Thriving Kids
As the NSW Department of Communities and Justice rolls out the Thriving Kids initiative under the National Agreement on Foundational Supports, prime contract holders need reliable clinical subcontractors who can deliver from day one. Our team is ready to meet the service demands of organisations looking for support to deliver targeted and general support under the Thriving Kids.
1. About Us
We are a multi-disciplinary team of allied health clinicians with a strong reputation for delivering a standard of early intervention that far exceeds the progress a child makes on a data sheet. Our team was formed in 2020 by our CEO and clinical director Derek Truong who has over 17 years of clinical experience working with autistic children and children with other developmental delays. He formed Project Superhero with the singular goal of highlighting the potential of children with additional needs when the focus of early intervention changes from closing developmental gaps to active empowerment.
Core Values and Mission Statement
Every member of our team is deeply connected to our mission and its power to change how children, parents, and society understand autism and other additional needs. Our values guide our interact with each other, the children and families we work with and other professionals.
- Empathy
- Fun
- Courage
- Curiosity
We provide intensive 1-on-1 and group therapy to children between 18 months and 8 years who have autism and/or other developmental delays.
By showing children the magic of human interaction, we seek to empower them to make positive, lasting impacts on people in their family, education, and community settings.
We operate as an integrated team, eliminating clinical silos.
Multi-Disciplinary Team, Trans-Disciplinary Model: We have clinicians with psychology, occupational therapy and speech pathology backgrounds. We also have team members with different lived experiences who inform our clinical work.
Currently, every child is assigned only one therapist from Project Superhero who works with them and their families until they transition to school. This transdisciplinary model of care allows our therapists to form a deep connection with the children and families they work with. It is this connection with children and families coupled with our clinical framework for child development which allows us to achieve the strong real-life outcomes that we are known for. For your organisation, this also means that every child and family under your care will be working with a clinician with a strong, well-rounded knowledge base and skill set.
Every child and family works with one clinician who not only brings their own set of skills, knowledge and experience from their respective discipline but also the collective knowledge and experiences of the rest of the team. That clinician remains with that family until their child transitions to kindergarten. This transdisciplinary model of care allows our therapists to form a deep connection with the children and families they work with. It is this connection with children and families coupled with our clinical framework for child development which allows us to achieve the strong real-life outcomes that we are known for. For your organisation, this means that each child and family that is under your care will be working with a clinician with a strong, well-rounded knowledge base and skill set.
Seamless Family Experience: The child and family interact with a single, highly coordinated clinical unit. This integrated setup reduces your administrative burden and guarantees cohesive care.
No Communication Gaps: Because our clinicians sit in the same room, share clinical progress notes, and co-evaluate client goals weekly, your organisation doesn't have to worry about managing or aligning disjointed individual therapists.
2. Our Clinical Approach
The Systemic Approach: Working Across the Child’s Entire Ecosystem
A child does not live in a bubble. We believe that for us to make meaningful and long-lasting impact on a child’s life, working across a child’s entire ecosystem is necessary. Each setting presents its own challenges and opportunities for development. Beyond just working with a child, we proactively support those who engage with a child (parent, educator, age-related peers etc.). Ultimately, we are seeking to create an ecosystem around a child that is working in unison to enhance a child’s rate of development.
Early Start Denver Model: A holistic and developmental play-based model of intervention.
A key challenge for any multi-disciplinary team is in delivering a consistent and unified clinical approach to therapy regardless of allied-health background. At Project Superhero, the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) is our primary model of clinical intervention and the common language that brings our team together.
ESDM is an evidence-based Naturalistic and Developmental Behavioural Intervention (NDBI) that was designed around 3 critical principles:
Child-led and play-based: All teaching goals are embedded directly in play-based interactions built around activities which a child has chosen themselves and is therefore intrinsically motivated to engage in.
Holistic Development: The ESDM curriculum covers all the developmental domains: Expressive/Receptive Communication, Social Skills/Joint Attention, Fine/Gross Motor, Cognition and Personal Independence Skills to reflect the holistic nature of child development.
Routines-based Generalisation: To the largest extent possible, ESDM was designed to be conducted in natural environments and situations. This ensures that skills are taught and are used in situations in which they were intended to be used.
3. Services We Offer
We provide structured 1-on-1 therapeutic blocks and developmental services across five core paediatric streams:
Psychology (1:1 Therapy & Assessments): Goal-directed emotional regulation, cognitive interventions, and diagnostic evaluations.
Speech Therapy (1:1 Therapy & Assessments): Functional communication, language acquisition, social play, and swallow/feeding support.
Occupational Therapy (1:1 Therapy & Assessments): Fine and gross motor coordination, sensory regulation, and self-care skills for daily living.
Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) Therapy: A naturalistic, developmental, and relationship-based early intervention framework delivered by certified ESDM practitioners.
We also deliver multidisciplinary group based programs for children and individual/group-based parent coaching.
Project Superhero seeks to strengthen resilience, build community connections and provide practical support that enables children and families to thrive. I recognise the important role that organisations such as Project Superhero can play in supporting families, particularly at a time when many are facing increasing social, emotional and economic pressures. Community-based initiatives that focus on early intervention and children's wellbeing have the potential to make a meaningful and lasting difference.
I am pleased to provide my strong support for Project Superhero and its request to establish a formal partnership that will help secure the long-term continuation of its group therapy programs. For the past four years, Project Superhero has delivered a Saturday group therapy program for autistic children during NSW school terms at Artarmon Kids College. The program supports children with additional needs and their families across the Sydney region, providing them with access to a consistent, inclusive and community-based service. It is for this reason that I support engagement from prospective organisations to safeguard the future of the program and support the children and families who benefit from it.
4. Sydney LGAs We Service
Our mobile clinical teams provide comprehensive home, school, early childhood education (ECEC), and community outreach across the following 29 Sydney Local Government Areas (LGAs):
- Bayside Council
- Blacktown City Council
- Burwood Council
- Camden Council
- Campbelltown City Council
- Canterbury-Bankstown Council
- City of Canada Bay
- City of Parramatta
- City of Ryde
- Council of the City of Sydney
- Cumberland City Council
- Fairfield City Council
- Georges River Council
- Inner West Council
- Ku-ring-gai Council
- Lane Cove Municipal Council
- Liverpool City Council
- North Sydney Council
- Northern Beaches Council
- Penrith City Council
- Randwick City Council
- Strathfield Municipal Council
- Sutherland Shire Council
- The Council of the Municipality of Hunter's Hill
- The Council of the Shire of Hornsby
- The Hills Shire Council
- Waverley Council
- Willoughby City Council
- Woollahra Municipal Council
5. Partner with Us
Have you tendered for the NSW Thriving Kids and are now looking to secure clinical partners to help deliver targeted and general supports? Contact us today to arrange a confidential discussion.