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EC - PEC - Capacity Building - How to complete early childhood supports questions
Guidance in this document is not approved for use unless you view it in PACE.
This article provides guidance for early childhood partners and planner delegates on:
• how to complete the Personal and Environmental Circumstances (PEC) case
• capacity building questions relating to early childhood supports, including intensive early
childhood support.
You must consider the role you deliver to support a successful completion of the PEC so that the Typical Support Package (TSP) best reflects the participant and their family’s actual circumstances and need.
Recent updates
October 2023
Current guidance
Before you start
You have read and understood:
• Article EC: PEC – Capacity Building – Early childhood supports overview to learn
more about what we mean by developmental areas of need, levels of early childhood
support, including intensive early childhood supports.
Additional knowledge articles
For information on the PEC case – Capacity building questions that relate to other areas, go to articles:
• EC – PEC – Capacity Building – Health and wellbeing
• EC – PEC – Capacity Building – Regulated restrictive practices
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For Internal Use Only • EC – PEC – Capacity Building – Hearing
How to complete early childhood support questions
Below are some examples on how you may answer the free text fields in the PEC Capacity Building questions relating to early childhood supports, including intensive early childhood supports. The free text fields have character limits. If more space is required, add the information to ‘internal note’ in the Activity log. Please use the following tables as a guide only.
Table 1 – Developmental areas of need
PEC question: ‘For each developmental area below, what level of early childhood supports (capacity building) is needed to build capacity of the child and family?’ For each developmental area that is identified as needing capacity building support, select whether the NDIS funded support needed is medium to low or high. Describe in the free text field what the child can do to indicate why you have selected medium to low or high. High may include very substantial support that is required for intensive early childhood supports.
Developmental Example wording for free text fields area of need
Medium to low example – Huan 5 years old: Huan likes playing with other children but follows rules strictly. He doesn’t cope with change, needing a lot of support. He learns best visually and by doing things. He is easily confused with verbal instructions. He finds it hard to get started on tasks. High example – Jed 4 years old: Jed flits between activities and loves outdoor play. He is starting to Cognitive use visual supports to help with what is coming next, to complete steps in a task, to join activities. Jed shows little awareness of his safety. He runs across roads, climbs shelves. High example (for intensive early childhood supports) – Arihan 4 years old Very substantial support: enjoys repetitive play (lining up cars and spinning wheels), needs adult support to try activities and develop play skills at home at childcare, to sit on a mat at group time, to follow routines and stay longer on tasks.
Social skills Medium to low example – Jess 4 years old:
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For Internal Use Only Jess has one friend. She tends to follow her friend’s lead. She does not always like it if others try to join in. Jess sometimes needs adult support to take turns or resolve issues. High example – Kayla 2 ½ years old: Kayla mostly plays on her own. She likes water play and watching Wiggles over and over. Kayla likes rough and tumble play with her brothers. Kayla does not respond to her name or greet people. She is learning to observe others and copy their actions. High example (for intensive early childhood supports) – Arihan 4 years old: Very substantial support: plays on his own, screams and cries when children join his play and takes a long time to calm, needs adult support to join in play with others. He is picked up from childcare early due to behaviours, impacting on parent’s work.
Medium to low example – Davie 5 years old: Davie wakes frequently and co-sleeps with his parents. They would like him to sleep in his bed as this is impacting their sleep. As expected for his age, Davie mostly dresses, bathes and feeds himself with verbal reminders. He is toilet trained. High example – Saanvi 4 years old: Saavni requires full support with self-care tasks, such as, to use a fork and knife, or to open containers. Saavni puts her feet out and raises her hands when she is helped to get dressed. High example (for intensive early childhood supports) – Arihan 4 years old: Self-care skills Very substantial support required for meal times, dressing, bathing, toileting and sleep. Refer to Activity log. Activity log example (internal note) Capacity building - Self-care skills – high (very substantial support) Arihan requires full adult assistance with all self-care routines: Meal times - is encouraged to eat a variety of foods and use cutlery but prefers to eat with his hands. His diet is limited and can take up one hour to eat. His parents end up feeding him the rest of his meal. Dressing - is encouraged to assist with dressing and has started to move his arms and legs into position.
