listening skills in a fun and social way. In addition to singing and music being an integral part of individual parent guidance therapy sessions, the Centre has a dedicated weekly music session.