November 2017 – Kid Sense was featured (electronically) as a NDIS service provider of note.
After a full day of filming of the service delivery to NDIS participants, Kid Sense was showcased as a service provider that has flourished under the NDIS by working with the scheme to move past any small hurdles in order to focus on the truly amazing client outcome possible. This footage appears on the electronic NDIS annual report, the NDIS website and in other social media.
October 2017 – Joanna Buttfield was a Finalist in the 2017 Telstra Women’s Business Awards (Entrepreneur category)
During her career Joanna has worked tirelessly to help children with additional needs to be “the best kids they can be”. Combining parenthood, passion for the cause and business, Joanna has built the Kid Sense brand to one of excellence since 1998.
With Joanna at the helm, Kid Sense has taken a position of leadership in the delivery of paediatric allied health services in a predominantly cottage based industry by forging a corporately branded business approach. This method of delivering quality service to our most deserving community members ensures the sustainability of this much needed service.
Strongly believing that it takes a cohesive team to achieve great things,
Joanna has lead the team with the emphasis that ’knowledge is power’. She is strongly of the view that all parents and teachers need to not just live or work with a child’s difficulties but also to understand them in order to actively help the child. She is similarly minded in upskilling all therapists on the team in order to create a ground of more truly skilled paediatric therapists to help the children in most need.
Joanna is grateful to the amazing team that has shared her vision on the journey, and is excited about helping even more children (and their supporting adults) in the future.
September 2017 – Kid Sense was a finalist in the 2017 National Telstra Business Awards (category)
Attending a two day event in Sydney, Joanna and Conor represented Kid Sense as the 2017 Telstra South Australian Small Business of the Year. Although unsuccessful at a national level in the face of stiff competition, it was a huge honour for an allied health company, and paediatric at that, to compete at a national level in business. Kid Sense could not be more proud of the team that achieves such great outcomes for children and their family, or more grateful to the parents and teachers that have supported our vision over the years.
July 2017 – Kid Sense Featured in The Advertiser Business Journal.
Kid Sense was featured in The Advertiser – Business Journal outlining the company’s growth to date and the exciting future plans. The articles were as attached:
July 2017 – WINNER of the 2017 Telstra South Australian Small Business Award
Kid Sense wishes to thank our committed clients and amazing staff without whom this award would not be possible.
Our exceptional staff continue to show love and encouragement day in day out, to make a difference in the lives of children. Their incredible passion to support and nurture each child to be the best they can is remarkable. Kid Sense lives because of their vitality, commitment and conviction.
The dedication and commitment of the mums and dads who invest incredible time and resources into their greatest asset – their child – is awe inspiring. They are champions each and every one.
So many of our parents are faced with huge challenges as their child develops into an adult. With children, as in life, persistence pays off whether in Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy or practice at home.
On the back of this award we are going to work even harder to unlock the potential of each and every child in our care. We are going to strive harder to help even more children overcome life’s little challenges, and we are going to support our staff to be the most fulfilled and professionally developed they can be.
Our vision is simple yet compelling – to create the most trusted brand in child development in Australia. Thanks to our staff and clients, we are well on our way!
June 2017 – Kid Sense named a Finalist in the 2017 Telstra Business Awards
Kid Sense Child Development is delighted to announce that it has been named a State Finalist in this year’s Telstra Business Awards.
Over the past 19 years, Kid Sense has helped thousands of children overcome challenges in movement, play, speech, language, learning, attention and behaviour through Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy. This nomination is a validation of our ongoing vision – to create the most trusted brand in child development in Australia.
Kid Sense was conceptualised in a bagel bar in the USA by founder and director Joanna Buttfield. Joanna was determined to bring the specialist paediatric skills she had acquired in the USA back to Australia. Kid Sense came to fruition in 1998 upon Joanna’s return to Adelaide and she opened the doors with the passionate intent of helping kids with developmental challenges be the best they could be.
Kid Sense has now grown into a custom-designed facility in Unley offering centre-based Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy. Employing 15 full-time staff, it has the capacity to provide 28,000 appointments annually. Kid Sense’s operational model has ‘corporatised’ what was essentially a cottage industry. From the first client contact to eventual discharge, Kid Sense leverages technology to provide best clinical practice and to ensure that therapists are best equipped to provide services to children. Kid Sense also recruits, trains and develops young clinicians and through a rigorous internship process, produces therapists of the highest ability for the benefit of the paediatric market place in general.
Kid Sense adopts a holistic view and believes that you can’t develop a child without developing their support network i.e. siblings, parents and teachers. Kid Sense does this by providing workshops to upskill childcare, kindergarten and school staff who are responsible for the daily care of children. We also educate parents in each and every session by providing written home programs and recommendations following each attendance.
Kid Sense is a community-focused organisation and to further support the paediatric community, it hosts a 200-page website offering free downloadable charts, checklists, fact sheets, blogs and videos on tips and tricks to help parents, educators and therapists alike. These are made freely available for anyone to benefit from.
Kid Sense plans to expand its staff complement from 15 to 30 employees by December 2018 through the establishment of a new therapy centre in the north of Adelaide. This will increase clinical capacity to 60,000 appointments a year and also allow us to introduce Child Psychology.
The Kid Sense team is very proud of our nomination as a 2017 Telstra Business Awards Finalist. It offers affirmation to our clients that they have partnered with a progressive and innovative provider of therapeutic services to children. We are especially grateful to our staff for their professionalism and tireless commitment to helping children unlock their true potential.
