Positive behaviour support that treats young people as the author of the plan, not the subject of it.
I'm Yosmerys Aparicio Cuencas (Yos), an NDIS behaviour support practitioner working with young people aged 12 to 20 across Western and South West Sydney and the Illawarra. I write plans with the young person and the people around them, so the plan actually gets used.
Yosmerys Aparicio Cuencas
- Ages 12 to 20Young people only
- Home, school & communityI come to you
- NDIS fundedBehaviour Support budget
- Free 15-min chatBefore any referral
Quick answer
Yosmerys Aparicio Cuencas is an NDIS behaviour support practitioner based in Liverpool, NSW. She works with young people aged 12 to 20, including young people with autism, ADHD and trauma histories and young people in out-of-home care, across Western and South West Sydney and the Illawarra. She holds a Positive Behaviour Support qualification from Monash University and has eight-plus years of frontline practice across the NDIS, child protection and out-of-home care. Behaviour support is delivered through Supporting Communities Australia, the NDIS registered provider she founded.
Who I work with
Behaviour support for young people, and the people around them
My practice is built for young people aged 12 to 20 whose behaviour is making home, school or community life hard, and for the adults trying to help them.
Autistic young people
Neurodiversity-affirming support that starts with interests and sensory needs, never with making someone look less autistic.
Young people with ADHD
Plans that take the load off memory and planning, with routines and supports the whole team can keep up with.
Young people affected by trauma
Safety and connection first, calm responses from adults, and nobody asked to retell what happened.
Young people in out-of-home care
Eight years across OOHC and child protection means I know how carers, caseworkers and NDIS supports fit together.
Families and carers
For parents and carers who feel like they're walking on eggshells. A plan you can actually use on a hard day.
Support coordinators, DCJ caseworkers and schools
Clear referrals, plans written for the people who implement them, and coaching until the plan holds across settings.
When it might be time to reach out
- The same hard moments keep happening and nobody is sure why.
- A school placement, home or care arrangement is at risk.
- Someone is getting hurt, or things are being broken.
- Restrictive practices are being used, or being talked about.
- The NDIS plan has behaviour support funding and you're not sure where to start.
Not sure? Book a free 15-minute chat and we'll work it out together.
Why I practise this way
A plan nobody uses doesn't help anyone.
The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission keeps finding the same thing when it reviews behaviour support plans: most are rated weak or underdeveloped, and only about a third show the person was consulted. Young people are being written about, not with.
I spent eight years on the floor in Western Sydney before I wrote a plan. I saw young people being managed instead of understood, and plans that lived in a folder while the people around the young person did their best on a hard shift. So I build plans for the people who will use them: the young person first, then their family, carers, teachers and support workers.
80%
of behaviour support plans reviewed were rated weak or underdeveloped. Source: NDIS Commission, Evidence Matters (2023).
Quality of life is the goal. Fewer incidents matter, and I track them. But the real measure is whether the young person's days get better: at home, at school, with friends, and in the things they care about.
My approach
The young person as author
Every plan starts with a standard function-based assessment: what is this behaviour doing for the young person, and what would do the same job more easily? That part doesn't change. What changes is how the young person takes part. Three moves sit on top of the assessment, never instead of it.
Draw it
The young person draws what a good day looks like, what a hard day feels like, and what helps. Their drawings go into the "about me" part of the plan and the family version. That is consultation in a format that works for them.
Tell it
We write a story version of the plan together, at their reading level, in their words. It becomes the routine card at home and school. The plan for adults sits separately, written for adults.
Show it
The young person's own drawings become short animations that show the new skill working. They watch it before the hard part of the day, and the team trains from it. No filming or photos of young people, ever.
Three tests decide whether a move stays in the plan: does it make the plan easier for the people around the young person to use, does the young person choose to do it, and does the data move. If not, it goes.
My commitments
What every plan holds to
Rights first
Choice and control, dignity of risk and supported decision-making, written as "how do we make this safe enough", not "how do we stop this".
Health before function
No explanation for a behaviour is signed off until health, pain, sleep and medication have been checked with the young person's doctor, or there is a written reason why not.
The young person can say stop
Every plan has a way for them to stop or pause, and it is honoured. Refusal tells us something; it isn't something to push through.
Neurodiversity-affirming
No goals about eye contact, quiet hands, stimming or looking less autistic. Interests are the way in, never a target for reduction.
Trauma-informed
Safety, connection and coping come first. The adults' behaviour is the first strategy in every plan, and no one is asked to retell their trauma.
Restrictive practices have an exit
Clearly described, last resort, paired with the skills that make them unnecessary, lodged with the Commission and authorised through NSW DCJ before use.
Written for the person using it
If a support worker couldn't follow it on a bad shift, it isn't finished. Teams are trained, coached and checked, because a plan nobody was trained on doesn't exist.
The process
How behaviour support works with me
Seven steps in three stages, with the timeframes the NDIS Commission sets.
Understand
First weeks- Referral and intake
What's being asked, by whom, how it's funded, and consent.
- Getting to know the young person
Their story, strengths, what a good day looks like, how they communicate, sensory needs, health and the places they spend time. Rapport comes first.
- Functional behaviour assessment
Conversations with the young person, family and team, records, observation and simple data, to understand what the behaviour is doing for them.
