We offer training and neurobehaviour support. The CALMER Framework informs how we work.
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About The Calmer Approach
Training and support that starts with understanding
The Calmer Approach is a registered charity offering training and neurobehaviour support.
Small team · National reach · Practical by design
Neurodivergent people, education professionals and support workers.
We listen first and focus on what helps people feel safe and be safe.
The people behind CALMER
Meet our founders
Francisco and Amy de Paula bring together neurobehavioural support, occupational therapy and decades of experience in the disability sector. They developed The CALMER® Approach to make evidence-informed support and co-design practical in everyday life.
Co-founder & Director
Francisco de Paula
Neurobehavioural Support Practitioner
Francisco has worked in the disability sector since 2000 and as a behaviour support practitioner since 2011. An NDIS Advanced Behaviour Support Practitioner, he works alongside people and their support networks in their everyday environments.
His work starts with understanding the person, their experiences and what helps them feel safe and be safe. Through co-design, he focuses on quality of life, meaningful participation, choice and reducing restrictions.
Francisco brings this experience into practical training for educators, support workers and practitioners. He shares The CALMER® Approach at national and international conferences, helping close the gap between theory and everyday practice.
Qualifications & professional learning
- Bachelor of Education (Habilitation), Australian Catholic University, completed in 2005.
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, with experience facilitating TAFE and private training.
- Certified Person-Centred Active Support facilitator since 2016.
- Further learning through the Institute for Applied Behaviour Analysis, Think:Kids, the Child Trauma Academy and the Trauma Research Foundation’s Certificate in Traumatic Stress Studies.
His ongoing professional learning brings together positive behaviour support, neuroscience, collaborative problem solving and trauma-informed practice.
Co-founder & Director
Amy de Paula
Occupational Therapist
Amy is an occupational therapist with more than 20 years of experience in community disability settings. She is also an experienced leader and educator in the disability sector.
Her work centres on meaningful engagement, autonomy and participation. She is passionate about co-design: bringing people’s knowledge of their own lives into the decisions that shape their support.
As a co-developer of The CALMER® Approach, Amy brings an occupational therapy perspective to making support practical, collaborative and meaningful in everyday life.
Co-design in practice
Amy’s published writing explores how people can work with their chosen team to make practical decisions together. Her 2022 article for Forward Ability Support applies co-design to choosing a wheelchair, recognising the person’s own experience alongside professional and peer knowledge.
A shared purpose.
Support built together.
Established in April 2023, The Calmer Approach grew from Francisco and Amy’s shared commitment to evidence-informed practice and co-design. Their work helps people feel safe, connected, heard and understood, while building the capacity of the people and environments around them.
The CALMER journey
From a question in disability support to a practical framework for understanding human behaviour.
Beginnings
The CALMER journey began with a desire to rethink how human behaviour is understood, particularly within disability support.
A practical framework
Through knowledge translation, CALMER took its current form as an evidence-informed neuro-behavioural practice and training framework. Professional training has been offered since 2022.
Putting the framework into practice
CALMER became the foundational practice framework for The CALMER Approach Limited, an Australian not-for-profit and NDIS-registered provider delivering specialist behaviour support and other disability services.
Developed by Francisco and Amy de Paula, CALMER has been applied across homes, schools, day programs and disability support services, and shared through national and international conferences.