If you are reading this, a clinician, an early childhood educator, or your own intuition has probably told you that your child needs extra support. Early childhood intervention is the wider name for that support, and in Australia most families enter it through the NDIS Early Childhood Approach. This guide explains what that means in plain English, and where Positive Behaviour Support fits.
01 . What it is
What early childhood intervention actually is
Early childhood intervention is the support, therapy and family coaching that a child under 9 receives when developmental delay, disability or additional needs are affecting everyday life. It is not a single therapy. It is a family-centred approach that pulls together the right mix of clinicians, services and everyday adjustments around one child and the people who care for them.
The phrase covers a wide range of supports. A child with a developmental language delay may see a Speech Pathologist. A child with cerebral palsy may see a Physiotherapist and an Occupational Therapist. A child whose behaviour is causing distress at home or at preschool may see a Behaviour Support Practitioner who works within Positive Behaviour Support. Many children see more than one of these professionals over time.
In Australia, the main entry point is the NDIS Early Childhood Approach, which is run through NDIS Early Childhood Partners in each region. Families can also access support through Medicare, private health, state-funded child development services, and through their early-learning setting.
02 . The NDIS pathway
How the NDIS Early Childhood Approach works for children under 9
The NDIS Early Childhood Approach was originally designed for children under 7. From 1 July 2023 the age range progressively expanded to include children under 9, in line with the World Health Organization definition of early childhood. Children who are 9 or older move across to a Local Area Coordination partner.
The pathway is family-led. A parent, carer, GP, paediatrician, Early Childhood Educator or other professional contacts an NDIS Early Childhood Partner (sometimes called a “PITC”, short for Partners in the Community). The Partner sits with the family, listens to what is happening day to day, and offers one of three things:
- Information and referral. For some children, what is needed is a connection to community supports, a developmental check, or a peer group. No NDIS plan is required.
- Short-term early intervention. For children with emerging concerns, the Partner can fund short-term therapy and family coaching without a full NDIS plan. The intent is to give families practical strategies fast.
- Access to a full NDIS plan. For children whose needs meet the NDIS access requirements, the Partner helps the family apply, and a plan is built with goals and funded supports.
Family-centred practice is the bedrock of the approach. A large 2007 meta-analysis of family-centred helpgiving research found that relational and participatory practices, things like listening, partnership and shared decision-making, are linked to parent self-efficacy and to child outcomes. This is why your child’s clinicians should always be coaching you, not just working on your child.
03 . PBS in early years
Where Positive Behaviour Support fits in early intervention
Positive Behaviour Support is the approach most often used when a child’s behaviour is the most pressing issue for the family, the preschool, or the wider support team. It is endorsed by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, and every NDIS-registered behaviour support practitioner must work within it.
For young children, Positive Behaviour Support starts with a different question than older behaviour management approaches. It does not ask “how do we stop this?” It asks “what is the behaviour trying to communicate, and what would have to change in the environment so it is no longer needed?” That shift matters a lot when the child is two, four or six, and is still learning how to communicate at all.
In practice, this looks like:
- A functional behaviour assessment that involves the family, the early-learning service, and any other people in the child’s life. The practitioner watches what is happening before and after the behaviour, in the settings where it actually occurs.
- A behaviour support plan that is mostly about adults: what we change in the routines, the environment, the communication supports, and how we respond when the child is distressed.
- Skill-building for the child at their developmental level, often play-based, often using visual supports, and often shared with the family so it can happen at home and at preschool.
- No restrictive practices as a default. Restrictive practices in early childhood are tightly regulated and discouraged. The Positive Behaviour Support plan is designed to make them unnecessary.
The evidence base for early behavioural intervention with autistic children includes a Cochrane systematic review of early intensive behavioural intervention. The review found low-quality evidence that this kind of intervention can improve adaptive behaviour, while cautioning that the study designs are limited and the field needs better trials. The wider Positive Behaviour Support literature, including the foundational 2002 paper on the evolution of the approach, argues that the most useful behaviour support combines evidence-based methods with environmental and family-centred change, rather than child-centric drills.
To go deeper, see our guides to Positive Behaviour Support and behaviour support more broadly.
For young children, Positive Behaviour Support asks what the behaviour is trying to communicate, and what in the environment would have to change so it is no longer needed.
04 . Other disciplines
When other disciplines join the picture
Early intervention is multidisciplinary. Many children benefit from a combination of professionals working together, with the family as the central decision-maker and one clinician usually acting as the main point of contact.
Alongside Positive Behaviour Support, families often work with:
- An Occupational Therapist for play skills, fine motor development, sensory processing, and everyday self-care tasks like dressing, feeding and toileting.
- A Speech Pathologist for early language, communication, social interaction, and feeding or swallowing where relevant. A Speech Pathologist may also introduce alternative or augmentative communication supports for a child who is not yet using spoken language.
- A Physiotherapist for gross motor skills, mobility, equipment prescription, and any condition affecting movement.
- A paediatrician, GP, or other medical doctor for medical assessment, diagnosis, and coordination of care.
This guide focuses on the Positive Behaviour Support lens. For the detail on the other disciplines, follow the links above. The important thing is that a good early intervention team talks to each other. A behaviour support plan that does not account for sensory needs will struggle. A communication plan that does not account for distress behaviours will struggle. Coordination matters.
05 . What to expect
What the early intervention process looks like for families
Every family’s experience is different, but the broad sequence is consistent.
1. First conversation. A parent, carer or professional contacts an NDIS Early Childhood Partner, or a provider directly. The conversation covers what is happening day to day, what the family is worried about, and what supports are already in place.
2. Assessment. For a behaviour support referral, this means a functional behaviour assessment: the practitioner observes the child in the settings where the behaviour happens, interviews the people who know the child best, and gathers background information. For other disciplines, the assessment is different in detail but the same in purpose: to understand the child and the family before recommending anything.
3. Plan. The practitioner writes a plan with the family. A Positive Behaviour Support plan describes what will change in the environment and the routines, what skills are being built, what to do when the child is distressed, and any goals from the NDIS plan. Plans are written to be readable by the people who will use them: parents, carers, support workers, and teachers.
4. Implementation. The plan is shared with everyone in the child’s day. Consistency matters more than perfection. A behaviour support plan that the family follows at home but the preschool does not see is half a plan.
5. Review. Plans are reviewed at least annually, or sooner if circumstances change. Children grow fast. What worked at three may not work at five, and a plan that is not reviewed becomes a stale document on a shelf.
The whole process, from first conversation to a fully implemented plan, often takes several months. This is normal. A thorough assessment is the foundation of everything that follows, and rushing it produces plans that do not fit the real child.
Further reading
If you want to read more on specific aspects of early childhood intervention and Positive Behaviour Support, these guides may help:
- What is Positive Behaviour Support? The approach explained, including the four principles every plan must meet.
- What is behaviour support? The introductory blog post.
- Occupational Therapy services at Optimum Health Solutions The Occupational Therapy service hub.
- Speech Pathology services at Optimum Health Solutions The Speech Pathology service hub.
External sources used in this guide:
- NDIS Early Childhood Approach for children younger than 9: the canonical NDIS page.
- Raising Children Network early childhood intervention guide: plain-English family-facing guide.