Plan
1 to 6 months- Interim plan, if neededWithin 1 month
When there is an immediate need: safety, changes to the environment, and calm ways to respond.
- Comprehensive behaviour support planWithin 6 months
The full picture, skills to teach with clear steps, proactive and response strategies, and a data plan a real team can keep up with.
Make it stick
Ongoing- Training and coaching
I model, coach and check the plan with family, carers, school and support workers until it holds.
- ReviewAt least every 12 months
Data, quality of life and any restrictive practices reviewed regularly, with a full review sooner if things change.
Where and how
Where I work
Support happens where the young person's life happens: at home, at school and in the community. I work with families, carers, schools, support coordinators and DCJ caseworkers across two regions.
Western & South West Sydney
Home base for my practice and for Supporting Communities Australia.
- Liverpool
- Fairfield
- Campbelltown
- Bankstown
- Parramatta
- Blacktown
Illawarra
Where there are too few behaviour support practitioners for young people. Illawarra details
- Wollongong
- Shellharbour
- Kiama
How it's delivered and funded
Delivered through SCA
Behaviour support is delivered through Supporting Communities Australia, the NDIS registered provider I founded. I'm the NDIS behaviour support practitioner, and I do the assessment, the plan and the coaching myself.
Funded by the NDIS
Behaviour support is funded through the NDIS from the Behaviour Support budget in a young person's plan (called Improved Relationships on older plans). If it isn't in the plan yet, SCA can help you ask for it at plan review. Positive behaviour support, explained. Families not on the NDIS pay the same rates as the NDIS Pricing Arrangements.
Frequently asked
Behaviour support questions.
Is Yosmerys Aparicio Cuencas a behaviour support practitioner?
Yes. Yosmerys is an NDIS behaviour support practitioner based in Liverpool, NSW. She holds a Positive Behaviour Support qualification from Monash University and has eight-plus years of frontline practice across the NDIS, child protection and out-of-home care. She works with young people aged 12 to 20 in Western and South West Sydney and the Illawarra.
How is behaviour support with Yosmerys delivered?
Through Supporting Communities Australia (SCA). SCA is an NDIS registered provider, and Yosmerys is the NDIS behaviour support practitioner who does the work herself. Referrals go through SCA.
Which areas does Yosmerys cover for behaviour support?
Western and South West Sydney (including Liverpool, Fairfield, Campbelltown, Bankstown, Parramatta and Blacktown) and the Illawarra (Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama). Support happens where the young person's life happens: at home, at school and in the community.
What does "the young person as author of the plan" mean?
The young person helps make their own plan instead of being written about. Alongside a standard function-based assessment, Yosmerys uses three moves: Draw it (their drawings of a good day, a hard day and what helps go into the plan), Tell it (a story version of the plan, written with the young person and family), and Show it (animations made from their own drawings to practise the new skill). There is no filming or photographing of young people.
What happens in NDIS behaviour support?
It starts with getting to know the young person, then a functional behaviour assessment to understand what the behaviour is doing for them. Where there is an immediate need, an interim plan is written within one month. A comprehensive behaviour support plan follows within six months, then the people around the young person are trained and coached to use it, and the plan is reviewed at least every 12 months.
Is behaviour support funded by the NDIS?
Yes. It is paid from the Behaviour Support budget in the young person's NDIS plan (called Improved Relationships on older plans). If it is not in the young person's plan yet, SCA can help families ask for it at plan review.
Does Yosmerys work with restrictive practices?
Yes, with the aim of reducing and ending them. Any restrictive practice in a plan is clearly described, used only as a last resort, paired with the skills being taught to make it unnecessary, lodged with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, and authorised through the NSW DCJ process before it is used.
What qualifications does a behaviour support practitioner need?
To deliver NDIS behaviour support, a practitioner must be approved by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission against the Positive Behaviour Support Capability Framework. Yosmerys is an NDIS behaviour support practitioner and holds a Positive Behaviour Support qualification from Monash University, a Diploma of Counselling and a Bachelor of Criminology.
What is the NDIS framework for positive behaviour support?
NDIS behaviour support is governed by the NDIS (Restrictive Practices and Behaviour Support) Rules 2018 and the NDIS Commission's Positive Behaviour Support Capability Framework. Together they set what a functional behaviour assessment and a behaviour support plan must include, the timeframes, and how restrictive practices are reported and reduced.
What is the difference between a behaviour support practitioner and a psychologist?
A psychologist usually provides therapy for the young person's mental health. A behaviour support practitioner works out why behaviours of concern are happening and writes a plan for the people around the young person to use at home, school and in the community. Some behaviour support practitioners are also psychologists. The two often work side by side.
Can behaviour support happen at school?
Yes. A plan that only lives at home rarely holds. Yosmerys works with schools to translate the plan into language teachers can use, and coaches staff so the young person gets the same support across settings.
How do I refer a young person to Yosmerys for behaviour support?
Use the referral form on the SCA website, book a free 15-minute call, or call 0480 800 521.
Ready to talk about a young person?
Families, carers, support coordinators, schools and DCJ caseworkers are all welcome. Tell me what's happening and we'll work out the next step together.
Or call 0480 800 521