Children younger than 9

Our early childhood approach is the way the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) supports children younger than 9 years old.

This page explains the different support you can get for young children.

Our early childhood approach is how we support:

• children with disability younger than 9 years old

• children with developmental delay younger than 6 years old

• their families.

When a child has a developmental delay, they might not grow or develop in the same time as other children of the same age. 

This means they may need lots of extra help to do everyday things.

Children who are younger than 6 do not need a diagnosis to get support through our early childhood approach.

A diagnosis is when a doctor tells you what health conditions or disabilities they think your child has.

You can find out more on our page about The early childhood approach for children younger than 9.

You can also find out more about developmental delay on our page about Developmental delay and the early childhood approach.

If you worry about how your child is developing, you should contact:

• your family doctor
• your child’s teacher.

You can ask them if they think your child has developmental concerns.

When a child has developmental concerns, they might not develop in the same time as other children of the same age.

But they might not need as much help as children with developmental delay.

If the doctor or teacher agree there are developmental concerns, you can contact an early childhood partner to get support.

An early childhood partner is someone who supports children with disability and their families. 

They also support children with developmental delay.

Your early childhood partner will:

• work with you to understand what your child needs
• connect you with supports.

To work out what supports your child needs, they will:

• talk to you
• ask for information from professionals who know your child well
• watch how your child acts at home
• use tools to check how your child develops.

You can find an early childhood partner on our page about Offices and contacts in your area.

You can find out more on our page about How do early childhood partners work out the types of early connections suitable for your child.

Early connections is part of our early childhood approach. 

Our early childhood partners deliver early connections.

Early connections can help you and your child:

• learn to do more things
• build your skills.

Early connections can also help you:

• find information about how your child might develop

• connect you with other families who have experiences like yours

• help you find services in your community.

Getting information and support early can mean your child needs less support in the future.

Your child does not have to be a participant to get early connections. 

Participants are people with disability who take part in the NDIS.

But early connections can also help you:

• decide if you should apply to the NDIS
• get support to apply to the NDIS for your child.

You can learn more on our page about What types of early connections are available.

Your early childhood partner might offer early supports if your child:

• is younger than 6 years
• has developmental concerns.

Early supports usually last between 3 and 6 months.

But they can go for up to 12 months.

Early supports can help you and your child:

• learn to do more things in your home and community
• build your skills.

Your early childhood partner will deliver the early supports. 

They will work with you to understand:

• your child’s strengths
• what your child needs.

They will work out:

• what supports your child needs
• how long your child will need early supports.

They will put this information in a plan about your child’s early supports.

You can find out more on our page about Connections with early supports.