Important Conversations

Time Join The Game

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is not another change to the way support services for people with disabilities is funded. It is a game changer. Traditionally ' medical model of care', has been delivered for people with disabilities needing assistance with everyday life. This has sent the message to society that people with disabilities have little to contributed to the life and fabric of the community. This is not true and the NDIS acknowledges that people living with disabilities should be active participants.

Disability and discrimination does not just affect the person, but the family unit often forcing them to live on the sidelines. Now it is time to join the game. To play the game we all need to learn the new games rules. The NDIS changes are change the whole community needs to embrace, this involves embracing diversity allowing all of us to fully participant in life.

Those supported by the scheme are referred to as participants and given the correct type of support it is expected that many will be able to live independently in the community for the first time, others may be able to study or work, more will be encouraged to participate in the community through voluntary work, joining community groups, sporting groups and clubs.

After decades of being 'carer for' and rarely invited to make lifestyle choices, it is now time to empower people with disabilities to determine for themselves what the want their lives to look like. The mind shift for those working in the sector is huge. Giving people with disabilities the power to make choices and make changes is mind blowing or 'scary times'.

Change creates fear for us all. However what cripples our thinking when it comes to discussing the changes is because someone has a disabilities the are in need of protecting. Seeing people with disabilities as 'patients' or 'infirm'  impairs our own ability to make sense of the complex changes occurring across the country.

Forced for too long to talk in terms of needs, assistance, dependence, hours and costs. Suddenly that has gone the question and focus now is what would you like to do and how would you like to do it? Even I as a participant have failed to fully comprehend the shift is thinking required by all of us.

The person now in the drivers seat of their lifestyles, choices and how the want to be supported is the person living with disability. Disability is a term that tells us a person has one or more impairment that stops normal functioning at some level.  Each of us if we stop to think about has some level of impairment that impairs our function.  The NDIS change the field we're playing on: We are now suddenly all engaging in the same game. 

People with disabilities are not sick or incomplete and need much less protection than we have cared to admit. They too have the right to choice and the right to fail and the right to get back up and try again.  These people are 'just like us' and just need to either do things differently or with assistance.

It is time to acknowledge the game rules have changed and to do that we need to 'converse', Not just talk!  We need to listen and ask questions, ask more questions and keep asking until we understand the change and what people with disabilities are asking for. A warning to be pre[are to be astonish by their knowledge and abilities, when I go in with a open mind the talents that have been look away are astontioning. We are about to see the opening of a community resources previous unknown.

If we doing start the conversations now and listen to the dreams and aspirations of these valuable members of our community, the time needed to truly listen will be lost. These people do not all have voices, if they do they've not always been allow to speak, some us words incorrectly or are well trained to answer in the way we want. Give people choice, first means we must enable them to fine a voice and tell their stories.

To tell their stories they may introduce you to people you did not know were in their lives.  To empower them and find out what they want may take some pretty hard conversations.  You may need to talk to a person you careful about things you never have before.

At the most the participant will have 1.5 hours to present their plan to the NDIA planner.  Pretty much that will involve you and them having written statements.  Here's the game changer, Their statement and goals will carry more weight.  This now about the partipants (pwd)  there goals.  Its not a round table you want to have debate at.  Those conversations are best have now.

The participant can chose who they can have at the planning meeting, it might best not to assume that will be you as the parents and primary caregiver will be invited to support the person you care for.  It is best especially if the participant or a key person in their life gets upset easily to know what everyone is thinking.  Tp make the most of your planning meeting the emotional stuff as best control as you can.

The time to get yourself ready for the NDIS is now.  Start the conversations. Ask the person you care for what the understand about the NDIS? As them how the day was.  Get support workers to take photos of them doing things, so you can see their reactions.  Talk as a family, especially if the NDIS may mean the person you care for will be moving out of home for the first time.  Talk about the hard stuff what happens if a key people in the family passes away.

Research and explore all the options the NDIS can offer you or your family.  Learn to play by the new language and get your head around the shift in thinking you need to empower yourself or a people you love to live their best life.