Functional Capacity Assessments (FCA's)- find out more about these valuable assessments #paediatricfunctionalcapacityassessment
What are Functional Capacity Assessments for Children?
If you’re a parent, teacher, or anyone invested in your child’s well-being, you might have heard about Functional Capacity Assessments (FCA’s). But what exactly does this mean for kids and how can it make a difference? We’ll explore what an FCA is, why it’s important, and how it works within the NDIS framework.
How Can a Functional Capacity Assessment Help?
Imagine having a roadmap that guides you on how to support your child’s unique needs. A Functional Capacity Assessment evaluates a child’s ability to perform daily tasks and activities, and to what extent they can participate fully in daily life and achieve their goals. An FCA can help to understand the child’s current needs and priorities for support.
Within the NDIS framework, these types of assessments can be beneficial in determining what supports and services might be required at the time of the assessment, which can help with navigating which providers to link in with and where to seek support.
Undertaking an FCA provides an opportunity to gather a wholistic picture of the child and their strengths and challenges in all environments across their week to inform additional accommodations, tools, supports and strategies needed for home, planning for school supports, and modified curriculum plans.
The Occupational Therapist completing the report also provides detailed information regarding specific needs and recommendations for supports tailored to the individual's needs across multiple environments.
What is involved in a Functional Capacity Assessment?
The assessment includes information gathering from parents/caregivers, teachers and any other practitioners who work directly with the child to help gather insights about the child’s daily life, strengths, and areas where they might need extra help- these discussions are key in having a full picture of the child’s needs.
An in-depth assessment involves parent interview, assessment with the child, questionnaires and rating scales, collating and interpreting assessment and recommendations from other providers.
Once all the information is gathered, a report is finalised detailing the child’s strengths and challenges across all areas of daily living and recommendations for support.
In the context of NDIS, Functional Capacity Assessment Reports may be beneficial if there is a significant change in the child’s life. This might be their disability supports needs, informal support arrangements, and/or living arrangements or they can be helpful in the early stages of accessing the scheme to determine how best to allocate funds.
Functional Capacity Assessments are more than just paperwork; they can be a powerful tool in informing tailored support, in line with the current needs of the child. If you think this assessment might be right for your child please feel free to get in touch.
Feel free to contact us at admin@spotpaediatrics.com.au to find out more or to schedule an assessment.
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