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Adaptive
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Therapy & support
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Therapy & support
Where to start for feeding & eating difficulties
Start with your paediatrician to rule out medical causes, then ask for a feeding assessment with a speech-language or occupational therapist who looks at chewing, swallowing and sensory responses, supported by a dietitian if needed. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere should I start to get help for a child with FASD?
Start with one structured developmental assessment that maps your child's whole profile, then build a coordinated plan combining speech, occupational, behavioural and learning support alongside paediatric care, with your family at the centre. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere should I start to get help for a child with Fine Motor Delay?
To get help for a child with fine motor delay, start with a developmental check from a qualified clinician, who will usually guide you to occupational therapy — playful, targeted support that builds the small-muscle hand and finger control behind grasping, drawing, dressing and feeding. No referral or label is needed first. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere to start getting help for a child with a genetic or chromosomal syndrome
Start with two parallel steps for a child with a genetic or chromosomal syndrome: a paediatrician or clinical geneticist for the medical picture, and a developmental assessment to map communication, movement, learning and daily-living skills so early therapy can begin. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere should I start to get help for a child with Global Developmental Delay?
Begin with a single developmental assessment by a paediatrician or child-development team that maps your child's skills across every area, then move into a coordinated plan of speech, occupational and physiotherapy with parent coaching. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere to start to get help for Gross Motor Delay
To get help for gross motor delay, start with a developmental check by a paediatrician or child physiotherapist who can review your child's movement and decide on support, then begin physiotherapy and play-based practice with home coaching. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere to Start Getting Help for a Child with Hearing Impairment
Help for a child with hearing impairment starts with a hearing test — see your paediatrician for a referral and arrange a full audiological evaluation with an audiologist, especially if the newborn screening wasn't passed. From there, early speech-language and listening support, and any recommended hearing technology, are built around your child. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere should I start to get help for a child with hypotonia?
The first step for a child with hypotonia is a developmental check with a paediatric clinician, who guides you to the right support — usually physiotherapy as the core, often with occupational and feeding support. You don't need a diagnosis to begin. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere to start getting help for a child with Intellectual Disability
Start by talking to your paediatrician and arranging a structured developmental assessment that reviews thinking, language and adaptive skills, rules out treatable causes like hearing or vision difficulties, and builds a personalised plan blending speech therapy, occupational therapy, special education and parent coaching. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere to start for a child with Motor Planning Difficulties
To get help for a child with motor planning difficulties, start with a developmental check by a qualified clinician, with occupational therapy usually leading support alongside physiotherapy or speech therapy as needed. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere should I start to get help for a non-verbal or minimally verbal child?
To get help for a non-verbal or minimally verbal child, start with a developmental and speech-language assessment, rule out hearing differences, and begin speech therapy that uses gestures, pictures and AAC as bridges to spoken words, with parent coaching at home. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere to start getting help for a child with Oppositional Defiant Disorder
Help for a child with Oppositional Defiant Disorder starts with a structured developmental and behavioural assessment, followed by parent management training and child-focused therapy that reduce conflict and build emotional regulation. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere should I start to get help for a child with Persistent Toe-Walking?
Start with a paediatric developmental and physiotherapy check that examines gait, calf tightness and ankle movement to tell idiopathic toe-walking from a cause needing medical attention. Most children do well with physiotherapy, stretching and play-based support, with parent coaching for home. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere should I start to get help for a child with Prematurity-Related Developmental Risk?
Begin with a developmental follow-up review — through the NICU high-risk follow-up clinic if relevant, then a structured clinician-led developmental check using corrected age across movement, communication, play and feeding, with support such as physiotherapy, occupational and speech therapy as needed. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere to start getting help for a child with Rett Syndrome
Start with a paediatrician or paediatric neurologist to confirm the diagnosis and oversee health needs, then build a multidisciplinary team across physiotherapy, occupational therapy and communication support, beginning with a developmental assessment. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere to start for a child with a school readiness gap
To get help for a school readiness gap, start with a clinician-led developmental check at a Pinnacle Blooms Network centre that maps your child's language, fine motor, attention and social-emotional skills, then follow a play-based plan that may include occupational and speech therapy. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere should I start to get help for a child with Selective Mutism?
Start with a clinician-led developmental and speech-language assessment that looks at anxiety, communication and how a child copes across settings, then begin gentle graded support with home and school aligned. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere should I start to get help for a child with Self-Regulation Difficulties?
Start with a developmental check by a qualified clinician who can understand your child's whole picture, then build calming skills mainly through occupational therapy and parent coaching, with speech or behavioural support where it helps. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere to start for sensory-based feeding selectivity
To get help for sensory-based feeding selectivity, start with a developmental feeding assessment from a paediatric team — occupational and speech-language therapists working alongside your paediatrician — who explore why your child avoids certain foods and build a gentle, low-pressure plan. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere to start for a child with Sensory Processing Differences
The best place to start is a developmental check with a paediatric occupational therapist, who specialises in how children process sensory input and can shape a gentle, practical plan; a broad developmental view and parent coaching round out support. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere should I start to get help for a child with Separation Anxiety Disorder?
Help for a child with separation anxiety starts with a developmental and emotional check by a qualified clinician, who can tell apart normal clinginess from anxiety worth supporting. The main support is gentle, play-based child psychology and behaviour therapy with strong parent coaching and school partnership, so confidence grows step by step. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere Should I Start to Get Help for Social Communication Difficulties?
Support for social communication difficulties starts with a developmental check by a speech-language pathologist, who reviews how a child uses language to connect, then shapes a plan around speech and language therapy with parent coaching. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere to start getting help for a child with Specific Learning Disability
Start with a clinician-led developmental and educational assessment to pinpoint where a child's learning struggles lie, then begin structured remedial teaching alongside school accommodations and confidence-building at home. Specific Learning Disability is usually recognised once schooling is underway, around ages 6–8. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhere to Start for Help with Speech and Language Delay
To get help for a child with speech and language delay, start with a developmental check that includes a speech-language assessment — via your paediatrician, a speech-language pathologist, or RBSK screening — and ask for a hearing check too. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
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