Behaviour support, explained for parents

What behaviour support is — and isn't

Positive behaviour support starts from a simple idea: behaviour is communication. A child who hits, bolts, melts down or shuts down is telling you something about what's too hard, too loud, too unpredictable or too painful, and hasn't yet got a better way to say it. The work is understanding what the behaviour is doing for your child, then changing the environment and teaching skills so the behaviour isn't needed.

It isn't a parenting course, though parents learn a great deal. It isn't about consequences or compliance. And it isn't a quick fix — a thorough piece of behaviour support takes months and involves everyone around your child, not just a clinician in a room.

Who provides it

NDIS behaviour support practitioners must be considered suitable by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, and the organisations they work for must be registered for specialist behaviour support. Practitioners come from psychology, occupational therapy, speech pathology, social work and education backgrounds. The funding sits in Capacity Building under Improved Relationships.

It is also one of the thinnest markets in the whole scheme. The suitability requirement, the demand from schools and families, and the reporting load mean there are far fewer practitioners than children who need them, and waits are long everywhere. Start looking the day the plan is approved.

What actually happens

• Assessment — A functional behaviour assessment: observation where the behaviour happens — home, school, the car — interviews with everyone involved, and some data collection. The practitioner is looking for patterns and triggers, and for what your child gets or avoids through the behaviour.
• An interim plan, quickly — If anyone — school, respite, family — is using a restrictive practice with your child, the practitioner must produce an interim plan fast, then a comprehensive one. Both are required by the Commission's rules.
• The comprehensive plan — Proactive strategies that change the environment and build skills, plus clear steps for the moments when things escalate. A good plan reads like your child and could be followed by a new support worker on their first day.
• Training and review — The plan is only as good as the people using it. Expect the practitioner to train your family and your child's school, and to come back and measure whether things have changed.

Restrictive practices — the words to know

A restrictive practice is anything that restricts a person's rights or freedom of movement to manage behaviour — seclusion, physical or mechanical restraint, environmental restraint such as locked doors or cupboards, and chemical restraint, meaning medication used to influence behaviour rather than treat a condition. If any of these are used with your child by an NDIS provider, they must be recorded in a behaviour support plan, authorised under your state's rules, reported to the Commission, and worked on with the aim of reducing and eliminating them.

You're entitled to ask any provider, including a school holiday program or respite service, a simple question: is that a restrictive practice? And you're entitled to be involved in every plan that names one.

What a good practitioner looks like

• Good signs — They spend time where the behaviour happens. They ask about sleep, sensory needs, communication and pain before they ask about consequences. They write plans a support worker could actually follow, they train the team, and they measure change.
• Warning signs — A plan written from a single clinic visit. Strategies that could be about any child. No contact with the school. Lots of talk about compliance and very little about why.

How to find one with capacity

Ask your child's paediatrician, school and any current therapist who they'd recommend — this is a field where word of mouth matters because the pool is small. Telehealth-capable practitioners cover wide areas and are worth considering for the assessment's interview and training components, with in-person observation where it counts. If the plan allows, a psychologist or occupational therapist with positive behaviour support experience can begin the groundwork while a specialist slot opens. And check who has confirmed they're accepting — the list below is maintained by the practitioners themselves.