Chalk Man and Awesomeness Forms: Tools for Heart-Centred NDIS Goal Planning
If you’ve ever walked out of an NDIS planning meeting feeling conflicted — proud of your child’s progress but drained by the focus on what’s “wrong” — you’re not alone. Parents and carers often face a difficult task when advocating for their children: describing challenges accurately without losing sight of the beautiful, unique, awesome person that is their child.
What if you had tools that changed that narrative? Tools that were designed by parents, for parents, to bring clarity, confidence, and celebration back into the planning process?
Meet two powerful, parent-driven aids:
The Chalk Man Activity, developed by Monique Power at RippleAbility, and;
The Awesomeness Form, created by Rachel Callander, author of Super Power Baby Project.
One helps you visually map out the practical supports your child needs, while the other ensures their unique strengths and joys are at the very heart of every goal you set. Together, they represent a shift from deficit-based planning to a model built on hope, collaboration, and your child’s awesome reality. This guide will walk you through how each tool works, why they’re so effective, and how you can use them—with or without the help of your support team—to create an NDIS plan that truly reflects your child.
The "Chalk Man" Exercise: Your Visual Blueprint for Support
Imagine being able to see your child’s entire support network, from head to toe, laid out clearly in front of you. That’s the power of the Chalk Man exercise. Used in RippleAbility's Paediatric Intensive Navigation Support, this simple, visual method demystifies the planning process and turns it into a collaborative conversation.
How the Chalk Man Works: From Head to Toe
The exercise is built in layers, starting with your child at the absolute centre.
Draw Your Child: Begin by sketching a simple outline of a person — your “chalk man”. This isn't a clinical diagram; it's a representation of your whole child, reminding everyone that you are planning for a person, not a diagnosis.
Layer 1: What’s Happening Now? From head to toe, list your child’s current challenges and areas of need. Think across all domains:
Emotional: Anxiety, worries, or fears.
Physical: Mobility, feeding, sensory sensitivities, or coordination.
Social: Making friends, reading social cues, or participating in community activities.
Cognitive: Learning, attention, memory, or executive function Remember: This isn't about creating a list of problems; it's about honestly assessing the landscape of your child's life.
Layer 2: Who Can Help? This is where you build your team. For each area of need you identified, list the people or professionals who provide support. This includes both formal supports (like OTs, speech therapists, and psychologists) and the invaluable informal ones (like family, friends, and your own unwavering patience). This visual map helps you see your team's strengths and spot any critical gaps.
Layer 3: Where Are We Headed? Look towards the future. What supports will be needed for upcoming transitions—starting school, navigating adolescence, or building skills for adulthood? This forward-thinking layer helps you plan proactively, not reactively.
Set Meaningful Goals: Finally, you group your observations into goal domains like physical, social, or community participation. Each area of need, supported by your team, now naturally points towards a positive, growth-oriented goal.
Why It’s Different From Other “Goal-Setting Tools”: Collaboration Over Interrogation
Unlike a standard top-down form, the Chalk Man is interactive and social. In a group setting with peers, parents learn from each other’s questions and experiences. The casual "chalk and talk" format reduces anxiety and feels more like a freeform brainstorming session than a high-stakes test.
RippleAbility stresses that planners and coordinators are “invaluable resources,” and the Chalk Man exercise invites them into the brainstorming process as collaborators. Instead of being quizzed in isolation, you're co-designing goals with the people who are there to help.
Key Benefit & A Potential Hurdle
The biggest benefit? The Chalk Man demystifies "what the planner will ask." It ensures you walk into your meeting having already thought through every type of support, making you a confident and prepared advocate for your child. The concept is also beautifully adaptable. You can do a mini-version at your kitchen table with a whiteboard or simply sketch it on a large piece of paper. The goal is the mindset of mapping, not the chalk itself.
The Awesomeness Form: Celebrating Your Child’s Superpowers
If you’ve ever felt heartbroken filling out form after form that only asks what your child can’t do, the Awesomeness Form is your antidote. Created by Rachel Callander in honour of her daughter Evie, this tool is a pure, powerful celebration of your child’s abilities, interests, and unique spark.
What is an Awesomeness Form?
Simply put, it’s a list of questions that you can already answer with a resounding YES!
It’s an evolving document that you create and update, filled with anything and everything that makes your child who they are. This could be:
“Does my child have a smile that lights up the whole room?” YES!
“Can she communicate joy with a unique squeal?” YES!
“Does he love the feeling of water during bath time?” YES!
“Is she a master of defying the odds?” YES!
As Rachel explains, it’s a personal growth chart that measures your child against themselves, not a standardised timeline. This shift in focus is profoundly powerful.
The Story Behind the Form: From "What's Wrong?" to "She Has Superpowers!"
Rachel’s journey began after one too many encounters with strangers asking, "What's wrong with your child?" She grew tired of replying with a list of diagnoses and deficits that left people feeling uncomfortable and seeing only Evie’s medical conditions.
Everything changed when Rachel started noticing Evie’s "superpowers"— like an apparent sensitivity to electromagnetic fields that made her cry under power lines. Rachel began telling people, “Nothing is wrong with her. In fact, she has superpowers!”
This reframed the entire conversation. Suddenly, strangers were leaning in, asking questions, and noticing Evie’s "deep sparkly eyes" and "delicate fingers." As Rachel shares, "In that moment, because I had described a human being, they saw a human being."
