What is good support in the NDIS.

 

Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay 

So this is going to be a great blog post to write and I see it as a great win so what is good and bad support this is an interesting topic to get into in a way as it can be quite subjective what is good and bad support as there is a difference between active and passive support and the classifications of support workers as well.

So support workers are there to support you to achieve your goals and we see that this can be quite a difficult thing as you need to be aware of some things about a support worker first, the first thing is that they are paid people, so they are paid to support you, and this means that they don’t have to do things for you.  They are not servants, maids, or your mother, and this is a difficult thing to be aware of as well. 

Even when an organization says they are person-centered we need to remember that they are running a business and that this is why they have scheduled support times this is a good thing as it means that you can book appointments when you know that you will have a support worker to take you and do have to rely on public transport or ask a family member or a friend. 

This goes to what is good support and there is a massive difference between bad support and a bad support worker and this deserves its own post;.

There is something called active support and passive support and passive support is what you want to avoid because it de-skills you, when the aim of the support is to upskill you and teach you to do things on your own as the NDIS is moving away from institutionalization to community supports and community, supports deserves its own post as well.

As there is a difference between community support and in-home support and there as well is a classification for people who are in a transitional space this is HAC's  so which stands for home and community access and this is when a support worker can help you both at home and in the community. 

So community support is exactly that supports to help you access the community and this is very diverse and broad for a reason because people with a disability might be working, or it might be going to the movies, or like myself, it might be a lot of little running around things related to running the blog.

Home and community support's are a combination so this is a worker that works with you a little more closely it might be that they are helping you with a wider variety of things such as housework, meal planning, and preparation but working with you to give you the skills needed it also might be transporting you to a job or helping you to go to a day center or to in my case to build a business.

We see that many people are using the NDIS to build a micro business because people can access this support. Also, support might be for people with a physical disability, it might be emotional support so support as prompting a person with ADHD to use their social skills training, it might also be taking you to appointments and I find that people do treat me defiantly when they find that I have a support worker so we need to normalize that it’s a support worker.

I have also found that a great support worker might not be the best fit for the person at times as well, so we need to be aware of this as well. So a really big thing is to be aware of this and to not be afraid to speak up and to be aware that they are there to support you and to not do things for you.

The other thing is passive support so this is a bit more complex to talk about and it is something that we see that people need to be aware of in a way that we see that things are a little more complex around this issue so it might be that a support worker is more used to working with lower functioning people so this is where it more becomes care and not passively accepting support but working with your team to achieve what you need to.  Passive support can lead to learned dependence and is something that once you are in learned dependence we see that people need to be aware of this it could be that you rely on the support worker to do things for you instead of with you so this can lead to resentment, and this can lead to a break down of trust between you and your support team and learning to trust the support team is a massive issue as well.  But this deserves its own post on how to trust a support worker and I will do a post on what is a good support worker as I am grieving the loss of a support worker in a way that this lovely young woman became part of the family and saw my family through difficult times when my Dad got sicker than he already was and then my mum got sick and my family honestly didn’t know how they would have coped with me still being at home if we had me still at home and that we need to be aware of this.   This is an example of good support this support worker was able to get me to appointments, to work with me on the blogging and to keep my mind off things as well, and to when needed speak to my family and she was actively asking how she could support the family and this may or may not have involved buying a large amount of soft drink’s for mum when she came home from the hospital.

This support worker is still with my care organization but just in a very different role, now and this is something that I have a video on a good support worker will take the time to get to know you and your needs and at times this might be working with the family as well, but at the same time respecting the boundaries that are needed.   

It really did minimize the impact that my family would have had to find time to care for me as well, so when it works it really works. So this is an example of good support and it takes time to find the right care team and this is hard to say but you really do need to do a couple of things and one is to trust the system and it's paper work and to try not to compare your needs to someone elses.   

Focus on what you need and your capacity building and this really does work wonders for you mindset as well.