Ms Angela O'Neill:

Training for parents is not a replacement for intervention.

Undoubtedly, there are children who will require face to face interventions from the members of our team but providing parent training is not offered as a way of making up for less availability of therapists. The reality for children with disabilities is that they live their daily lives in their homes, communities and schools. We need to support the people in their environments and communities to facilitate them to communicate or to make the appropriate gains and changes in order that they can maximise their learning and function as best they can in society. It is a valid way of working with families to help them have the skills to help their children in those day-to-day environments. It is not a replacement for interventions and some children will continue to require interventions but, equally, parent training is a valid and appropriate intervention to offer to families.