Neuro-affirming, Strengths-based Positive Behaviour Support

A human-centred, individualised approach that empowers people living with disability

At Banksia Support Services, we understand that behind every behaviour is a story, a need, or a challenge waiting to be understood.

Our personalised Positive Behaviour Support process helps families and caregivers understand their child’s behaviour, identify unmet needs, and build the skills and strategies to create lasting change — across home, school, and community environments.

We don’t believe one size fits all. We care about creating meaningful change so our clients and their caregivers can feel regulated and safe within themselves, and in their communities. With us, everyone is respected for who they are, from birth to adulthood.

Every human being has the right to more options!

Banksia’s person-centred, human rights-focused approach to Positive Behaviour support is just that — human.

We stand with you to support your rights, protections and freedoms as a human being. That means we seek to phase out and end restrictive practices for all people in a safe and respectful way.

We Support:

Families to build capacity and confidence through a collaborative planning process

Children and young people to feel safe, understood, and empowered to learn new ways of expressing themselves

Communities to become more inclusive and responsive to diverse needs

Because everyone deserves to live a meaningful life on their own terms.

How does Banksia define neuro-affirming support?

It’s time for neuro affirming Positive Behaviour Support that delivers on its promises.

When we say we provide neuro affirming PBS, we mean it. For us, neuro affirming, strengths-based positive behaviour support means we focus on understanding and meeting an individual's unique needs rather than trying to change or suppress behaviours that are natural expressions of their neurotype. We don't recommend compliance-based strategies, we prioritise autonomy, emotional regulation, and meaningful skill development, ensuring that individuals feel safe, understood, and respected.

Our approach avoids punitive or deficit-based methods and instead fosters genuine engagement, reducing distress and enhancing quality of life.

At Banksia, Positive Behaviour Support means:

  • We work with individuals to co-create strategies that honour their strengths, needs, and sensory profile.

  • We prioritise autonomy, emotional safety, and informed consent.

  • We support authentic self-expression, including stimming, scripting, and other neurodivergent strengths and preferences.

  • We provide behaviour support that is trauma-informed, rights-focused, and deeply respectful.

In other words, we have no agenda and we meet you where you’re at.

We’re all about empowering our clients and families to find their way in the world. We do that by applying multiple evidence-based frameworks, trauma-informed care practices, and neurobiological and developmental approaches.

This means we can best understand you and your needs. And it helps us work with you to create safe, real-world opportunities for skills development that build personal capacity and confidence.

Our Behaviour Practitioners are:

NDIS Approved

Our practitioners are highly-skilled, NDIS registered and endorsed as  Specialist level against the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission PBS Practitioner Capability suitability assessment.  

Evidence-based frameworks

Banksia’s services abides by and champions methods backed by the latest research and evidence such as the Low Arousal Approach, the Neurosequential Model™, DIRⓇ Floortime, and more.

Inspired by lived experience

Banksia’s approach is informed by Founder Amy Hall’s 20 years of lived experience supporting hundreds of families across Australia.

How it works- Our Process

What real-world support looks like

At Banksia, Positive Behaviour Support is more than a service.

It’s a commitment to seeing people as whole, not broken. It’s about partnership, not power. Creating spaces where people with disability can flourish, safely and on their own terms.

Our answers to your common questions

  • Positive behaviour support aims to help people displaying complex behaviours live their best life. As Behaviour Support Practitioners, we seek to understand the unmet needs showing through behaviour and create a plan of strategies for the participant.  This easy read information sheet provides plenty more information for you.

  • The term means different things to different people — and that’s part of the confusion.

    Some people believe that Positive Behaviour Support can’t be neuroaffirming, because it shares historical roots with Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), which often focused on compliance, suppression of natural behaviours, and masking.

    At Banksia, we do things differently. For us, neuroaffirming, strengths-based Positive Behaviour Support means:

    We don’t do “one-size-fits-all”

    Every person is unique, and support must reflect their identity, needs, and preferences — not force them to fit a mould.

    We respect neurodiversity

    We work with individuals in ways that honour their sensory profiles, communication styles, and natural ways of being — not against them.

    We see behaviour as communication

    Instead of trying to “fix” behaviours, we seek to understand what they’re telling us — and what needs are going unmet.

    We don’t use compliance-based strategies

    Instead, we focus on autonomy, co-regulation, connection, and meaningful skill-building — all through a trauma-aware, person-led approach.

    We reject punitive, deficit-focused methods

    Our approach is ethical, collaborative, and humanising. We work in partnership with individuals and their support networks to create safe, empowering environments where people can truly flourish.

    In short, neuroaffirming PBS is about creating conditions where people feel safe, respected, and free to be themselves — because that’s where real learning and wellbeing begin.

  • Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) is an ethical and person-centred framework that draws from the science of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), but they are not the same.