The Awesomeness Form was born from a similar frustration with clinical paperwork. After hitting a wall of despair while filling out yet another form where she couldn’t tick a single box, Rachel decided to create her own. Filling out Evie’s Awesomeness Form "replaced helplessness and sadness… with excitement and joy," because it proved Evie "was developing in her own way and in her own time."
How to Create Your Own: A Celebration, Not an Assessment
The most important rule is that **there is no wrong way to make an Awesomeness Form.** Rachel emphasises: “You will not be marked, judged or measured against this form. This is a celebration!”
To start, just think about moments of joy, connection, and character. What makes your child laugh? How do they show love? What little things do they do that fill you with pride? Turn those moments into "Yes!" questions. Include everything, no matter how small it seems.
How These Tools Compare to Traditional Goal-Setting
Traditional NDIS goal-setting often relies on frameworks like SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound). While useful for creating clear targets, these methods can sometimes feel clinical and start from a place of deficit.
The Chalk Man and Awesomeness Form offer a different, complementary approach:
Strengths-Based vs. Deficit-Based: Traditional goals often start from a problem (e.g., “difficulty communicating”). An Awesomeness Form starts with a strength (e.g., “loves music and responds to rhythm”). This aligns perfectly with the NDIS’s own advice to build on strengths.
Qualitative vs. Quantitative: SMART goals focus on numbers and timelines. The Chalk Man and Awesomeness Form focus on the *story*—the relationships, interests, and quality of life that make support meaningful.
Broad and Adaptable vs. Narrow and Fixed: RippleAbility wisely advises keeping NDIS goals broad and flexible. An overly specific goal like “say 10 words in 6 months” can risk funding being cut once it’s achieved. A broader goal like “improve communication to build relationships and participate in community life” allows for ongoing, evolving support. The Awesomeness Form helps you define what that participation and joy look like for your child.
In short, while traditional methods aim for a specific metric, these tools ensure the goals are grounded in your child’s real life and potential for growth.
Navigating Common Challenges with Confidence
Using new tools can come with hurdles. Here’s how to overcome them:
Feeling Silly or Unsure: It can feel strange at first to focus only on the positive. If you feel stuck, look at examples for inspiration or start with one simple question: “What did my child do today that made me smile?”
Time and Overwhelm: You don’t have to do it all at once. For your Awesomeness Form, add one new "Yes!" each week. For the Chalk Man, break it into steps—tackle one domain (e.g., physical) one day, and social the next.
"Is This Official Enough?" Absolutely. You can attach your Awesomeness Form to your NDIS submission or use it as talking points. Many parents find that sharing these positives helps planners see the whole child, making them more invested in a good outcome. For the Chalk Man, simply bring your notes or a photo of your drawing to the meeting.
Keeping It Updated: Life gets busy. Set a calendar reminder to revisit your forms every few months. Keep a note on your phone to jot down new achievements or changing needs as they happen.
A Guide for Support Coordinators, LACs, and Therapists
Professionals, you are invaluable partners in this process. Here’s how you can incorporate these tools to build stronger, more collaborative relationships with the families you serve:
Support Coordinators and LACs: Proactively introduce these tools. You could run a mini-Chalk Man exercise during a home visit to help a family visually organise their supports. Encourage them to bring their Awesomeness Form to planning meetings and help translate those strengths into broad, meaningful goals. As the NDIS states, you are there to help families "choose the right words for your goals," and these tools provide the perfect raw material.
Therapists and Teachers: Use the Awesomeness Form to truly individualise your approach. Before a session, review the form and incorporate a known strength or interest. If a child loves a particular sound or texture, use it to motivate them. This builds trust and makes therapy more engaging. Sharing these insights in team meetings ensures everyone is working towards goals that light the child up.
By validating and using these tools, you reinforce a family-centred, strengths-based ethos that transforms the planning process from a bureaucracy into a partnership.
When and How to Use These Tools: A Practical Timeline
Weave these tools into your ongoing journey, not just as a one-off before a meeting.
Pre-Planning (1-2 Months Before): Draft your Awesomeness Form and conduct a Chalk Man session. This gives you a clear, confident foundation for your planning meeting.
During the Planning Meeting: Use your forms as a guide and conversation starter. Begin by sharing a few highlights from the Awesomeness Form to set a positive, child-focused tone.
Throughout the Plan (Ongoing): Keep the Awesomeness Form on the fridge or in a digital file. Update it every time your child discovers a new interest or masters a new skill. Therapists can refer to it regularly.
Plan Review Periods: A few months before your review, revisit your Chalk Man map. Has your team changed? Have new needs emerged? This visual update makes preparing for your review much less stressful.
Your Journey, Your Tools
The Chalk Man and Awesomeness Form are more than just planning aids; they are a mindset. They are a commitment to seeing your child in their entirety—challenges and all, but always through a lens of love, strength, and boundless potential.
By using these tools, you are not just preparing for an NDIS meeting. You are documenting your child’s journey, celebrating their unique awesomeness, and building a plan that supports not just their needs, but their dreams.
You’ve got this.
Part of the RippleAbility Care Respite Pilot. This resource offers general guidance only. Every child and family is unique. Please seek advice that is tailored to your specific situation.
