Connected Kiddos

16/10/2026

💚 ENVISAGE Families is coming to the Burdekin!

I'm excited to be heading back to Ayr this November to facilitate the ENVISAGE Families program!

If you're raising a child aged 0–8 with developmental concerns, a disability or who is neurodivergent, I'd love for you to join us.

ENVISAGE brings parents and caregivers together to explore different ways of thinking about child and family development, health and wellbeing.

Across our time together, we'll explore:

🌿 Recognising strengths – understanding your child's unique strengths and exploring different ways of thinking about development, health and wellbeing.

🌿 Understanding your child – recognising what children communicate through their behaviour, cues and signals, and exploring ways to respond.

🌿 Family and connections – looking at how children and families develop together, the importance of relationships and the supports around us.

🌿 Looking after yourself – recognising the importance of your own wellbeing and finding small, meaningful ways to support yourself and your family.

🌿 Communication and advocacy – exploring family-centred services and building skills to communicate, collaborate and advocate with professionals and service providers.

There'll also be opportunities to connect with other parents, share experiences and learn from one another.

The program is facilitated by a health professional (me!) alongside a parent peer who brings their own lived experience.

📅 Fridays 13 & 20 November
⏰ 9am–12.30pm
📍 Burdekin Neighbourhood Centre, Ayr

💚 Completely FREE
💚 No NDIS plan required

A big thank you to the lovely team at Burdekin Neighbourhood Centre for welcoming us!

Interested in joining us? Scan the QR code on the flyer or visit https://envisage.community to register.

Please share with any Burdekin families who might benefit. I'd love to see you there!

11/10/2026

Townsville this is our last Face to Face group in 2026! We are hoping a few more parents and carers register their interest ASAP!

10/10/2026

I'm so tired of seeing parents feel like they're not doing enough.

The parents I work with are often doing an incredible amount to support their child's development. They're learning about their child's needs, working alongside therapists, trying new strategies and doing everything they can to help their child thrive.

But somewhere along the way, it can start to feel like there's always something more they should be doing.

And I wonder whether, in all that effort to support our children's development, we're sometimes overlooking the incredible value of what we're already doing.

What if I could show you how to make those everyday moments count, without adding more to your plate?

This is one of the reasons I love Marte Meo.

Using short video recordings of everyday interactions between you and your child, we slow things right down and notice the micro-moments that are so easily missed.

The moment your child takes an initiative. When you pause and give them time to respond. When you follow their interest instead of directing the play. When a tiny exchange becomes an opportunity for connection, communication and confidence.

Together, we look at what's already working, why it matters for your child's development and how you can build on it.

Not by adding another ten things to your to-do list, but by helping you recognise the value of what happens naturally between you and your child.

Because ultimately, we're not just working towards therapy goals. We're supporting children to develop their own ideas, confidence and sense of themselves in the world.

And so much of that begins with connection.

Interested in exploring Marte Meo?

Marte Meo will complement your child's existing therapies and is particularly suited to parents and caregivers of young children.

Sessions are also available online, including for families in regional areas.

Send Connected Kiddos a message to learn more or have a chat about whether Marte Meo might be a good fit for your family.

30/09/2026

I probably shouldn’t have been surprised, but geez… are families really still being told this in 2026?

A parent I support was recently told by an NDIS planner that Social Work isn’t funded in early intervention. That supporting parents isn’t funded either. And that Psychology could be funded instead.

There is a lot to unpack there.

Social Workers don’t all do the same work, any more than Physios, OTs, Speech Pathologists or Psychologists do. Our degree gives us the foundation, but what we actually bring to a child and family depends on our experience, training and area of practice.

And working with parents and caregivers to build their capacity to support their child IS early intervention.

Families deserve accurate information about the supports available to their child, and the role different clinicians can play in supporting them.

So, a little myth-busting about Social Work in NDIS early intervention 👇

21/09/2026

Foster and kinship carers deserve far more recognition for the role they play.

They open their lives to a child and keep showing up through uncertainty, big feelings, complex systems and hard days. The safety, steadiness and connection they provide can be life-changing, yet so much of what they carry goes unseen.

When a child in care also has an NDIS plan, there is another complex system to understand and navigate.

Most families already have a Child Safety Officer and may also have an agency caseworker. My role does not replace them. I focus on the child’s disability and developmental needs, and how these may overlap with early trauma, attachment and everyday family life.

I have worked alongside foster and kinship families since 2015. I can help carers understand what may be sitting underneath a child’s behaviour, make sense of assessments and recommendations, identify priorities and find practical ways to support their child at home.

It is about reducing some of the load, so carers have more capacity for what matters most: caring.

If you support a child with an NDIS plan and could use someone who already understands both spaces, you are welcome to message me about Early Intervention Key Worker support.

11/09/2026

Connected Kiddos is changing, and that’s not a bad thing!

Over the past few months I’ve been thinking carefully about what I want this little practice to look like going forward.
What I keep coming back to is the work that feels most meaningful to me: supporting the whole family, not just the child in front of me.

What I bring is a social work lens: relational, practical and focused on the whole picture. It shapes how I understand children, support parents and work with the systems around them.

That might look like Early Intervention Key Worker support, making sense of reports and recommendations, preparing for meetings, helping you advocate, linking in with services, bringing the team together, or simply giving you somewhere to put down the overwhelm for a little while.

