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ADHD and the Behaviour Behind It
Behaviour Support for ADHD fits the support to how the ADHD brain handles attention, impulse, and big feelings, rather than asking the person to push through on willpower. At Optimum Health Solutions, our practitioners work with children, teenagers, and adults with ADHD across NSW and Tasmania, in the clinic, at home, at school, and in the community.
When someone with ADHD is struggling, the people around them feel it too: instructions that didn’t land, a homework session that lasts longer than the homework, a child being told, again, to just try harder.
These moments come from how ADHD works. ADHD changes how attention, impulse, emotion, and planning work, so behaviour is almost always the brain meeting a demand it wasn’t set up to meet in that moment. We start from how the person’s attention, time, and frustration actually work, then shape the day around that.
Families, carers, and participants
For referrers and Support Coordinators
Our Behaviour Support team works with children, teenagers and adults with ADHD whose behaviour has become the main story at school, at work or at home. We deliver support in clinic, at home, at school and in the community across NSW and Tasmania, and every plan is built around how this person’s attention and energy actually run.
How do I fund Behaviour Support?
Behaviour Support for ADHD at Optimum Health Solutions is usually funded through the NDIS.
NDIS participants fund it from Capacity Building. Newer PACE plans list it as Behaviour Support, and older plans list it as Improved Relationships.
Private sessions are available too, with no referral needed, and you will get a clear picture of the costs before you book.
If it is not in your plan yet, your support coordinator can ask for it at the next plan review.
If you are not sure which funding applies to you, call us on 1800 678 647 or email hello@opt.net.au. We will sort it out before your first appointment.
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Understanding Behaviours of Concern in ADHD
01
Why Behaviours of Concern Happen
Impulse. The pause between thought and action is shorter. A toy gets grabbed. A hurtful thing gets said before the sentence is finished. An angry message gets sent and regretted minutes later. None of it is planned. There’s simply not enough time to stop before it happens.
Big emotions. Feelings often land harder and faster. A small disappointment can feel huge, and a correction can feel like a personal blow. That intensity is a real difference in how emotion is felt and settled.
Executive function. Planning, starting, organising, finishing, switching tasks. ADHD affects all of these. Ignored instructions may have genuinely slipped away. A half-finished task may be a sequence the working memory couldn’t hold.
02
Transitions and Rejection Sensitivity
Transitions.
Stopping one thing and starting another means the brain has to disengage, shift, and re-engage. With ADHD that takes longer and more warning. “Stop playing, dinner is ready, now” can tip into a meltdown. The brain needs more time to make the change.
Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria.
Many people with ADHD feel criticism or rejection more sharply than others. A teacher’s correction can sting like an attack. A cancelled plan can feel like being forgotten. Commonly referred to as RSD, this sensitivity can drive avoidance, withdrawal, or a reaction that looks out of proportion from the outside but feels real on the inside.
03
Functional Behaviour Assessment
Before any plan, we work out what a behaviour is doing for the person. We watch across real settings:
- home
- school
- community
- work
We also communicate with the people who know them best to map any emotional triggers.
By doing this, we can begin to isolate where things fall apart, and where they already work, informing the implementation of a plan forwards.
It takes several sessions, because ADHD looks different from one setting to the next, and the plan that follows is only as good as the picture it’s built on.
04
A Behaviour Support Plan That Works With ADHD
We don’t write plans that lean on perfect memory, sustained attention, or willpower, because those are the very things ADHD makes harder. The plan lowers the load instead: environmental adjustments, visual supports, warnings before transitions, movement breaks, and routines that carry some of the weight. It brings together proactive strategies, skills the person wants to build (settling big emotions, getting started, self-advocacy), and calm, consistent responses for the hard moments. If any restrictive practices are in place now, the plan includes how to step them back, safely and gradually.
05
Skill Building Where Life Happens
We focus on the environments and settings where moments of emotional dysregulation can usually occur, such as:
- the morning routine
- the classroom transition
- the after-school crash.
A strategy that holds in a quiet clinic room can fall apart in a loud classroom, so we build skills in the places they need to work.
06
Who We Work With
We work with people with ADHD across ages and support needs, and with the families around them.
Children dealing with meltdowns, school refusal, impulsive moments, or homework that turns into a battle. Teenagers navigating big emotions, social knocks, rejection sensitivity, and a growing wish for independence. Adults managing work, relationships, and daily routines, often after years of being misread.
We work with many adults with ADHD. If you were diagnosed later in life and ADHD is affecting your day-to-day, Behaviour Support can help. And if you’re a parent or carer who is worn out and unsure what to try next, that’s exactly the point at which it helps to talk to someone.
Working With Families, and One Team, all
Under One Roof
Consistency matters more with ADHD than almost anything. We work alongside parents, carers, teachers, and support workers so everyone responds the same calm way, and we help families understand the ADHD brain so frustration gives way to a bit more room. When the adults around the child stay consistent, a lot of families find home feels steadier. Approaches like this are among the better-studied supports for ADHD, and we work with you on what fits your home.
ADHD also rarely travels alone. Sensory differences, handwriting, coordination, and anxiety often come too. At Optimum Health Solutions, your behaviour support practitioner works in the same clinics as our Occupational Therapy, Speech Pathology, Physiotherapy, Exercise Physiology, and Dietetics teams. When support is needed across more than one area, the clinicians meet, share notes, and line the goals up. You tell your story once.
The plan:
Your behaviour support plan sets out what’s driving the behaviour, the strategies that work with this person’s attention and energy, and who does what at home, at school, or at work.The people who use it get walked through it, and it’s reviewed as circumstances change, because what works at one stage may not fit the next.
ADHD Behaviour Support Through the NDIS
NDIS access is based on the functional impact of ADHD on daily life, not the diagnosis on its own. If ADHD significantly affects how someone manages daily activities, relationships, or taking part in the community, they may be eligible, often assessed alongside any co-occurring conditions. Your support coordinator or planner can talk this through at your planning meeting, and we can help describe the functional impact.
Where it’s funded, Behaviour Support sits in the Capacity Building part of the plan. In newer NDIS (PACE) plans this is usually a dedicated Behaviour Support budget; older plans fund it under Improved Relationships. We’re a registered NDIS provider, we write goals tied to real life, and we prepare the reports your plan review needs. We work with self-managed, plan-managed, and NDIA-managed participants.
NDIS
Referrals
14 clinics across NSW & Tasmania
Email us
hello@opt.net.au
Speak to us
1800 678 647
Get in Touch.
Where we offer Behaviour Support
Common Questions About Behaviour Support and ADHD
What is Behaviour Support for ADHD?
How do I support a child with ADHD when behaviour is hard?
How is Behaviour Support different from medication for ADHD?
Can adults with ADHD access Behaviour Support?
What helps an ADHD brain settle?
What behaviours can Behaviour Support help with?
We feel like we have tried everything. Is it worth getting in touch?
Reviewed by Rachel Hardcastle
OPTIMUM HEALTH SOLUTIONS
Rachel has worked in Behaviour Support for over 16 years, where her experience has included complex and forensic work. Rachel’s approach is entirely person-centred, meaning her practice starts and ends with the person, building support around them. Rachel works clinically and leads the development of the Behaviour Support team at Optimum Health Solutions, supporting practitioners to grow and do their best work with the people they see.
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