Occupational therapy for autistic children

Sensory-first, not behaviour-first

The biggest decision in autistic OT is whether you're treating the behaviour (meltdowns, shutdowns, refusal) or the underlying sensory state. Hey Sprout's OTs work the sensory state first — almost always, the behaviour follows.

That means:

• We map your child's sensory profile in the first 1–2 sessions. Where are they over-responsive? Under-responsive? Sensory-seeking? It's almost never uniform.
• We build a regulation routine that fits your household — no expensive equipment, no clinic-only tools.
• We pay attention to interoception (the sense of internal body state) which is often disrupted in autism and underlies a lot of "out-of-nowhere" meltdowns.
• We don't ask kids to suppress stims or sensory-seeking behaviour. Those behaviours are usually regulatory, not problematic.

Co-occurring conditions we plan for

Autism rarely shows up alone. Hey Sprout's intake catches the common co-occurrences:

• ADHD (high overlap — many autistic kids meet both)
• Anxiety
• Sensory processing differences (often more pronounced than the autism itself)
• Sleep difficulties

OT covers the daily-living and regulation pieces. For ADHD-management strategies, we work with our child psychologists. For language and social communication, we coordinate with speech pathology. One intake, three disciplines, shared notes — that's Hey Sprout's whole reason for existing.

NDIS funding

OT for an NDIS-funded autistic child is typically funded under Capacity Building → Improved Daily Living. A first-plan child often gets enough for fortnightly OT for a year. We invoice your plan manager directly — you don't see a bill.