Friday, March 30, 2018

ndis bumps in the road!


Much of my week was spent preparing for my commencement to begin self-directing my own supports, through engaging my own support team.  Like everything there have been a few hickups. Thar's why you need to ensure you have plan B up your sleeve. 

I didn't think you'd want to see a photo of me doing paperwork, rosters and training manuals, so above is a photo of Ashes who was helping me stock take my art portfilo.  This was one of a few bumps for this week as the event this work was heading too was postponed. 


Next week the Ipswich Festival is on and this is my entry for Arttime's Obnoxious Organe. My direct support hours this week have been spent working towards expanding my visual art practice. I have work going into two competitions for the festival and have been preparing my first delivery of artwork to Aspire Gallery for 2018.


After selecting a team of 4 talent ladies to support me to achieve my ndis goals, one has decided she doesn't have the time to support me. I also picked up a mistake in one of the employment contracts and need to renegotiate that agreement.  At the same time my Plan Manager is on extended leave and I hoping my books are still balancing. The person supporting me to self-direct said my maths makes sense.

Well there's not much I can do about that bump in the road until my plan manager returns.  Besides I still need to finalize one agreement and the figures could change again. So there is more to self-managing and self-directing than choosing your own support team.  However there is plenty of support out their if that's what you choose to do!



Remember the ndis is designed to enable you to fully participate in your local community and to live a life reflective of your peers.  The week the Queen's Commonwealth Games Barton visited Ipswich and the local Ipswich Community came out to support our local community members who give themselves tirelessly to the community in so many ways.  I caught up with Peter Tully at the end of his leg.

Peter and his wife head up Disability Community Awareness and I try to support them as best I can and assist with the administration of the facebook page.  A community is not a geological area of buildings that line its streets. It is a group of people who connect together for a common purpose, in this case to champion and advocate for the rights of people living with disabilities and their families. 

As the ndis continues to roll out, some people are experiencing more bumps in the road than others. With questions now being asked about the blow out in costs and the need to fund formal advocacy programs if the ndis is in place to protect people's with disabilities rights.  This statement alone shows why funding needs to continue.  Most people with disabilities still live below the poverty line and barriers for employment are yet to be tackled.

This week Peter and Linda travelled to Canberra to discussion the many problems participants are experiencing with the roll of the ndis. Every Australian Counts launched a new campaign 'FIX IT AND FUND IT!' To achieve this week need our Every Australia Counts champion to be advocating on our behalf.

In terms of the ndis we need to continue to look at it as a stepping stone that if its done correctly will pay for itself. As people with disabilities and their families a fully supported to come out into the community to engage through education, employment and supporting their communities through voluntary roles.  This over time will save the government money as well as give participants income to invest in the local community. 

My individual support needs along created 4 new jobs that didn't previously exist.  I personally should  now have more energy to invest in the community.

This includes brighten the community through decorating rocks and hiding them in local play grounds for others to discover!



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