A free guide for paediatric clinicians

A Guide to Using Neurodiversity-Affirming Language in Reports

Wording, worked examples, and copy-paste phrases for funding-ready reports.

Join the mailing list and get the guide

Enter your details and we'll email you the guide. You'll also be added to the Kid Link Occupational Therapy mailing list for clinicians.

First name

By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy. Unsubscribe anytime via the link in any email.

How we collect and use your details

Who: Kid Link Occupational Therapy, 2 Brunswick Road, Mitcham VIC 3132 · (03) 9879 7019 · admin@kidlink.net.au.

What and why: We collect your first name and email address to send you this guide and to add you to our mailing list for paediatric clinicians (resources, professional learning, courses and practice news).

Where it's stored: We use Mailchimp (The Rocket Science Group LLC, United States) to store subscriber details and send our emails. We don't sell or share your details with other third parties for their marketing.

Your choices: Every email we send includes an unsubscribe link. You can also ask us to access, correct or delete your details by emailing admin@kidlink.net.au.

From an NDIS report

Client is functioning approximately 3 years behind same-aged peers in adaptive daily living skills, particularly toileting, and has not yet met this developmental milestone.

In this example, the focus is on the assessment score

The three pages of the guide fanned out, showing the front page with the pathology and neurodiversity paradigm boxes

What you'll get

Three pages you can put to work on your next report

Page 1 — the two paradigms, and why funding-ready reports are often not affirming.
Page 2 — the copy-paste acknowledgement statement, and a worked example of writing toward function.
Page 3 — the handover email we send families with every report.

PDF · 3 pages · written by the paediatric OTs at Kid Link

Join and get the guide

Most of us don't write deficit-based reports on purpose

We write them because that's what the funding systems demand, even when it sits in contrast to the neurodiversity-affirming therapy we provide. Phrases like "fails to" and "presents with significant delay" feel objective and fundable. They also focus on the child against a norm rather than describing what the child needs.

This guide walks through the five steps the Kid Link team uses to manage this tension, with the wording we use in our reports, ready to adapt for your practice. This supports you to strengthen what you already write rather than starting over.

Step one

Acknowledge the clash in the report itself

A short statement naming the gap between funding criteria and affirming practice, ready to copy and adapt.

Step two

Get informed consent before you start

How to prepare families for what the report will sound like, and why, before a word is written.

Step three

Write toward function wherever the report allows

Worked examples that keep standardised scores as evidence while the description does the explaining.

Step four

Use the client's own goals and language

Bringing the child's and family's perspective into the report, rather than only clinician-observed behaviour.

Step five

Support understanding during the handover

The email wording we send with every report, acknowledging that these documents can be hard to read.

Your next report is a chance to try it

Two things you can use straight away: the acknowledgement statement for the report itself, and the handover email for families. Both are ready to copy and adapt.

Join and get the guide