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Therapy & support
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Therapy & support
Is behaviour therapy right for Conduct-Dissocial Disorder?
Behaviour therapy is a recognised first-line support for children with Conduct-Dissocial Disorder, and works best when it includes parent coaching alongside child-focused skills work, school coordination and care for any co-occurring difficulties. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerIs behaviour therapy the right therapy for Emotional & Behavioural Difficulties?
Behaviour therapy is a strong, well-evidenced part of supporting children with Emotional & Behavioural Difficulties — teaching emotional and coping skills through positive, consistent strategies — but it works best alongside parent coaching and when it addresses why a behaviour is happening, which may also involve speech, sensory or emotional support. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerBehaviour therapy for Oppositional Defiant Disorder
For Oppositional Defiant Disorder, behaviour therapy is the recommended first-line support, with the strongest evidence for parent management training and parent-focused programmes alongside child skills work. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerIs behaviour therapy usually one-on-one or in a group?
Behaviour therapy is usually not strictly one-on-one or group — it commonly begins with individual sessions to build foundational skills, then adds group sessions to practise sharing, turn-taking and social skills, with the blend chosen to match each child's goals. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerIs early intervention suitable for babies?
Early intervention is not only suitable for babies, it is most effective when it begins early, because a baby's brain forms connections fastest in the first years of life. Support is gentle, joyful and parent-led — play, songs, tummy time and responsive connection. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerIs early intervention suitable for toddlers?
Early intervention is highly suitable for toddlers — the early years are a peak window of brain development, when playful, family-centred support makes the biggest difference with the gentlest effort. No diagnosis is needed to begin. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerIs Early Intervention the Right Therapy for a Child with Autism Spectrum?
For a child on the autism spectrum, early intervention is widely regarded as the most helpful starting point, building on the rapid development of a young brain. It is not one therapy but a personalised plan — often blending speech therapy, occupational therapy and play-based, relationship-led support, with parents at the centre. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerIs early intervention the right therapy for cerebral palsy?
For a child with cerebral palsy, early intervention is widely regarded as the right first step, using the young brain's neuroplasticity to build movement, communication and daily-living skills. It is a coordinated, family-centred team of physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and medical care, tailored to each child. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerIs early intervention the right therapy for a child with Down syndrome?
Yes — early intervention is the most valuable support for a child with Down syndrome, and the earlier it begins the better. Because Down syndrome is identified at or near birth, support can start in the first months: a coordinated programme of physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and parent coaching, built around the child's strengths and alongside paediatric care. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerIs early intervention the right therapy for Global Developmental Delay?
Yes — early intervention is widely regarded as the right and most effective approach for Global Developmental Delay. Because GDD affects two or more areas of development, a coordinated, multidisciplinary, play-based programme of speech therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, developmental learning and parent coaching is tailored to each child, and works best when started early to harness the young brain's neuroplasticity. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerIs early intervention the right therapy for gross motor delay?
For most children with a gross motor delay, early intervention — led by physiotherapy with occupational therapy support — is the right approach, because the early years are when movement pathways form most readily. A clinician should first check why the delay is present, then build a play-based plan 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 AnswerIs Early Intervention Right for a Child with Hearing Impairment?
For a child with hearing impairment, early intervention is the right approach and the earlier it begins the better. It is not one therapy but a coordinated plan — audiology and ENT care, well-fitted hearing aids or cochlear implants where needed, speech and language therapy, and family-centred coaching — built around the child's hearing, age and family's wishes. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerIs early intervention the right therapy for prematurity-related developmental risk?
For a child with prematurity-related developmental risk, early intervention is the recommended approach — starting gentle, tailored, play-based support during the brain's most adaptable years, judged by corrected age, gives the best chance to thrive. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerIs early intervention right for a child with Speech and Language Delay?
For most children with a speech and language delay, early intervention is the right approach — the early years are when the brain is most adaptable, so timely, play-based, parent-coached support brings the strongest gains. It is tailored to why the delay exists, always begins with a hearing check, and is never a rigid treatment. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerIs early intervention usually one-on-one or in a group?
Early intervention is usually a blend of one-on-one and small-group sessions, plus parent coaching. Individual therapy targets precise, tailored goals while small groups build social, turn-taking and play skills that need other children. The right balance is a clinical decision shaped by your child's age, goals and readiness. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerIs feeding therapy suitable for babies?
Feeding therapy is well suited to babies — infancy is a highly responsive time to support latching, sucking, swallowing and the move to solids through gentle, playful, no-pressure strategies, always alongside paediatric care. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerIs feeding therapy suitable for toddlers?
Feeding therapy is well suited to toddlers, and ages 1–3 are often the ideal time to begin, as children learn to chew, manage textures and form their relationship with food. Gentle, play-based, child-led therapy builds oral-motor skills and rebuilds trust around eating without pressure, working alongside paediatric care. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerIs Feeding Therapy Right for a Child with Autism?
Feeding therapy is often the right support for autistic children who have eating difficulties — narrow diets, texture refusal, gagging or stressful mealtimes — using gentle, sensory-friendly, child-led strategies. It treats the feeding difficulty, not autism itself, and works best alongside occupational, speech and paediatric care. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerIs feeding therapy the right therapy for a child with Cerebral Palsy?
For a child with Cerebral Palsy, feeding therapy is often the right therapy when chewing, swallowing or mealtimes are difficult — it builds oral-motor skills and protects safe swallowing — but it works best as part of a wider team alongside physiotherapy, occupational therapy and paediatric care. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerIs feeding therapy the right therapy for feeding & eating difficulties?
For most children with feeding and eating difficulties, feeding therapy is the right core support — it builds the oral-motor skills of chewing and safe swallowing and uses sensory-friendly, low-pressure strategies to rebuild trust around food. It works best alongside paediatric and dietitian care, after a doctor checks for medical factors like reflux or unsafe swallowing. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerIs feeding therapy the right therapy for a child with hypotonia?
Feeding therapy can be the right support for a child with hypotonia when low muscle tone affects the mouth muscles used to suck, chew and swallow — but it usually works best as one part of a team plan alongside physiotherapy and occupational therapy. Because hypotonia is a whole-body sign, the right mix is decided after assessment. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerIs feeding therapy right for prematurity-related developmental risk?
Feeding therapy is often a valuable support for children with prematurity-related developmental risk, because the suck-swallow-breathe pattern matures late and many premature babies need help with safe, comfortable feeding. However, it is rarely the only support needed — movement, communication and play may also require attention, so a full developmental check comes first. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerIs feeding therapy the right therapy for sensory-based feeding selectivity?
For Sensory-Based Feeding Selectivity, feeding therapy is usually the right and central support — it works on the textures, smells and sensations behind food refusal using gentle, graded, low-pressure exposure, alongside paediatric and dietitian care. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerIs feeding therapy one-on-one or in a group?
Feeding therapy usually begins one-on-one, because eating is personal and a therapist needs focused, unhurried time to build trust and target skills like chewing and safe swallowing. As confidence grows, small group sessions or shared family meals may be added, since eating alongside others is a natural motivator. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
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