What can I do with NDIS funding? Part one.

 

 I saw this on Facebook overnight as I suffer from what is[i] called Peripheral neuropathy and we can’t figure out where it came from and how to stop it, but it is nerve damage and it gets worse at night because there isn’t a lot I can do to stop it, I have tried medications but I am sad to say their side effects where worse than the pain itself.

I manage it but some really basic means, a good diet, exercise, and at times forcing myself out of the house, to do things that I don’t want to do, basically being an adult and not over-relying on support workers, but it’s a really common question, that we need to start answering.

The question  What can I do with my NDIS funding besides getting a support worker we are all starting to understand what a support worker can and can’t do the options for employing one and the housing options and providers are starting to move to be compliant with what the commission has said about, Housing, Food and providing the basics of life, and the use of restrictive practices, as some did use them without the needed training and support for staff.

We need to be able to answer this question but when I started digging into it we saw that it, is not as simple as this is what you can and can’t do with funding as it all depends on your disability and what is “ Reasonable and Necessary” as what is reasonable and necessary for one person may not be for another person,  this in the governance side of the NDIS is where things get complicated, so this is something that we as people with disabilities need people in our court, to navigate the system and we are seeing a trend towards a more streamlined process but it’s not really in the best interest of what the system calls participants, ( I will do a blog post on what other organization’s call people as well as they have a bit more dignity and grace to call it something different as well.

 

 But it comes down to the disability at hand, so the best advice is to do a couple of things I know that these can be mentally taxing and  the services might have a wait time as well, but if you ask a non-NDIS provider you depending on the format of your plan, to define what you need help  with the best idea is once on the NDIS, is to have a

·       Full functional capacity assessments are done by an Occupational therapist, they are used to assess what needs you have, and this is the foundation of what your care needs, so this is the basics of the NDIS, allowing you to have a life more ordinary. So, a life comparable to a person without a disability.

·       Getting a full ABS assessment if you have a hidden or physical disability, (I have started a glossary of terms or you can have a look on the NDIS website, as well, and I will do a page of links,) but this is done by a mental health professional in rooms.

·         A Functional IQ assessment then sees if there are gaps in your memory and working function.

These are also evidence for a plan, but they are tools, and they can be used to put together a plan then it’s up to you and your formal and informal supports to work out how to use them.

There are different line items that you can use and the most basic one is assistance with daily living, this can be through a support worker or an agency. It can be for Sil housing if you need housing and this does need to go through the home and living as well, as rent, food and what the NDIS considered Daily living expenses aren’t covered under NDIS unless there is a significant need for things like specialized formulas as a person might be peg fed, or have swallowing issues, or feeding issues, this is where the reasonable and necessary comes into play. As for someone who doesn’t need nutritional support it’s unfair to a person who does need it. 

The next thing is getting to the fun stuff, thinking now that eating drinking, and the activities of daily living are covered, what do you want to do during the day, so this is where things  get a bit tricky and you need to be able to stick to a budget,  do you want to and these are just suggestions and  you may need to like everyone else save up for them,

·        Travel

·        Attend a day centre or a community centre.

·       Volunteer in the community

·       Work

·       Study

·       Run a business.

·       Learn new skills.

o   Improve reading skills.

o   Improve math skills.

o   Improve your communication skills.

These are all where the NDIS gets back to basics around support and working with you and if you are higher functioning and can learn and remember by having intensive support in the beginning a person can end up needing less support and having a job can end up saving money as I know that this is a big thing that we are talking about with disability care, worldwide I am seeing.

It’s a challenge to discover what you can do with NDIS funding, but I hope this helps if your still not sure, there is a couple of places and people you can go to, your local LAC, (local area coordinator’s) a support coordinator or advocacy organizations themselves, such as Queenslanders with a disability network or your specific condition next works, as well.

I know that I have and haven’t answered the question but it is really that complicated and this is where having clearly defined goals is important in the grand scheme of things and being honest with what you can’t do and I am not going to lie to you as it can be demoralizing to work out that you can’t do something that comes easily to others, and that might be relationships, it might be cooking and cleaning, it might be working even part-time.

But this is where the NDIS comes in and you will see longer term that it will help you to live a happier and more inclusive life as we start to include people with both physical and hidden disabilities in the community and support workers are respected and valued as  valued members of care and health teams as they really do bridge the gaps in these area’s.

National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)

LAC Partners in the Community | NDIS

Home - Queenslanders With Disability Network (qdn.org.au)

Online Functional Assessment - Umbo

 

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