Manawatū-Whanganui children supports
Discover supports available to support our rangatahi and tamariki in the Manawatū-Whanganui region
On this page
- MidCentral Child Development Service
up to 2 years old who are premature or have movement issues. The team is made up of occupational therapists and physiotherapists. They:
assess pēpi play and movements to identify how this impacts their development
give whānau ideas on how to support pēpi learn, move and develop.
manages Child Development Service referrals
makes sure the right professionals are involved in the care of tamariki
supports whānau with their questions, concerns and follow-up actions.
Discover supports available to support our rangatahi and tamariki in the Manawatū-Whanganui region.
If you live in Hamilton, Raglan, Huntly, Glen Murray, Tauakau and Pōkeno anywhere else in the Waikato region, there are support services available for you and your children.
Our Waikato region is part of the Midland | Te Manawa Taki region through Health New Zealand, Waikato Health Services.
MidCentral Child Development Service
The MidCentral Child Development Service is a free, non-medical service provided by a team of allied health professionals. They provide assessment and follow-up services to tamariki and rangatahi up to 16 years old, with developmental or ongoing disability needs.
Contact the team
Email CDSreferrals@midcentraldhb.govt.nz
Phone 06 350 8293
Address Palmerston North Hospital 50 Ruahine Street, Palmerston North Hospital, Ground Floor
What to expect with MidCentral Child Development Service
“We provide services for tamariki with physical, intellectual or sensory disabilities. Appointments can be in the clinic, at home or in community settings.”
The child development service helps tamariki with conditions including neurological conditions, for example cerebral palsy, developmental coordination disorder or dyspraxia, developmental delay, intellectual disability, motor skill delay, and autism.
Other services Neurodevelopmental therapy
Neuro-developmental therapy helps babies.
Speech language therapy
Our speech language therapists diagnose, treat, and manage swallowing problems in pēpi and tamarik. They work with picky eaters to help improve the variety of foods they eat.
Psychology
We contract external psychology service providers to complete assessments where there are queries about intellectual disability or autism.
Autism coordinator
The MidCentral autism coordinator links whānau in with information, and supports and services, which align with their priorities for their tamariki and rangatahi
They work with whānau of tamariki and rangatahi aged 0 to 19 years old, who have been diagnosed with autism in the last 12 months. They also work with those that have moved to the region in the last 12 months, even if their diagnosis was more than 12 months ago
Occupational therapy
Our occupational therapist works with tamariki and whānau around the development of their day-to-day life skills, fine motor skills, and sensory and perception skills.
Social worker
Our social worker supports whānau and caregivers in meeting their own needs and challenges while caring for a tamaiti with developmental needs.
Physiotherapist
Our physiotherapists work with whānau and tamariki to support motor development, participation in activities and quality of life improvement.
Child Development Service coordinator
Our Child Development Service coordinator:
Being referred to MidCentral CDS
The Child Development Service accepts referrals from health services, education services and community agencies. All referrals must be made with the consent and knowledge of the parent or caregiver.
Chat to the team at the contact details above and include as much information as possible about the developmental concerns and the input required from our service.
New referrals are discussed by our team to check we are the right service to help. We will let you know as soon as we accept a referral.