    While ABA is a broader discipline focused on changing behaviour through reinforcement, traditional ABA has often prioritised compliance and the reduction of neurodivergent traits—frequently at the expense of autonomy, identity, and wellbeing. This history has led to valid concerns within the Autistic community, including reports of trauma and masking.

    PBS, by contrast, focuses on understanding the reason for behaviours, supporting quality of life, and building environments where individuals feel safe, respected, and empowered. It values dignity, choice, and collaboration—aiming to reduce behaviours of concern by meeting unmet needs, not by enforcing conformity.

    At Banksia, we use PBS in a way that is trauma-informed, neuroaffirming, and rights-based. We do not support interventions that seek to eliminate identity or difference.

  • Whilst positive behaviour support and psychology are both disciplines focused on enhancing the quality of life for the participant, the two vary in their approach. Psychology casts a wider focus as it supports an individual’s mind and behaviour; whereas positive behaviour support specialises in changing behaviours through evidence-led, practical strategies.

  • The truth is that it really varies — after all, beings grow and evolve in their own time. Results generally tend to depend on the participant and the consistency of implementation of the Behaviour Support Plan’s strategies. What we guarantee is the relationship with our clients is long term. We're there for the long haul, because results and outcomes are dynamic.

  • Yes, positive behaviour support can help reduce complex challenging behaviours such as self-harm and aggression. If you need immediate support for you, or an individual who has harmed themselves, please contact Lifeline, 24/7 on 131114.

  • Positive behaviour support funding is funded under the ‘Improved Relationships’ category of NDIS Capacity Building support. Here’s more information about how to access your support through NDIS funding.

Real world reviews

  • “...We would be lost with Amy …”

    “I first met Amy five years ago. Amy helped us to navigate a somewhat difficult world — especially as grandparents caring for children with major issues. She provided us with good, sound knowledge, great information, and she delivered it in a really personal way that made us feel confident with what we were doing. She's enabled us to understand, to learn, and to work closely in a really meaningful manner. Our kids are going fine. We have our daily battles. We have some big ones every now and then, but Amy is always there. A text message, a quick phone call, great resource material, and having her support has made the difference for us being able to continue on this journey or failing. Our children are going really well. My husband and I are going really well. And that knowledge that Amy has, the way in which she delivers that knowledge, the straight talking, common sense way in which she delivers that knowledge, has enabled us to learn the skills that we need to help the boys. We would be lost without Amy, and we greatly appreciate her involvement in the past and hopefully for many, many years to come. Thank you.”

    Jenny
    Grandparent & Carer

  • Amy has changed the lives of both my special needs grandson and our family

    Amy Hall from Banksia Support has changed the lives of both my special needs grandson and our family. I was new to the world of both the NDIS and the complex needs of my grandson when I first met with Amy. Amy got straight to work putting together a team of expert therapists and a plan of action. Amy fully explained everything to me in a way I could understand,  very complex diagnoses had been made and without Amy's patience,  understanding and help I believe I would still be struggling in a system that doesn't favour my grandson or our family. My grandson is still being diagnosed with new disorders and Amy is the first to make sure I understand what is happening and why. Amy is a leader; she displays a passion for learning as she goes and making adjustments where needed. The world needs more Amy's,  my family could never thank her enough. My grandson's life has improved 100% because of Amy.

    Karyn Lewis
    Grandparent

  • I would recommend Amy and Banksia Services to anyone, everyone, anyone who's got kids with behavioral difficulties

    My daughter is severely autistic and has extreme behavioural problems. And we have had the immense pleasure to be working with Amy hall and Banksia Services for quite a number of years now. Like eight, maybe 10 years. And to be honest, Amy has changed our lives. She has utterly changed our lives. She has gone above and beyond her role, her job to make sure that myself and my daughter get the best care and support that we can possibly get. Amy knows her stuff. You know, she's an advocate, she's a bulldog. She will go to the mat and she'll fight for, you know, these kids rights. And, you know, from the bottom of my heart, I just say, Amy, thank you. Thank you so much. It's always a pleasure working with you. I always learn stuff. You know, it's so collaborative. You know, we all work together and you have. You have changed my life and especially my daughter’s life. I would recommend Amy and Banksia Services to anyone, everyone, anyone who's got kids with behavioral difficulties. You know, my daughters were very extreme and Amy didn't blink. You know, Amy was just in it with everything. And, you know, it's so important to get the best help that we can get for our kids and someone like Amy is the best. So, yeah, absolutely. Recommend them to anyone, anywhere. And from the bottom of my heart, Amy, thank you. I love you. You're amazing. And, yeah, you've. You've changed our lives for that. So much better, so much better. So thanks.

    Kirsten Bindoff

Questions? Let’s answer them 

We truly believe you deserve to find more answers so you can live a full life.

If you’re after real-world information about Positive Behaviour Support, useful tools to help you at home, or need access to evidence-based practitioner resources, we’ve got you covered.