The NDIS Reboot my thoughts on the matter

 OK so this is the start of a new series about the national disability insurance scheme as we have seen the minister for social services the honourable bill shorten is on a mission 2 reboot the NDIS we have seen a lot of fear-mongering from not only the legacy media b but from other places as well including I'm not limited to blogs YouTube TikTok by people who have a vested interest in ensuring that the way they can profit from this scheme is valid sorry this would be agencies that provide support workers who are currently overpromising and under-delivering Kaya two people with a disability.

We are also seeing the fear that's rightly placed by disability advocates, however,, we do see that there are some major rort’s of a system that was designed true provide support for the most vulnerable end profoundly disabled people in our community.

There was never supposed today a rolling into the NDIS of state-based systems these were designed to stay and support people who needed less support who remain involved in the community. However, due to the lower event intended consequences, we're rolled into the NDIS, and people were forced to apply for packages to ensure they had the support they needed.

We are seeing a need to keep Australia’s economy strong to pull back political spending I do agree that there is coast cutting measures available within the Ndis that potentially won't affect the quality-of-care participants need. Where are saying things funded by the Ndis that's true reasonable people do not hit the criteria n needed for the full Ndis to pay for things like going to say a psychic and having extravagant holidays however when it comes to holidays we need to remember that this might be respite as if they are still living with family as happens in regional and remote areas. Their family might need that respite to catch up on the basics like laundry that gets left behind when a person needs complex care.

We also need to be aware that agencies do need a critical mass to be a sustainable business and so there was a business case Timmy made to become their supplier so many people who did not have disability no the awareness be kind to support providers we have also seen criminal games infiltrate the NDIS with the end go not to provide support but to collect for their own gain.

This all adds up to the coast blowout of the NDIS and when reported by the legacy media it is made to look like an everyday occurrence however most providers are doing the best they can to provide for their clients however they are hamstrung by rules and regulations that's all needed cheer protect support workers. Despite this, the NDIS and the others remain client-in-person-centred this is one of the hallmarks of the Ndis as well as choice and control.

Choice and control a lot of clients push this onto providers however when rating the Nida this is the legislation that governs the NDIS clients forget that this works both ways when I sign in service agreements you need to remember fat days are legal contracts sorry it is important to read them very carefully and have them explained to you if you are unable to understand the terms some providers do require clients to manage challenging behaviours to agree to rules and regulations that protect the support workers when it is not possible to have a positive behaviour support plan in place.

I have witnessed in some settings the manipulation of support workers and gaslighting by support workers or even some just not turning up because they are sick and not even offering a replacement, I see this consistently with agencies that offer housing and this leaves clients without access to food or health care as they budget their time to do this in this community access time.

However, going back to behaviour I see by as an outside observer clients who had never been educated on consent boundaries and social behaviours often but not always their disability has an excuse to protect them from the consequences of negative behaviour.

In some cases, it is left up to the support workers to educate an adult on nights however this can be difficult as it can be a shock to the system when they relaunch or double down on behaviour when they understand that they are not always going to get what they want. To get what they want and this takes time to change a person’s behaviour and sometimes sadly it is too late they are going to act out every time someone says no to them or they are going to get upset or have a tantrum when they are denied what they wanted.

I also understand that in some cases people are genuinely nothing in control of their behaviour due to severe intellectual disabilities that stem from childhood or medical trauma to the brain however these clients I have often witnessed that they make efforts to be in control of their behaviour as they see others being rewarded for good behaviours.

I talk about this due to the need to have the NDIS being self-sustainable, so if you allow higher functioning clients to work, they are contributing to society by paying taxes.However, I am going to add my concerns turn the voices that's a saying that's cost cutting is necessary however it needs to be on the providers end rather than at the cost to participants. Sorry having appropriate ratios OK in disability services accommodation.

There are basic things that could be changed such as not charging for travel time for a support worker as if they were working in an office or any other workplace they would have to drive and park they are as well. We do see but support workers who use cars are paid a travel allowance generally in kilometres. We have seen however some unethical support workers claiming mileage that never happened. It is these types of things that need to be reported and stopped it is this talk with behaviour that is completely unacceptable that is eroding trust in support workers in general that is causing some agencies do not call there staff direct support workers they are calling them direct caregivers personally a term that I feel better describes what they are doing.

As at times I support worker is helping a client with activities of daily living including intimate care certain things like showering dressing toileting and eating. We also say that they help with more mundane tasks of life such as general household chores like laundry, dishes and cooking as well as meal planning and prepping. Depending on the role of the agency in the person’s life it would also help a person access the community in a white that is appropriate for them sorry this for some clients might be a day centre or a social group or in the case of youth it may be accessing use groups all groups like Scout or other organisations like these.

In the case of an adult they may help in running a micro business helping them volunteer taking them to a social group or a day centre or even taking them to work as we forget that disability does not equal dumb people with a disability who are capable of working often want to work but feel hamstrung due to the lack of flexibility in workplaces or the lack of understanding oh disability by recruitment staff. I have witnessed this in saying on a Reddit thread that if a person disclosed that they had a disability that that resume is automatically put in the round file that is to say automatically rejected this was a thread that was full of HR professionals and they were also saying this if you had pronouns in your letter of application oh wow in the case of online applicants if you had them on your LinkedIn bio you would be seen as difficult and challenging to work with therefore they decide to automatically reject on the grounds that you would need more special accommodations and would be the first to complain if nothing went your way or he were producing poor quality work.

These are just some of the issues that society on a wider scale is facing that affect the disability community but then in turn start to affect the NDIS due to the fact date directly affects people with a disability.

There are some activists that do not have lived experience of a disability but support workers or have raised a child with a disability oh I have had family members with a disability who have made it their job to become disability advocates however these voices are just as valid.

However often they forget to amplify the voices of lived experience of disability due to the fact that they do not say a need to oh unfortunately have a vested interest as they have made a job out of it. I admit I am in the same situation however I do try to be balanced and amplify other voices when appropriate and I do solid research before pushing proverbial pen to paper or hitting record.

This is something I have seen solely lacking in the Internet age where there is a distinct lack of education around the legitimacy of sources if I can't back it up from more than two sources I will park the idea and come back to it these sources can range from Reddit posts true legacy media articles to simply picking up the phone or emailing someone to ask the question simply by asking permission all the questions has opened up a lot of doors for me this is something that I wish a lot more creators and bloggers would do due to the fact that it means that there is a lot more critical thinking going on.

I don’t post my sources anymore as I am working towards monetization and lots of links pushes me down the queue but if you want me to put them on the forum let me know.

We need this critical thinking more than ever due lots of information that it's constantly bombarding us I am an advocate of having screen-free time and I am also trying to practise what I preach and I am indulging in one of my hobbies quilting I am quilting for what I knew addition to my family and I and learning new skills in my quilting.

I know that this has been a meandering blog post however, we need to see context when we're talking about care schemes for people with a disability regardless of where we are in the world.

Due to the very common fame old people accepting bad behaviour because it is what they are used to and they have been told in the past essentially you get what you get and you don't get upset. This is not a great way to run a care programme for people who have been institutionalised and marginalised for a very long time to my way of thinking we are the last marginalised group in reality due to some horrific statistics we are still more at risk of abuse neglect and exploitation from the very people who was supposed to care for us.

This is why there is a lot of fear around the rebooting and the cost cutting in the NDIS sector I hope that state and council services will brought back to fill the gaps that will narrow that will never the clientele that are eligible for support. I want to thank you for reading and supporting me in this journey and I look forward to your feedback honest post as we continue the discussion around disability and accessibility in a wider context.