Our Mission
We work alongside individuals, families, practitioners, and organisations to shift the focus from changing the person to changing the environment, bridging the gap between theory and everyday practice, and building capable communities where people can participate fully in their lives with the least restriction.
What that means in practice
A mission is only worth something if you can point at what it looks like on a Tuesday morning. Here is ours.
The CALMER Approach Limited is a not-for-profit organisation and registered NDIS provider based in Sydney, working with people across Australia both online and in person. We were founded in April 2023 by Francisco de Paula, an NDIS Advanced Behaviour Support Practitioner, and Amy de Paula, an Occupational Therapist with more than twenty years in community disability settings.
We do four things.
We provide positive behaviour support.
We work with NDIS participants, their families and their support teams to understand what a person's behaviour is telling us, and to change the conditions around them rather than the person themselves. Plans that stay in a filing cabinet help nobody, so we co-design supports the people who live with them can actually use.
We provide therapeutic and early childhood support.
We work with children, adults and families in their natural environments: at home, at school, in the community. For young children, that means seeing the world through the child's eyes first and building from there.
We train the people who do this work.
Practitioners, allied health professionals, social workers, educators, support workers, leaders and families. Our workshops run from a three-hour introduction through to a twelve-hour immersive program, delivered online or face to face, with CPD hours and certification. We also build tailored training for organisations, schools and provider teams around their specific context.
We share what we learn.
We publish resources, present at national and international conferences including ASID and AASE, and contribute to sector conversations about what neuro-affirming practice looks like in reality rather than on paper.
What we commit to
Nothing for us without us.
Support is co-created with the person and the people around them, never designed for them in their absence.
The environment is the focus of change.
We look at governance, systems, teams and settings before we look at the individual.
Least restriction, always.
Our measure of success is people participating fully in their own lives, not compliance.
Neuro-affirming by default.
People perceive, communicate and regulate differently. We treat that as information, not as a deficit to correct.
Theory has to survive contact with a Tuesday morning.
If a practitioner, parent or support worker cannot use it in the moment, we have not finished the work.
Capability over dependency.
We build capacity in families, teams and organisations so that support does not depend on us being in the room.
Who we work with
People with disability and their families. NDIS participants and plan managers. Schools and educators. Disability service providers and their support teams. Allied health professionals and behaviour support practitioners. Organisations building workforce capability.
We are a small team, and we work with people rather than for them. That shapes what we take on and how we do it.
How we are funded
The CALMER Approach Limited is a charity registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission and endorsed by the ATO as a Deductible Gift Recipient. Donations of $2 or more are tax deductible in Australia.
We are funded through NDIS service delivery, training fees, sponsorship and donations. Surplus from our training and services goes directly back into the mission: developing free and low-cost resources, co-designed research with people with disability, and continued development of the CALMER framework.
NDIS service provider number 40501 27238. Member, National Disability Services.