“Inside of you is the power to change the world.”
-Roald Dahl

Experiences & Stories

What do we do and how do we do it?

We work in a family centered model, this means we work with you, in a way that works for you and the needs of your family and child. Each family we work with is different and we tailor our approach to reflect your needs and your capacity.

We work with parents to develop a support model that addresses their child’s current needs and goals, as well as an engagement process to work with their child’s school, therapy and wider community network. This can include family planning meetings, coaching and training, care team meetings, one to one sessions and bespoke resource development.

We support children with:

  • Autism Spectrum Disorder
  • Trisomy 21
  • Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia & Dyscalculia)
  • Dysgraphia
  • Developmental Delays
  • Language Delays
  • Foetal Alcohol Syndrome
  • Trauma
  • ADHD& ADD
  • Executive Functioning Difficulties
  • Cerebral Palsy
  • Acquired Brain Injury
Other Scenarios

Click each to expand

How do we help?

At SP Specialist Inclusion Services, we support children who struggle with planning, organisation, and managing routines. For example, a student entering high school might feel overwhelmed by the number of classes, assignments, and expectations. We help by:

  • Breaking tasks into manageable steps
  • Creating visual timetables and planning tools
  • Teaching routines to increase independence
  • Building confidence through goal setting and regular feedback

These executive functioning skills are critical not only for access and participation within school, but also for everyday life—such as preparing for appointments, managing responsibilities, or participating in work or training in future years. This support aligns with NDIS Capacity Building – Improved Daily Living outcomes by promoting greater independence, problem-solving, and age-appropriate task completion, all of which are essential for lifelong learning, employment, and community participation.

How do we help?

Many families feel lost when navigating the NDIS system or trying to access the right supports. For example, a parent of a child recently diagnosed with ASD may not know which services are available or how to apply them functionally. We help by:

  • Providing reports and recommendations that align with NDIS goals
  • Working collaboratively with schools and therapists to advocate for appropriate adjustments
  • Clarifying goals and expected outcomes to support meaningful plan implementation
  • Offering consistent updates and practical advice to ensure supports are targeted and sustainable

By supporting families to understand the system and articulate their child’s needs, we reduce stress and increase access to relevant supports.

This process empowers families to make informed decisions, ensures funding is directed toward capacity-building supports, and promotes ongoing access, participation, and independence across school, home, and community settings in line with NDIS objectives.

How do we help?

Some children find it difficult to initiate conversations, make friends, or communicate their needs in public places. For example, a child may want to order their own food at a café but have difficulty navigating the community, feel overwhelmed or unsure. We help by:

  • Practising real-world social scenarios in safe, supported settings
  • Teaching communication strategies through role-play and visual prompts
  • Supporting emotional regulation and confidence in unfamiliar environments
  • Creating small group opportunities to build peer connection and social awareness

Strong communication and self-advocacy skills are key to engaging in school, forming relationships, navigating the community, and eventually seeking employment.

This work aligns with NDIS Capacity Building – Social and Community Participation and Improved Relationships domains, helping children build the confidence and communication strategies needed to live a more independent, socially connected, and meaningful life.

How do we help?

Transitioning to high school can be a big leap—new teachers, new classrooms, and increased executive demands. For a young person with learning difficulties or disabilities, this can feel overwhelming. SP Specialist Inclusion Services supports individuals to feel prepared and confident by:

  • Preparing, reviewing and co-designing personalised transition plans with students, families, and schools
  • Teaching practical executive functioning skills like reading timetables, organising lockers, and navigating classroom changes
  • Building emotional readiness with coping strategies and flexible thinking tools
  • Liaising with school staff to ensure supports are in place and system responsibilities are being fulfilled

These supports help students manage the real-world pressures of increasing independence, and lay the foundation for ongoing success in adolescence and beyond.

Our role aligns with NDIS Capacity Building supports by equipping students with the strategies and confidence needed to engage in all community environments, reduce access and participation barriers, and ultimately support long-term independence and participation in society.

How do we help?

Some students struggle with reading, writing, or understanding classroom tasks—even when they’re trying their best. At SP Specialist Inclusion Services, we focus on building the foundational literacy and executive functioning skills needed not only for academic success but also for lifelong participation, independence, and access to the community. For example, a student may avoid writing tasks or forget instructions. We support them by:

  • Teaching how to break down and respond to multi-step instructions
  • Using visual organisers and sentence scaffolds to support written expression
  • Building vocabulary and comprehension through interest-based content
  • Teaching students how to use assistive technologies (e.g. Google Docs, spell check, calendar tools) to reduce cognitive load and increase independence

These skills are essential for managing real-world tasks like writing an email, filling out a form, reading signage, or following written instructions—all of which are crucial for employment, community access, and independent living.

This type of support aligns with NDIS goals under Capacity Building – Improved Daily Living, and ensures participants are building the functional skills they need to engage meaningfully in all areas of life.

How do we help?