My play therapy background still shapes how I understand children, relationships and behaviour, but I’m leaning more intentionally into supporting caregivers because I’ve seen how much of a flow-on effect there is for children when their parents feel supported, understood and more confident in what they’re doing.

Connected Kiddos is becoming smaller and more intentional, but still family-centred, strengths-based and grounded in connection.

Your child may have a whole team.

You deserve someone in your corner too. 💗

Telehealth support available Australia-wide.

29/08/2026

While navigating this new way of working, I received this beautiful message from a Mum yesterday.

It cemented so much for me about where I'm heading. "I just wanted to thank you so much because you've helped [my child] get six hours a week of support funding before going to the second case conference! We truly appreciate you! We wouldn't have gotten there without you."

This outcome followed a year of our combined efforts to appeal an NDIS decision.
The appeal went to the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) - an independent body that reviews certain decisions made by Australian Government agencies, including eligible NDIA decisions.

Together, we clearly advocated for and demonstrated why this awesome little five-year-old, now six, needed support to safely participate at home and access her community.

There were many opportunities to give up or retreat. The process was long, demanding and, at times, incredibly disheartening. But neither of us gave up.

We gathered and refined evidence, spoke clearly about her functional needs and the risks to her safety and wellbeing, and brought in other professionals to undeniably strengthen our 'why'.

Yesterday’s outcome was a shared celebration. After more than a year of rejections, persistence, waiting, questioning and trying again, this little person will finally receive six hours of Core support each week.

I felt so proud of her Mum! She kept going, even when the process gave her every reason not to.

I truly love supporting parents and caregivers. Their deep knowledge of their child, combined with my clinical understanding of development, disability and systems like the NDIS, is a beautiful combination.

Connected Kiddos is changing, but I'm not stepping away from supporting children - I'm recognising that one of the most valuable ways I can support a child is by walking alongside their parent or caregiver.

Supporting parents and caregivers has always been part of my work, but it's often been sandwiched between therapy sessions. Moving forward, it will have a dedicated place within Connected Kiddos.

Shared with permission and de-identified.

03/08/2026

Many of you have already heard from me personally, but I wanted to share a broader update with the Connected Kiddos community.

Over the years, I’ve loved getting to know so many incredible children and families. Together we’ve shared nurturing moments that soothed busy nervous systems, playful moments that brought laughter and connection, and conversations that helped children understand their feelings, unique brains and incredible strengths. Parents and caregivers developed new ways to understand what their child was communicating and practical tools to respond with greater confidence, connection and co-regulation.

In parent sessions, caregivers often heard me say that they matter. Looking after themselves isn’t selfish - it’s pivotal to their ability to stay present, connected and responsive, particularly when their child needs them most.

It’s time I took my own advice.

My health has been asking me to slow down for some time, and I’ve reached a point where I can no longer keep working beyond my limits. Meaningful change is needed.

The quality of support I want to offer children and families matters too much for me to keep doing it this way.

I’m taking a pause to rest, recover and reset. I’ve also made the difficult decision to end my clinic lease and significantly scale back the way I work.

When I’m ready, Connected Kiddos will return in a way that allows me to keep doing the work I love while honouring my own limits. The shape of my practice may change, but the heart behind it won’t.

It starts with connection—and right now, that includes my own.

Kristy

15/07/2026

Hello families!

Let’s be honest. Social Work in the NDIS, specifically in early intervention feels like a small sailboat in a very vast ocean. Regardless, what we do here at Connected Kiddos (as delivered by me, a social worker) matters and has benefited so many children and their families.

If you’d like to share your experience of Social Work in the NDIS please spend a few minutes on this voluntary survey. Our sector would be so grateful, as would I. I’d love more Australians to know the value that social work offers in the NDIS.

The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.

10/07/2026

Families you should jump on this opportunity with Mel and the herd! 🩷

Beyond Four Walls | Wild Connections After School

What if after school looked a little different?

What if, instead of rushing home to another screen, young people spent their afternoons exploring nature, connecting with horses, laughing with our therapy dog Pascal, building friendships and discovering just how capable they really are?

At Pynmanto, we believe some of life's most valuable learning doesn't happen inside four walls.

Over eight weeks, participants will have opportunities to build confidence, develop emotional awareness, strengthen communication, practice healthy boundaries and experience the calm that comes from spending time outdoors in the company of animals.

This isn't horse riding lessons.

It's not another classroom.

It's an opportunity to slow down, reconnect, explore, and develop skills that support everyday life—all through meaningful experiences in nature.

Two small groups available
• Ages 7–12 years
• Ages 13–17 years

Maximum of 5 participants per group, ensuring every young person is seen, heard and supported.

Investment: $520 for the 8-week program
$100 deposit secures your place.
Flexible payment plans available.
Private and NDIS participants welcome.

Held on our private 100-acre property, just 10 minutes from Willows Shopping Centre.

If you've been looking for something a little different for your young person—one that values connection over competition, curiosity over perfection, and real-world experiences over more screen time—we'd love to welcome you.

🌐 www.pynmanto.com.au

📞 0407 103 390

Because some of life's most valuable lessons aren't taught inside four walls.