HISTORY OF NEXTPATH ASSESSMENT & THERAPY

 

In December 2011, under the direct leadership of Pamela Templeton, the Mater Dei Early Intervention Program (MDEIP) was born. This new program, as an early intervention service, was developed to provide additional support and resources for children between the ages of zero and seven. MDEIP consisted of support services provided by Speech Pathologists and Occupational Therapists as well as an Early Learning Group (ELG) for children aged between three and five (pre-school age).

 

The success of the MDEIP program was immediate, with the frequency of referrals to the MDEIP program continuing to increase. To meet this demand for support, MDEIP continued to grow, with additional ECTs, OTs and Speech Pathologists joining the program. The program continued to evolve, and consisted of Transition to School (TTS), therapy services as well as early childhood education/playgroups to support preschool-aged children.

 

In July 2016, as the NDIS started rolling out across NSW, so too did the service offerings of the Mater Dei Early Intervention Program, with ECTs being upskilled to become transition providers for NDIS, and to be responsible for writing plans for families, both those within the program and externally. This continued until June 2018, where the need for creating NDIS plans was no longer present.

 

In 2019, to best cater for the growing demands of the Macarthur region, the traditional Mater Dei Early Intervention Program was split into two parts:

 - Mater Dei Early Childhood Education (MDECE) – under the leadership of Pamela Templeton, with a focus on children prior to commencing school, 

- The revised Mater Dei Early Intervention Program – under the leadership of Tennille Bertram (who also oversaw the NextPath Continuous Learning Program), with a more dedicated focus on therapy services.

 

As the new Mater Dei Early Intervention Program continued to grow, the need for continued evolution became apparently. In 2020, MDEIP was re-branded, and NextPath Assessment & Therapy was born.

 

With the addition of Vanessa Black as dedicated Program Manager in early 2020, NextPath Assessment & Therapy has continued to grow, with 20 therapists now supporting over 400 babies, children and young adults.