Direct home services program (DHSP)

The direct home services program (DHSP) is a family-centred, home-based early intervention program for children who are at risk of having, or who have, a developmental delay, available at any point between birth and the beginning of school.

Autism services is part of DHSP. Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are eligible for intervention up to the beginning of grade four (4).

Service options for children diagnosed with autism

Depending on your child’s current needs, assessment results and parent priorities, your child may be eligible for one of the following programs:

• Applied Behavioural Analysis Parent Implemented Intervention (ABA-PI): This approach allows parents to be supported and coached by child management specialists/senior therapists to teach parents skills to encourage skill development and behaviour change with their children.

or

• JASPER Clinician Led Intervention: This evidence-based social communication intervention targets the foundations of social communication: joint engagement, joint attention skills, imitation and play. It is a short-term targeted approach led by a trained clinician for children with autism prior to age nine (9).

or

• JASPER Parent Mediated Intervention: Parents are coached by a trained clinician to recognize the child’s current developmental level of play and use of social communication intervention to improve outcomes.  This is a short-term targeted approach implemented by a parent for children with autism prior to age nine (9).

or

• Applied Behavioral Analysis Home Therapy (ABA-HT): This approach provides families with a child management specialist/senior therapist to complete assessment(s) and develop goals based on behavioural principles and allows families to secure a home therapist to apply these techniques/strategies to encourage skill development and behaviour change with their children.

What we do

Through assessment, we

• Enhance parental knowledge of their child’s strengths and needs.
• Provide information and advocate for community resources.
• Develop skill-teaching programs.
• Develop behavioural programs.
• Provide in-house training to parents/caregivers regarding implementation of skill-teaching and behavioural strategies.
• Work with families to help their children reach their full potential.
• Develop individualized programming using a client-centred and family-based approach to intervention, and tailored to each child’s unique strengths and needs.

Our team

Our team is comprised of the following health-care professionals:

• Administrative assistants and secretaries
• Child management specialists
• Senior child management specialists (clinical leads)
• Social workers
• Psychologists

Child management specialists are specially trained professionals who complete developmental assessments, and design and implement skill-teaching and behavioural programs for parents/caregivers to implement with their children.

Collaboration occurs with occupational therapists, speech language pathologists, physiotherapists, social workers, psychologists and pediatricians at the Janeway Children’s Health and Rehabilitation Centre. We also work with other agencies including childcare services with the Department of Education, Department of Child, Seniors and Social Development (CSSD), Newfoundland and Labrador English School District (NLESD) , and The Conseil Scolaire Francophone Provincial (CSFP).

How to access this service

Referrals for the direct home services program (DHSP) are accepted from anyone concerned with the development of a baby, toddler or preschooler, provided the caregivers/parents have given consent. Referrals to Autism Services are accepted with documentation of a diagnosis of autism for children up to the beginning of grade four (4).

Please see referral forms. 

How to reach us

St. John’s and surrounding areas (Including St. Shotts on the Southern Shore, Conception Bay South, Paradise, St. Philips/Portugal Cove and Bell Island, Outer Cove/Logy Bay and Pouch Cove.)

• Direct Home Services Program – Telephone: 709-752-4350
• Autism Services – Telephone: 709-752-4188

Eastern rural area and peninsulas (Holyrood and west to Port Blandford, including the Burin Peninsula and Bonavista Peninsula.)

• Eastern Rural – Telephone: 709-759-3379
• Peninsulas – Telephone: 709-466-6324

Hours/place of operation

Monday to Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., generally in the client’s home.

JASPER intervention is also provided in community site clinics in St. John’s, Holyrood, Whitbourne, Harbour Grace, Marystown, Clarenville and Bonavista.

Patient information

Parents are responsible for committing to the pre-arranged visit schedule as well as providing a safe and unobstructed area for the child management specialists to provide modelling and assessment, demonstration and/or direction with the child and parent/caregiver.