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Understanding Children
Free online program for parents of children with disabilities
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Freya Lucas
Mar 21, 2025
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Families of children with disability facing long wait times for diagnosis and support can now access Stepping Stones Triple P Online - a free, evidence-based parenting program funded by the Australian Government that offers immediate, practical strategies to help children thrive and boost parental wellbeing.
With around 1 in 13 children in Australia living with a disability, and with ongoing strain on the disability workforce, difficulties in accessing support, long wait times, and cost-of-living pressures, mean that children are missing out on critical early intervention support. As a result parents and carers are left feeling overwhelmed and isolated, Triple P International Country Director Carol Markie-Dadds (pictured) said. “Early intervention in the form of parenting programs gives immediate support to families with disability by equipping parents and carers with the valuable tools and strategies needed to understand and respond to their child's needs and their own,” she explained. “Stepping Stones Triple P has been the subject of a large research trial across New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland. The course was found to provide significant benefits to families with disability, including improved family relationships, reduced parental stress, increased parenting confidence, and improvements in children’s emotional and behavioural wellbeing.”The program also produces benefits for families with neurodiverse children, who have different thinking patterns to neurotypical children. This includes children diagnosed with autism and ADHD, she added. “Childhood is a crucial stage of development for all young people, particularly so for children with disability and unique support needs. Delays in accessing support early in a child’s life have a direct impact on the level of care and support a person with disability will require into adulthood.” “The mental health and wellbeing of carers is also at-risk - around twice as many parents of children with disability report moderate to high stress levels compared to parents without a child with disability.” The online flexibility of Stepping Stones Triple P reduces having to attend in-person appointments, which can be impractical for parents and carers of children with disability due to caring responsibilities or those living in regional or remote areas. Brisbane mother-of-two, Rachel, did the program when her son was three years old, after being diagnosed with autism. “I did the course when Jason was young, and I still use the things I learned daily,” she said.
“It gives you confidence that stays with you for life. You always have this toolbox in the back of your mind to help you navigate parenting. Making the online program free for every family will mean so much to so many.” “There's a lot of stigma around doing a parenting course, but you do the course if you want to be given all the best information about child development in the most efficient way. There are many reasons to do the program and no reasons to not do it,” she said. Parents and carers can sign up for Stepping Stones Triple P Online now at: triplep-parenting.net.au Stepping Stones Triple P Online is free in Australia, thanks to funding from the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care under the Parenting Education and Support Program.
The funding supports free online courses from the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program for all parents and carers in Australia who have children under 12 years.
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