NDIS Functional Capacity Assessments
Your Comprehensive Guide to NDIS Functional Capacity Assessments
A Functional Capacity Assessment (FCA) is a detailed evaluation aimed at understanding an individual's capability to perform everyday activities across all ages. Essential for informing NDIS funding, support, and planning, it assesses various functional areas to tailor support that enhances an individual’s independence and participation in daily life.
Our philosophy emphasises a person-centered approach, ensuring that each assessment holistically considers the individual's unique circumstances, strengths, and challenges, allowing for informed decision-making in their care and support planning.
Empower
Growth
Specialised support
for diverse needs
For autistic adults
Autistic adults encounter unique challenges as they navigate the complexities of adult life, often grappling with nuanced social interactions, heightened sensory sensitivities, and the need for predictable routines, while striving for independence and effective communication.
Our approaches are tailored to enhance social competencies, fostering deeper connections and more meaningful relationships. We offer strategies to manage sensory sensitivities, ensuring a sense of comfort and well-being in various environments.
Additionally, we focus on cultivating essential life skills such as organisation, time management, and self-care, supporting autistic adults in achieving a greater degree of independence and a more satisfying life.
For mental health
Our services are dedicated to addressing a broad spectrum of mental health issues, ranging from common conditions such as anxiety and depression to more complex challenges, including schizophrenia, personality disorders, and beyond.
We provide support designed to empower individuals with coping strategies for everyday stressors, offer guidance in establishing and adhering to beneficial routines, and deliver techniques for effective emotional regulation.
Our therapeutic interventions are centered on skill-building activities that enhance social engagement, encourage proficient self-care, and foster a sense of independence, all to meet the diverse needs of those navigating mental health challenges.
For other disabilities
We extend our support to adults with a range of disabilities, encompassing physical, developmental, or neurological challenges.
These individuals often encounter specific obstacles in their daily routines, which can include issues with mobility, communication, learning, or executing daily tasks.
Although our specialisation lies in providing therapy for individuals with autism and mental health conditions, our services are inclusively designed to cater to all adults with disabilities.
Our therapists are proficiently trained to administer high-quality interventions tailored to meet the diverse needs of each individual, ensuring that everyone has access to the support they need to enhance their quality of life and achieve greater independence.
Supporting life transitions
Our therapy embodies a path to maximise each person's unique capabilities. This phase of life is a time for flourishing, celebrating diversities, and gearing up for a life filled with opportunities.
Occupational Therapy can...
Develop self care mastery
We focus on nurturing essential self-care skills. This includes refining abilities in personal grooming, hygiene, and managing daily routines.
Teach life skills
This involves teaching adults to manage their finances effectively, cook basic meals, navigate public transport, maintain a clean and organised living space, and more.
Enhance social skills
We focus on enhancing abilities such as understanding social cues, effective communication, and building healthy relationships. These skills are important for successful interactions in diverse settings, be it in school, the workplace, or social gatherings.
Foster emotional regulation
We assist adults in understanding and managing their emotions effectively. This includes strategies for coping with stress, anxiety, and frustration.
Understand sensory processing
We focus on strategies to manage sensory information effectively. Our therapy helps adults adapt to different sensory environments, enhancing their ability to process and respond to sensory stimuli in everyday life.
Get work ready
For adults keen to access work, we assist with employment readiness. Our program includes building job-seeking skills such as resume writing, interview preparation, workplace communication, and advocacy for workplace accommodations. We also focus on developing the soft skills necessary for employment, such as time management, teamwork, and problem-solving.
Case study: Sarah's journey with Brain Seed
Sarah, a 35-year-old graphic designer, navigates life recently diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder - Level 2. Her condition presents significant challenges in social communication and repetitive behaviors, making professional and personal interactions particularly taxing. She often finds social cues and workplace norms difficult, which can result in anxiety and misunderstandings during team projects or client meetings.
Despite her talents and creativity, Sarah experiences a sense of isolation in her workplace, partly due to misconceptions about her condition and her own struggles with social engagement. Adapting to new routines or sudden changes at work can be overwhelming, leading to increased stress and difficulty in expressing her needs or seeking support.
Yet, Sarah's story isn't solely defined by these challenges. Her exceptional skills in graphic design, where she communicates vividly through her artwork, showcase her unique perspective and attention to detail.
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Frequently asked questions
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What is Brain Seed's approach?Our therapy approach is goal-focused and evidence-based. We collaborate with clients and their families to identify key areas for development, setting clear goals to work towards increased independence in those areas. Our methods may involve working on underlying skills, such as improving hand-eye coordination to engage in ball games, or focusing directly on the task itself, like teaching step-by-step processes for getting dressed or cooking.
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What makes Brain Seed different?We address common challenges in occupational therapy with our unique approach. While some practices that may rely heavily on standardised programs, we emphasise personalised, context-specific strategies. We avoid pitfalls like insufficient client involvement in goal setting or neglecting the latest research in our field. Instead, we prioritise collaborative goal-setting with clients and their families, focusing on practical outcomes that matter to them.
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What areas does Brain Seed service?We provide mobile occupational therapy services across Sydney's Inner West, South-West, CBD, and Lower North Shore suburbs. We operate in a 30 minute radius from our home in Petersham. Additionally, our Telehealth services are available Australia-wide. Please contact us directly to find out if we service your specific location.
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How much does therapy cost?Therapy services are priced at $193.99 per hour for all clients, regardless of their funding source. For NDIS clients, there is an additional one-way travel charge, calculated based on the NDIS rate. This means the travel cost is proportional to the distance traveled to provide the service. Additional charges apply for report writing, communication with stakeholders such as support coordinators and other therapists, and for the time spent creating customised resources for therapy.
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How do I know if my child needs OT?Determining if your child needs occupational therapy involves observing their daily activities and development. Look for signs such as difficulties with coordination, challenges in playing or socialising with peers, trouble with daily tasks like dressing or eating, or delays in reaching developmental milestones. Behavioural issues or unusual responses to sensory experiences can also be indicators. If you notice any of these signs, or if you have concerns about your child’s development, it’s a good idea to consult with an occupational therapist for an evaluation. We always encourage concerned parents to call our practice to speak with a Senior Occupational Therapist, free of charge and obligation.
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Where does therapy take place?Therapy is designed to fit your lifestyle. We offer in-home sessions, as well as sessions at childcare centers, schools, or any other convenient community locations. For those who prefer or need remote services, we also provide Telehealth sessions via Zoom.
Navigating the complexities of adulthood, especially for individuals with disabilites engaging in occupational therapy, often prompts a variety of questions. To help you understand our services, we've assembled a collection of frequently asked questions.