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For Internal Use Only Bath time - he does not like to have a bath or shower. He will stay in the bath and have his body washed if a parent is in the bath with him. He kicks and has started hitting himself when he has his hair washed, so parents are now using dry shampoo. Toileting - wears nappies day and night. Toileting attempts have resulted in meltdowns. He runs and hides when it is time for a nappy change. It can take up to 30 minutes with Arihan kicking and screaming during nappy changes. Sleep - enjoys having a book read to him but refuses to go to bed. It takes him 2 hours to get to sleep. His parents pat him to sleep. He wakes around midnight and gets into their bed. He will kick and scream if he is carried back to his own bed so it is easier to let him sleep in their bed.
Medium to low example – Lily 3 years old: Lily understands what is said to her and is able to follow instructions as expected for her age. Lily’s speech is not clear making it challenging for her family and friends to follow what she is trying to say. High example – Ben 4 years old: Ben uses up to 3 words in a sentence to communicate. His words are Language and not clear and he gets frustrated readily. He requires short verbal communication prompts and visual supports to follow instructions and needs support to complete daily routines at home and preschool. High example (for intensive early childhood supports) – Arihan 4 years old: Very substantial support: has 3 words, leads his parents by hand to make a request, starting to use PEC, gets frustrated and has meltdowns when he is not understood, follows 1 step instruction with adult prompting and physical support.
Medium to low example – Sanjay 5 years old: Sanjay clings to his dad when dropped off at preschool. He often refuses to talk or play with other children, at preschool and with family Emotional friends. At home he is ok. His parents are concerned about him development starting school next year. High example – Jordan 3 ½ years old: Jordan’s emotions escalate quickly - easily excitable, frustrated or angered. Does not like unexpected noises or movement. He takes 30
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For Internal Use Only mins to calm down. At times hurts himself or others. He is learning to recognise his feelings and ways to calm down. High example (for intensive early childhood support) – Arihan 4 years old Very substantial support: with changes to routines Arihan drops to the ground, hits his head with his fist, screams, cries, kicks, and throws objects. His parents find it challenging to manage these behaviours and avoid taking him out of the home.
Medium to low example – Taj 4 ½ years old: Taj scribbles on a page and copies lines, but not shapes. He holds a pencil with an immature grasp. He seeks help to open containers and packets, and with buttons, zips and laces on clothes. He plays on playground equipment as expected for his age. High example – Alexia 4 years old: Physical Alexia uses AFO’s to maintain her balance. Alexia climbs up steps development one at a time, holding onto a rail for support. Alexia loves being outdoors and is beginning to run, she typically falls after 5-10 steps. This impacts on her participation at preschool. High example (for intensive early childhood support) – Jamie 6 years old: Very substantial support: to learn to use her first manual wheelchair. Jamie needs support to develop her strength and skills quickly so she can use her wheelchair around her home and school, to maintain participation in daily activities.
Medium to low example – Piper 4 1/2 years old: Piper loves drawing but has difficulty using low contrast materials. She can move about at home and preschool, but needs support in new environments, especially walking down steps and on uneven Vision surfaces. High example – Lola 3 years old: Lola uses a long cane and requires assistance when walking in new environments. She requires support from others to locate play activities at childcare (e.g. items on a table, bag from her locker, play areas in the room).
Medium to low example – Wesley 4 years old: Hearing Wesley loves having stories read to him but needs his family to communicate on his right side. He can have trouble hearing people
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For Internal Use Only and environmental noises when the setting is noisy. He also needs support and reminders to wear his hearing aid. High example – Clover 4 years old: Clover has a profound hearing loss in both ears. Clover wears cochlear implants, she is being supported to use Auslan and speech. She has trouble hearing people with background noise and needs support when communicating. She is tired at the end of the day.
Table 2 – Intensive early childhood supports
PEC question: ‘Has the need for intensive early childhood supports been identified?’
If the need for this support is identified attach any relevant evidence including reports.
PEC questions Examples for free text fields
Please specify: (Add name e.g. parent or professional, profession and date of report/s (if available). Mary Hopkins (mother) Who has recommended intensive early childhood supports? Dr Taj Ingram (Paediatrician). Report date 10/7/2022. Heidi Kravitz (Speech pathologist). Report date 11/9/2022.
Example 1: Ben has started preschool. His teacher has asked for support to help with strategies for Is an additional level of early childhood behaviour, communication and learning. supports required to share strategies Example 2: The childcare centre requires in mainstream settings? continued support to implement strategies to support Arihan’s participation in activities with his peers.
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