In most cases, yes. When your child’s NDIS plan includes funding for therapy supports and doesn’t name a specific type of therapy, you can choose who delivers it. That might be a speech pathologist, an occupational therapist, a psychologist or a social worker. The funding is there to help your child work towards the goals in their plan, and you get a say in which professional is the best fit.
Plenty of parents don’t realise this. A plan gets approved, a therapist gets suggested, and it can feel like that’s the only option. If sessions aren’t working for your child, or you’ve found someone whose approach suits them better, it’s worth knowing what your plan actually allows.
Where therapy funding sits in an NDIS plan
Therapy supports sit in the Capacity Building part of a plan, under the Improved Daily Living Skills category. The NDIS includes therapy as a “stated support” in that category. That means the money can only be spent on therapy, not on other capacity building supports.
Within that, the NDIS says you can use your therapy budget flexibly for a mix of allied health therapy supports. A child might see one professional for communication goals and another for emotional regulation, as long as each is working on a different goal.
When you can choose, and when you can’t
The NDIS Therapy Supports guideline (updated July 2026) explains the difference. It comes down to what your child’s plan says.
| What your child’s plan says | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Therapy funding with no specific therapy type named | You can choose your provider and, where appropriate, the type of therapy that suits your child |
| A specific therapy type or a measurable outcome named | You must use the funding the way the plan describes |
| Two therapists working on the same goal | The NDIS won’t fund both. Each therapist needs to be working on a different goal |
So a plan that simply includes therapy funding gives you a lot of room. A plan that says “speech pathology” in black and white doesn’t. If you’re unsure which kind your child has, your plan manager, support coordinator or local area coordinator can check the wording with you.
What “choice” looks like in practice
When the funding isn’t tied to a particular therapy, the NDIS says you can decide:
- who delivers your child’s therapy
- whether sessions are one-on-one or in a group
- whether therapy happens in intensive blocks or at regular intervals
- which therapy, or mix of therapies, will help most at a given time
This matters for children whose struggles show up mostly at school. A child who melts down over writing tasks or shuts down in maths may need help with regulation and confidence as much as the schoolwork itself.
Some families find a social work approach with schoolwork as the setting, connects with their child in a way other therapies haven’t. This is where Jumbo Learning addresses this, using Educational Therapy to approach the therapeutic side of the child who remains trapped within themselves and processes that require relearning and yet empowers the child to tackle difficult and challenging work in an educational setting to realise their fullest potential. An Intervention that Priscilla Zephaniah facilitates will assist your child to unblock their inner blockages thus enabling them to flourish academically, socially, mentally and emotionally.
Does the provider need to be NDIS registered?
That depends on how your child’s plan is managed:
- Self-managed: you pay providers yourself and can use registered or unregistered providers.
- Plan-managed: a plan manager pays providers for you and can pay registered and unregistered providers.
- NDIA-managed: the NDIA pays providers directly, and you can only use registered NDIS providers.
Whichever option you’re on, the therapist still has to be properly qualified. The NDIS only funds allied health professionals who are qualified or registered with their professional body. For social workers, that means membership of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW).
Priscilla Zephaniah of Jumbo Learning is a full fledged Principal Social Worker and a trained Educator working with Children living with Autism and Special Needs for the last 22 years. Facilitating Interventions that do not run anywhere in Adelaide is a speciality of hers that awakens children and adults to their fullest developmental potential.
If your plan is NDIA-managed and you’d like more choice of providers, you can ask the NDIS to change how your plan is managed. You don’t have to wait for a new plan to do it.
Changing therapists part way through a plan
You’re not locked in to a provider because they were the first one you saw. If you want to change:
- Read your service agreement. It should say how much notice you need to give and how cancellations work.
- Talk to your current provider. Let them know you’re making a change and ask for any progress notes or reports.
- Check your plan wording. Make sure the new therapy fits what your plan allows, especially if a therapy type is named.
- Let your plan manager know if you have one, so they can pay the new provider.
- Sign a service agreement with the new provider before sessions start.
Why families choose a Therapeutic Social Work Approach at Jumbo Learning?
Learning itself is the job of schools. The NDIS says the education system is responsible for helping children learn and study, so the NDIS doesn’t fund tutoring on its own. Therapy is different. It builds the skills a child’s disability makes harder, such as communication, attention, emotional regulation and independence.
At Jumbo Learning, founder Priscilla Zephaniah is a registered teacher and trained Social Worker not the door knocking sort but the one that facilitates practice changes and approaches and runs group interventions that empower children. Sessions are delivered as Social Work Therapy Support. Schoolwork is the setting where your child practises those skills. Each session runs for one hour a week and covers every subject your child needs help with. NDIS families and private families get the same session. Only the funding is different.
Priscilla also writes a yearly NDIS progress report for every child, in practical language you can take to plan reviews and school meetings. You can read more about how sessions work on our educational therapy page.
Questions parents often ask
Can I use my child’s speech therapy or OT funding for a different type of therapy?
Only if your child’s plan doesn’t name a specific therapy type. If the plan just includes therapy funding, you can choose the therapy and the provider that suits your child. If it names speech pathology or occupational therapy, you need to use the funding that way. You can ask the NDIS to change the plan if it isn’t meeting your child’s needs.
What is Improved Daily Living in an NDIS plan?
Improved Daily Living Skills is a Capacity Building category. It’s where therapy supports usually sit, and the funding can only be used for therapy. For the children who have never been able to write, nor hold a pencil, or are fully non-verbal and have struggled immensely with daily living, Priscilla can unlock their state of helplessness and awaken their untapped abilities.
Can an NDIS Social Worker help with my child’s learning?
A social worker can’t be funded to tutor. They can be funded as therapy support for your child’s goals, such as managing emotions at school or working more independently in class, and schoolwork can be where those skills are practised. Our NDIS tutoring FAQs explain this in more detail.
The average Social Worker that graduates from an Australian University is not necessarily equipped to work with autistic clients in an educational setting. Priscilla’s expertise covers this niche market gap where she has practiced with child to adult clients for the last 22 years.
Do I have to stay with the therapist the NDIS suggested?
No. If your plan allows it, you can choose a different provider. Check your service agreement for notice periods before you switch.
Talk to us about your child’s plan
Not sure whether your child’s plan gives you room to choose? Bring it along to a free 15-minute meet and greet at our Parkside office. We’ll go through it with you and tell you whether sessions are likely to be claimable before you commit to anything. Contact us, call 0452 389 890 or email jumbolearning@gmail.com.
