FUNction First Therapy Services

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Townsville, QLD
FUNction First Therapy Services

We are proud to announce that our OT clinic provides Townsville's only private feeding services within our mobile practice.

FUNction First clinicians have a passion for helping children and their families overcome everyday obstacles and challenges, in order to function and engage in the activities most meaningful to them. Based on the principles of SOS, we treat children with issues from picky feeders to problem eaters.

07/08/2025

**4 things you need to know before sleep training your child**

1) There is no such thing as a 'sleep consultant' or 'sleep teacher'. The term is not a protected title in Australia- ie you don't have to complete any type of training or assessment to earn that title, nor do you have to register under a professional board and comply with various standards, training, code of ethics, ongoing professional development etc. There is no one holding you accountable. Essentially, there is nothing stopping an 18 year old high school graduate calling themselves and sleep teacher and giving out advice.

2) Sleep cannot be taught! It's a biological human need. Telling someone they can teach your baby to sleep is like saying they can help teach your kidneys to make urine.

3) The part of the brain needed to self soothe and go from a heightened state to a calm state in order to fall asleep does not finish developing until our early 20's. Babies, toddlers and even older children are not designed to self soothe!

4) Wanting to be close to your baby ( and them wanting to be close to you) is NORMAL and deeply rooted into our DNA. Any program that promotes separation in order to 'help babies self settle' is not in you or your baby's best interest and frankly nonsense from a science and attachment perspective.

21/07/2025

Do you see what I see???

This is the same child, pictures taken just 4 years apart at age 10 and 14 respectively.

His entire facial structure and function has changed.

What happened?

At age 10, this child received a pet hamster for his birthday which was kept in his bedroom and unfortunately developed an allergy to the hair. This caused:

- Inflamed nasal passages causing him to mouth breathe
- Tongue not able to get in the proper resting position ( behind the front teeth)
- The tongue not in the correct position meant this kid's jaws did not develop properly ( the tongue sitting low makes the upper jaw narrow and high as opposed to broader)
- With not a wide enough jaw, crowding of the teeth ( decay etc) can occur. We need the jaw wide enough to fit our teeth!

Over a long enough timeline, mouth breathing and a low resting tongue will change the shape of the face, jaw and also affect teeth placement.

If your child mouth breathes, we need to look at WHY and go from here. Rule out allergies, chronic nasal congestion or enlarged tonsils/adenoids. Sometimes, you might have to see a specialist such as ENT and your child may require myofunctional therapy (retraining the muscles of the face, mouth and tongue)

08/07/2025

A picture tells a thousand words.

Same child. Very different face. The first picture features the child at 10 years of age; the second 2 are at 14 years old.

What happened in those 4 years?

More to come later.

01/07/2025

**Propaganda we're not falling for in 2025!!**

- "Teaching" babies how to sleep 🙄

- Children 'managing their emotions'

- "There was no autism in my day"

- "Your child smiled at me therefore they can't have autism" 🙃

- Picky eaters =poor parenting

- School refusal =poor parenting

- Hitting = behavioural problem and poor parenting

- Forcing kids to share

10/06/2025

There has always been autism 💛

I think one of the reasons why it seems to be “on the rise” is because we are better at identifying it.
This is a good thing! Early intervention has been proven to be effective with helping children to teach their potential.

05/06/2025

I recently completed training in the MIGDAS-2 ( Monteiro Interview Guidelines for diagnosing Autism Spectrum )and will soon be offering this service to families as part of a comprehensive autism assessment.

More to come 💛💙

28/05/2025

**Trigger Warning**

Teach your children the correct names for body parts.

I recently read an article which studied convicted child s*x offenders and factors which stopped them from offending ( after they had groomed a child and intended to offend).

The number one factor reported was that if a child could verbalise and articulate their body parts correctly, this deterred the person from offending as they believed they would have a higher chance of being caught.

Teaching and using the correct name for body parts helps normalise discussing our bodies and their functions without fear or shame. Children can learn about bodily autonomy, consent and that they have the right to say no unwanted contact.

Protecting children is everybody's business 💛💙

21/05/2025

I don't know who needs to hear this, but I guarantee you, your young child is not trying to manipulate you ( or anyone else!).

How do I know? Because young children do not have the theory of mind ( understanding that others have differing beliefs, thoughts and intentions than our own) or the cognitive skills to do this.

I would like to encourage us all, and anyone who works with children to try and look past 'bad behaviour', but instead, see this as a child who is experiencing some sort of disconnect. A child who is needing extra support, who is using the only tools they have available to navigate what might be a really challenging situation, that might not always be obvious! A kid who is trying to survive.

Children WANT to please their caregivers and the adults in their life, so when things get tough, we need to look further than 'it's just behavioural.'

R

08/05/2025

We are proud to be a neurodiversity affirming practice.

We believe that each child has a unique brain and learning style, which may present as differences, not deficits!

We believe the goal of therapy is to help each child function as best they can at home, school and the community within their unique brain style, not to help them become 'neurotypical'

We strive to make our clinic a safe space for all families. If that means bringing your child's favourite snack, or 'safe' object, changing the seating, doing tasks on the floor, taking shoes off, we've got you!

We believe that every child is capable of learning and achieving and we don't assume what your child can or cannot do ( yet!) based on any diagnosis or difference in brain style.

23/04/2025

While it’s lovely to stay in our comfort zone, venturing into the learning zone is what it’s all about here ❤️❤️

“If you want to feel secure, do what you already know how to do. But if you want to grow, go to the cutting edge of your competence, which means a temporary loss of security. So, whenever you don’t quite know what you are doing, know that you are growing.” (Viscott, 2003).

08/04/2025

Does pressuring children to eat ever work in the long run?

No!

In fact, it does the opposite!

- Children who are pressured to eat were found to eat LESS variety, not more.
- Children who are pressured showed greater "pickiness" with eating.
- Children who are pressured to eat are at a higher risk of developing disordered eating throughout childhood and young adulthood.

(Brown et al, 2016).

Pressure can be:

- Bribing
- Coercing, force- feeding
- Tricking
- Guilting
- Comparing/commenting on what they're eating/not eating
- Limiting safe foods at meals/attaching 'conditions' to which certain foods are offered ( no ice cream if you don't eat your broccoli)
- Deciding how much your child eats ( 5 more bites then you're done)
- Punitive measures ( go to your room if you're not going to eat dinner!)

24/03/2025

We did it!!!

It took about 2 hours but we got it done ✅

Completing a larger, longer task from start to finish teaches kids about patience, persistence and ‘getting on with it’ even though a puzzle or whichever task it may be may not be their preferred activity choice- these are all essential life skills.

Completing a really challenging task also improves self esteem and confidence 💙💛

Address

Shop 2, 237 Riverside Boulevard, Douglas
Townsville, QLD
4814

Website

http://www.functionfirst.com.au/

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