Receiving a diagnosis—or even beginning the process—can be a stressful and emotional time for families. Whether a child is showing signs of developmental delay, learning difficulty, or social-emotional differences, SP Specialist Inclusion Services provides support every step of the way. We help by:

  • Before a diagnosis: Observing and documenting areas of need, identifying early signs of developmental difference, and helping families prepare for referrals
  • During the diagnostic process: Explaining what assessments involve, preparing children for appointments, and helping parents make sense of reports and findings
  • After diagnosis: Supporting families to understand what the diagnosis means for their child’s day-to-day life, and helping them put the right strategies, routines, and supports in place

We aim to reduce overwhelm, provide clear information, and offer practical guidance so families feel confident in the next steps—whatever stage they’re at.

How do we help?

Individual Learning Plan (ILP) meetings at school can sometimes feel overwhelming for families. It can be hard to know what your child is entitled to, what progress should look like, or what questions to ask. At SP Specialist Inclusion Services, we work in partnership with families and schools to ensure every child’s learning needs are clearly understood and addressed. We help by:

  • Reviewing classroom demands and identifying areas where extra support is needed
  • Helping to develop realistic and meaningful goals for your child
  • Attending meetings alongside parents to advocate for appropriate strategies and accommodations
  • Supporting the school to implement and and working collaboratively to review these plans effectively

Our involvement ensures that parents feel supported and informed to help their children not only to learn—but also to grow in confidence, independence, and participation across school and home settings.

How do we help?

When families or schools need a clearer understanding of a child’s needs, a functional or developmental assessment can help make sense of how they are tracking and where they need support. At SP Specialist Inclusion Services, we conduct assessments that are strengths-based, practical, and relevant to everyday life. We help by:

  • Observing the child in real settings (home or school) to understand their communication, behaviour, learning style, and emotional responses
  • Assessing key developmental areas like language, problem solving, independence, play, sensory processing and social skills. Assessments that can be completed include the CELF 5 Screener (Speech and Language), Brigance (Developmental Screener), Sensory Profile (processing of sensory information).
  • Writing reports and observation summaries that are clear and parent-friendly, with practical strategies that can be used right away
  • Using the findings to guide support plans at home, in therapy, and at school

These assessments help families, teachers, and therapists work together with a shared understanding of the child’s strengths and support needs—leading to more consistent and effective support.

Examples of how we support some of our families:

specialist inclusion services - Tim

Tim

Early Adolescent – Multiple Diagnosis
Tim has a complex diagnostic history. His co-morbid diagnosis impacted on his ability to keep calm under stressful circumstances. He has trouble engaging in activities and expectations that he sees no logic or sense in. Tim has a team of allied health professionals supporting him and his family, but continues to struggle socially in high school, as well as with his independence to manage his workload. We work in collaboration with his parents, his therapy team and school to understand the daily challenges that Tim experiences. We provide one to one support to Tim to develop his executive functioning skills to grow his independence . This includes time management skills to manage competing priorities, developing scheduling skills to use a calendar, learning how to segment tasks into smaller, more manageable expectations , working sequentially through complex tasks, developing written structure and support to develop and capture expressive language . We provide regular communication to Tim’s parents and therapy team relating to Tim’s progress and what additional support or interim steps are needed to provide best practices recommendations and support Tim to work towards his NDIS goals and Individualised Learning Goals.

Sue

Primary Aged – Genetic Disorder with presenting learning difficulties and intellectual disability

Sue has an intellectual disability, however, is very social and learns best through visual, assistive technology platforms. We provide capacity building support to Sue and her family weekly, by providing direct support to Sue in her mainstream settings. We role model how to provide additional support, scaffolds and respectful engagement with Sue for her peers and support team. Our goal is to build the capacity of those working with Sue in the mainstream settings to understand her needs and what adjustments can be made to promote successful independent participation with age appropriate activities. We provide examples and make recommendations around best practice, inclusive adjustments and communicate with Sue’s family to identify additional supports that could assist Sue to meet her NDIS goals.

specialist inclusion services - Sally

Sally

Transitioning to High School – Trisomy 21

Sally has found it difficult to develop and maintain social friendships with her peers. We provide weekly facilitated social opportunities and activities with Sally and her peers. Sally has identified peers that she has a connection with and similar interests. We visit Sally and peers in their mainstream settings and facilitate age appropriate experiences where Sally can develop her social communication and interactions, whilst providing opportunity for Sally’s peers to understand inclusion and how they can promote Sally’s independence, confident and social skills regularly through everyday experiences routines and opportunities. To support age appropriate independence, we installed and configured Sally’s room with relevant smart home devices that she could use to access her daily routines, including setting reminders, accessing required audio and visual content, controlling lighting requirements and music preferences. We provided Sally and her family with coaching to learn how to use these devices to achieve her goals.

Paul

Primary Aged – Academic Delays

Paul struggles with maths. He can not remember basic number facts, and no matter how many drills or rote learning activities he completes, he struggles to apply this at school and in the community on a daily basis. We work with Paul on a fortnightly basis using alternative programs to identify where Paul’s difficulty with numbers lies, as well as developing a customised program to address the working memory, numerical and problem solving difficulties. We review each term and work collaboratively with his teacher to align our focus with the mainstream curriculum and class focus.