Assessments
Understanding your child's everyday support needs
Functional Capacity Assessments
A Functional Capacity Assessment (FCA) provides a comprehensive picture of how a child or young person manages everyday activities across home, education and community settings.
It considers both strengths and areas where additional assistance, supervision, environmental changes or funded supports may be required. The resulting report provides functional evidence to assist the NDIS and other professionals to understand your child's current needs.
What does an FCA consider?
Depending on your child's age, circumstances and goals, the assessment may explore:
Communication and understanding
Learning, attention and executive functioning
Emotional regulation and sensory processing
Social interaction and relationships
Mobility and motor skills
Personal care, including dressing, toileting and hygiene
Mealtimes and eating
Home and school routines
Safety awareness and supervision requirements
Developing independence
Participation at school, home and in the community
The impact on parents, caregivers and family life
The focus is not simply on whether your child can complete an activity. We also consider the assistance, prompting, supervision, preparation, recovery time and environmental support they require to participate safely and consistently.
What does the assessment involve?
Every assessment is individually planned and may include:
A detailed parent or caregiver consultation
Review of previous reports and relevant background information
Standardised assessments and questionnaires
A session with your child, where clinically appropriate
Information from educators and other treating professionals
Consideration of functioning across different environments
Analysis of the support already being provided
Identification of current and anticipated support needs
Preparation of a comprehensive written report
A feedback session to explain the findings and recommendations
Assessments can be completed largely online where appropriate. At least one in-person appointment may be recommended when direct observation or assessment would strengthen the available evidence.
Information from other people
A child's abilities and support needs can look very different across settings. With your consent, information may be requested from teachers, kindergarten educators, support workers and other treating professionals.
Families may also be asked to provide examples of:
Strategies and supports that have already been trialled
How often assistance or supervision is required
What happens when support is unavailable
Safety incidents or participation restrictions
How your child's needs compare with other children of a similar age
This helps ensure the report reflects your child's functioning in everyday life, not only how they present during an appointment.
What will you receive?
Your FCA report may include:
Relevant background and developmental information
Your child's strengths, interests and goals
A description of functional capacity across relevant areas
The nature and frequency of assistance required
The impact of disability on everyday participation
Current formal and informal supports
Identified risks and barriers
Recommendations for therapy, supports, equipment or environmental changes
Recommendations relating to caregiver and family support, where relevant
Suggested goals and next steps
Recommendations are based on clinical findings, available evidence and your family's priorities. The NDIA makes the final decision about eligibility and funded supports. An FCA cannot guarantee a particular funding outcome.
Time and cost
A comprehensive FCA generally requires approximately 8–15+ hours, depending on its complexity, the information available and the number of people involved.
This may include consultation, assessment, communication with relevant people, document review, scoring and interpretation of assessments, report writing and feedback.
All components are billed at the applicable occupational therapy hourly rate. An individual estimate will be provided before proceeding, and you will be contacted if it becomes apparent that substantially more time is required.
Is an FCA the right assessment?
An FCA may be helpful when:
Applying for or reviewing NDIS supports
Your child's needs have changed significantly
Existing reports no longer reflect their functioning
More detailed evidence of supervision or assistance is needed
Your child's support needs vary significantly between settings
There is limited current information about the functional impact of disability
An FCA is different from a diagnostic assessment. Occupational therapists assess functional participation and support needs. We do not diagnose Autism, ADHD or mental health conditions.
Sensory profiles
We take a holistic approach to sensory processing assessments. This means considering the full range of factors that may be contributing to a child's emotional regulation, behaviour, participation and learning, rather than focusing on sensory processing alone. Sensory processing is one part of the broader picture and may not be the only factor contributing to emotional and self-regulation challenges.
Ready to take the first step?
Get in touch and we'll chat about your concerns. We'll decide whether Move Play Learn is the right fit. Together we'll build a therapy plan tailored to your child.
Building a brighter future for children, one step at a time.
Move Play Learn acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work. We pay our respects to Elders past and present.
