LOADED: a 12-week esports program for NDIS participants

LOADED: every week has a job to do.

The LOADED curriculum brings gaming out of unsupervised online spaces and into a supported hub, with 12 weeks of structured skill-building, progress checked at the start, middle and end, and a reason to show up every week.

LOADED isn't a gaming club. It's a structured skill-building curriculum, informed by research on social skills and emotion regulation, that uses gaming as its medium, because that's where these young people already are. We don't ask participants to change their interests to access support. We bring the support to them. Every session is linked to goals in social skills, emotional regulation, digital literacy and communication. Every participant who completes the program gets an exit report summarising their progress, which they can choose to share at their plan review.

Twelve weeks in four phases: Cyber Security, Systems Thinking, Social Skills, and Compete & Pitch. Clear NDIS outcome goals are built into every session from the start, not bolted on.

  1. Phase 1

    Cyber Security

    E-safety and cyber security in the gaming spaces participants already use, such as Discord, Steam, Roblox and Fortnite. We teach about these spaces; participants do not need an account on them, and we never sign anyone up to a platform below its minimum age.

  2. Phase 2

    Systems Thinking

    A factory building game builds planning, automation and problem-solving in a world that rewards thinking ahead.

  3. Phase 3

    Social Skills

    Puzzles and treasure hunts in a block building world that depend on verbal communication, teamwork and working through problems together.

  4. Phase 4

    Compete & Pitch

    Squads compete in a tournament and Grand Final, practise losing with grace, and practise pitching their ideas and teams to sponsors.

At the end of 12 weeks: a Grand Final session with families invited, a graduation, and an exit report summarising how you went. After that, you can take part in the program again or join our social sessions.

Measured progress. Not guesswork.

We check each participant's progress at intake and exit, with a mid-program review based on session observations, so progress is tracked rather than assumed, and the exit report can be shared at plan review if the participant chooses. We're in discussions with Flinders University about a research partnership. Nothing is confirmed yet. If a research partnership is established, research participation would be voluntary, with separate consent, and separate from service delivery. Research on structured, group-based social skills programs for autistic young people is encouraging, and studies of digital and game-based approaches are growing, but LOADED itself has not yet been independently evaluated.

  1. Intake

    A baseline check before the program starts.

  2. Mid-program

    A review based on session observations.

  3. Exit

    An exit report, shared at plan review if the participant chooses.

We measure six areas: wellbeing, social connection, emotion regulation, social skills, progress on NDIS goals and digital literacy, using published questionnaires where they suit the participant's age, plus our own session records and a digital literacy check we built ourselves. We only use a published scale where it suits the person and we hold any licence it needs. If the partnership goes ahead, participants who consent could also receive independent research measurement. Research participation would be voluntary, with separate consent, and separate from your service agreement.

  • Wellbeing
  • Social connection
  • Emotion regulation
  • Social skills
  • NDIS goal progress
  • Digital literacy

Research is opt-in

If a research partnership goes ahead, research would need your separate consent. Saying no to research has no effect on your service.

Ready to refer? Or just want to know more?

We're accepting referrals now. Contact us to check availability, ask questions about billing, book a 15-minute info call for families, or register interest for a hub tour. Every new participant can try one free social session, at no cost to you or your plan, and you do not have to sign up to anything afterwards. Hub tours and free trial social sessions will start shortly before our first program sessions. We will contact you with dates.

Email info@ch3ckpoint.com.au or call 0435 759 867

Deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired? Contact us through the National Relay Service (accesshub.gov.au) and give our number.

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  • No gap fees
  • We reply within 2 business days

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