Specialists that work with some of the country's most vulnerable children have closed their books to new cases for the next month.
Hundreds of Education Ministry staff are refusing to take on new cases and extra work in a bid to ensure improved pay and working conditions.
NZEI union member and speech and language pathologist Zoe Heynes Bowles said a serious staffing shortage has led to unsustainable workloads.
"It's causing a lot of burnout, so we just need the ministry to listen to us and give us an offer that will help retain and also attract new staff."
Hundreds of staff will also not work outside their set hours of 8.30am to 4.30pm for the next month to show the Ministry of Education how stretched they are, usually working at night and on the weekend.
A Ministry of Education spokesperson said there are currently 196 vacancies out of the total 1061 specialist workforce employed by the Government organisation.
As part of her overall caseload, NZEI union member and early intervention teacher Bec Hennessy works with eight children at one kindergarten in the Wellington suburb of Tawa.
She visits the kindergarten once a month for a couple of hours but wishes it was more frequent.
"The earlier the intervention that we can offer these guys the better because the research has shown that in the long run, it requires less support later on."
Ange Do, whose son works with Hennessy, said that without specialist intervention, they wouldn't have got an ADHD diagnosis for the four-year-old.
She said the support is necessary to help her son.
"I get phone calls, texts kind of any time of day. She provides us with strategies on how to deal with Jack and his behaviour."
Ministry of Education corporate leader Zoe Griffiths said in a statement it was inappropriate to comment while bargaining with NZEI.
"Because we are still in active bargaining with NZEI, it is not appropriate for us to comment on our negotiations."
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