KidSense blue logo representing child-focused occupational therapy, speech therapy, and functional capacity assessments

Block Therapy Explained

KidSense banner highlighting functional capacity assessments and occupational therapy for NDIS participants

Maximize Therapy Success Through Strategic Block Scheduling

Research review, in conjunction with our clinical observations, has identified that a frequency of weekly sessions is likely to be most impactful for the outcomes for children and young adults accessing our services. The subsequent recommendations are that therapy is best conducted weekly (in blocks), rather than irregularly in fortnightly through the year.

Why is a block-based scheduling approach recommended?

A higher frequency of therapy has been proven to have greater success with interventions in a range of areas, from developing speech-sounds to motor learning.

When appointments are spread out over a longer timeframe (e.g. fortnightly), the beginning of each appointment must be committed to reviewing the previous appointments information, home program practice completed & relevant events, and current skill level before then building upon this in the appointment. With weekly appointments, much less time is spent regrouping on the past weeks, and there is less demand on the child or young adult to relearn/recall information from past appointment.

Whilst research across a range of clinical areas suggests that different intensities work best for different clinical areas, generally research labels ‘high intensity’ as 2-5 times a week, and ‘low intensity’ as weekly.

This suggested level of weekly frequency during the ‘on’ appointment blocks reduces the demand in a child or young adults memory from one appointment to another, and can also help nurture the therapist/client relationship more quickly.

In addition to the greater success towards therapy goals during the ‘on’ blocks, the break time during the ‘off’ block allows for functional consolidation and generalization of skills learned ‘in therapy’ to transfer to other areas of life. Additionally, children and young adults are more likely to be motivated by, and focused on, their therapy goals in these shorter blocks, rather than an ongoing fortnightly or monthly appointments.

Holiday Intensive Therapy (high frequency appointments at 2-5 times a week) during school holidays when children are often more ‘learning-ready’ without the school/preschool demands. 

Ongoing functional capacity assessment process by KidSense for NDIS participants

Summary: We expect a (weekly) block based approach to outperform fortnightly or monthly appointments all year, in;

  • Child/young adult motivation for their therapy goals
  • Greater recollection of strategies and retention of teachings
  • Faster success towards short-term goals
  • Opportunity for break times to practice and consolidate skills as well as to transition them to real life teaching moments.

*Research reviewed in determining best approach comes from a range of articles reviewed and published by ‘The Informed SLP

To view the block dates, refer to the tables beneath the FAQ’s.

FAQ’s:

What happens if I need support in my ‘off’ block?

Support in an ‘off’ appointment block can look like:

  • A (detailed) home program of activities to complete during the break time
  • A school/preschool/home observation from your therapist to make recommendations to parents/teachers or support classroom carry-over
  • Emails with your therapist for quick questions
  • Once-off or irregular extra therapy appointments (or parent phone calls) scheduled as needed.

What does a block-based approach look like compared to fortnightly therapy?

Please note that fortnightly all year (24) appointments and 3 blocks of weekly therapy for 8 weeks duration (24) appointments involve the same number of appointments over the course of the year, so this therapy delivery method does not change how your funding is used or allocated but may well increase the value of the appointments.

Instead OfWe Recommend
Weekly therapy, all yearNo change
Fortnightly therapy, all year.1 set of blocks (A or B) – that is 3 blocks of weekly therapy for an 8 week duration
Two siblings, both fortnightlySibling 1 – Set A and Sibling 2 –  Set B
OR
Both siblings same set, at a back to back time or different days
One child, two disciplinesSpeech Therapy in Set A, then Occupational Therapy in Set B,
OR
Both Speech and OT in the same set, at a back to back time
Two siblings accessing both Speech and OTAll therapies for both children to occur in one set
OR
Children alternate sets (e.g. child 1 – Set A, child 2 – Set B)
OR
Alternate disciplines (e.g. OT for both – Set A, Speech therapy for both – Set B)

So, put another way, parents and carers make the following choices of therapy attendance

Attendance FrequencyDiscipline AttendanceSibling Attendance
  • Weekly, all year
  • Either set (3 x 8 week blocks)
    • Set A preferred or
    • Set B preferred
  • Fortnightly, all year
  • OT/Speech in the same set
  • OT/Speech in the opposite set
  • N/A – weekly, all year
  • Siblings in same set
  • Siblings in opposite set
  • N/A – weekly, all year

To schedule appointments: click here, call our friendly Client Coordinators on Ph (08) 8272-7522 or email [email protected]

Block Therapy is available in the following timing options:

Set ASet BBlockBeginsEndsSchool Year Timing
A 1Jan 7Mar 2Jan Hols – Mid Term #1
 B2Mar 3Apr 27Mid Term #1 – End Term 1/2 Holidays
A 3Apr 28Jun 22Begin Term #2 – Late Term #2
 B4Jun 23Aug 17Late Term #2 – Early Term #3
A 5Aug 18Oct 12Early Term #3 – Start Term #4
 B6Oct 13Dec 19Begin Term #4 – Xmas

For more details please see the following timetable. Click here

Schedule new year appointments here or call to speak to our scheduling team.