Jeffrey McCrossin, Lucyna Lach
Systems intelligence (Doherty, 2024; Doherty et al., 2026) offers a pathway for understanding how people perceive and act within complex interconnected systems. This article applies that concept to neurodevelopmental disability (NDD) service systems, where families and professionals coordinate care across clinical, educational, disability, and community contexts. We propose six components of family-centered interventions that build systems intelligence: systemic perception and self-positioning, shared interpretation, role negotiation, coordinated action, feedback responsiveness, and transferable capability. Three examples of family-centered approaches illustrate complementary pathways for developing systems intelligence across family, professional, and service-system relationships. The framework describes systems intelligence as a shared family-service capacity and identifies practical directions for research, training, service design, and equity.