"Early pediatrician referral/Overall Support"

My husband and I share four children under the age of six and both work full-time, I am lucky in that I am able to work from home, we also live in a remote town almost 900kms north east of Perth WA. 

Our 4 year old daughter has had a developmental delay that we noticed when she was 2 - the main struggle for her is being able to communicate. Honestly with all of the different factors in our life it is really hard to be able to provide our daughter with the full support she deserves. We also come from families where, unless severe, disabilities/mental illness are not a big topic of discussion and where almost unacknowledged or brushed under the rug. 

We had a lot to learn and the OT from WA Country Health Service Midwest was amazing in helping us along the way. I believe Nahir really cares about our daughter and was also extremely understanding/patient in helping us learn about the support we can help give to our daughter. Nahir came to visit our daughter and spent hours with her and our family multiple times. She helped us greatly with getting NDIS support and also understanding what that support was and how the whole process works (even more than NDIS did). She didn't make me feel that this was just her job and it felt like she was invested as much as us as parents. There were times I would get off the phone to NDIS and be so overwhelmed with the amount of different information all coming through I would literally have a breakdown and cry. I would then reach out to Nahir because I knew she would be able to provide information in a way that it was clearer and easy to understand and follow. I also am a very busy mum and I will admit sometimes things will get forgotten or I lose focus and delay certain things but Nahir was always following up and providing direction. 

I'm sure every parent wants their child to get the help they need asap and so I was very sad, not just for my daughter but for all children,when I realized how long public waitlists can be for obtaining diagnosis, pediatrician appointments etc. and the costs involved through a private provider which includes the actual appointment costs and the extra travel costs which could be around $2000 for a family of 6. 

I was nervous because our daughter will start Kindy next year and as a remote school there is not a lot of resources. Working with the school, for them to be able to get funding/resources we needed further evidence of our daughters situation and I felt with the waitlists and costs, I didn't think we would get it for a while so it would be hard for to transition into school. 

Nahir was aware of our situation and was able to get her on the public waitlist and pushed for her early pediatrician referral, we were able to secure an appointment in a matter of weeks and we wouldn't have to travel very far at all! I was so excited and am extremely grateful for Nahir and the team who helped us with this. I really was over the moon and felt like we were finally getting somewhere. 

Nahir did an amazing job and I will forever be grateful for her support for our daughter and appreciate her genuine involvement in our situation.