Setting goals

What are goals?

How do I write goals?

Where would I fine some?

Can't I just keep doing the same thing?

The participants funding allocation will now be determine by the goals they list in their NDIS and the steps they want to nominate to reach their goals.  The goals must be voice by the 'person with disability'.

Hopes and Dreams

Hopes and dreams aren't always achievable, but sometimes we need to do a bit of dreaming to get there.  So you might dream about winning the grand finial (this is something that is clear and tangible so could also be a goal).

So your first goal maybe to join the footy team. The next step might be to turn up for training and learn the rules.  You will need to attend training every week. Working towards your goals requires commitment.  A goal with not just happen, like taking a trip to Disneyland, you may want to buy a gold lotto ticket, if that is how you intend to pay for it.

Remember when we were growing up and we would say . . .

When I grow up I want to an astronaut, since we know not many people become astronauts and you can't do the training in Australia then becoming an astronaut might be a bit of a dream, not a goal. Having said that it is not impossible either.

A dream like winning Gold Lotto is not possible for everyone and not probable for most people.  So a goal must be obtainable.

A goal must be

• Something that is possible (or not outside the norm)
• Must be clearly stated and able to be understood by every one.
• Must be measurable - we need to know when we achieve their goals.
• When we talk about NDIS goals we are talking about what the participants want to achieve. For example their goal might be to find a job. 

So if a participants goals 'is to find a job', it is not up to anyone to decide that is not possible. We know that for many unskilled people finding a job is difficult. We know many people do not find work. We know living with disability makes it harder to find work. We also know some people with disabilities find work.

There for 'finding a job' is an achievable goal.

On of my participant goals is to sell my artwork.

Here is some of my artwork on sale.

If the participant is unskilled and their goal is to find work then they might decide to build their skills before they look for work.

They NDIA role is to enable people to participate in life! That means people with disabilities are looking at things like employment, long term accommodation, independent living skills, health and fitness or play sport, training, work paid or unpaid.

The NDIS means participants and their families are moving from 'survival mode' to 'building a life with meaning and purpose'. For many the language used by the NDIA might as well be a foreign language.

So if one of your goals is to get out of bed in the morning, I am not sure I'd be putting that in my NDIS plan.  The NDIA must provide all reasonable and necessary supports. So if one of your goals is to produce art to sell, then of course you will need to get out of bed.

We are trained to think of support being the end goal. In writing you're NDIS goals we are not talking about what you need or your disability. We're talking about the things you like to do and the things you want to learn.

How do I find my goals?

Your goals are not objects? You can't catch your goals with a fishing line. Goals are something you want to do as a person. Like kicking a football through the goal post after you team scores a try.

So when you starting to think about writing your NDIS goals on paper or assist someone you might start by doing a bit of dreaming and think about what you enjoy doing.

If you like bushwalking you might enjoy exploring new places. You might want to set some of your goals around travel.  A great place to go bushwalking is Tasmania.

I can here parents say are you out of your mind?  My son can't read a map. How will he pay for it?

So step one might be to save some money and to do that he may need some support to budget.

If you son travels in a group. he doesn't need to be able to read a map.

When setting your goals you shouldn't be thinking about how to do it. You just need to write, I want to travel to China.

The next step might be to look at what's involved in going to China and how much it will cost together.

As you write and rewrite your plan and think about the process and how long it will take you to save up the money then you may decide its not a realistic goal or it might be something you want to do in five years time.

Thinking about what you like and how you might go about it, may get your mind thinking about things you never thought about before, which is why we all need to do a little dreaming.

Gee I might like to fly a plane. . . Maybe I'll start with hang guiding. My first flight might need to be done in trandom

Big ideas may lead to ideas that are possible.  Think about living life without limits.  People with disabilities, careres and parents we're great at setting the bar to low.  It is easier to lower the bar that to raise it.

What about setting them up for failure.. Ok I hear you, think about the hopes and dreams you had for that child before they were born. What did their life look like.

. . . work

. . . moving out of home

. . . having a girlfriend

. . . getting a linace

. . . getting married

. . . having children

How did their birth and their disability change those hopes.  What about others the same age . . . What if they started to smoke drop and dropped out of school. To feed the habit they start stealing cars?

I bet no one will list stealing a car as a NDIS goal.  All  children over time will make choices we don't like and some of these will be dangerous. Some kids will make mistakes that will cost there life.

The NDIS is about people with disabilities having 'real lives', sometimes we will fail and sometimes we will soar.

'Can I keep doing what I do now?
Of course the NDIS is all about choice!  How you chose to live your life is definitely your choice.  You have the right not to change anything you do or who you do it with.  

However, the bad news is you now need to express that in a NDIS plan in order to receive funding.  So a starting point might be some boxes. 

• Where I live and with who
• Work life
• Hobbies, likes
• Learning activities
• Health and fitness

Then in each box write in all the things you do now.

So your living arrangements and accommodation goal is:-

To continue living with my two friends

Employment goal:-

I am working towards being an artists and one day selling my artwork.

Learning goals:-

To finish art school

Sport, health and fitness goals:-

Keep play netball

So your goals are

• not about your disability
• not about what you can't do
• not about who you do things with
• not about the services you use or the support staff who support you.

For now the NDIA what to know the things you intend doing over the next 12 months. Use simple and clear statements.

The next question they will ask is how you want to achieve each goal and what supports you need.

NDIS Goal:

Keep living with my two best friends

So if you currently live in a group home and are supported by support staff, and you and your housemates are happy with this, then the NDIA need to know that you want to keep it that way.

They will check this is safe and your not in any danger. They may ask if the other girls are happy with this arrangements. They may look at the house to see if anything needs changing and the specific ways the support staff assist you each day.

And that's that goal in your NDIA plan completed. They will ask for the same information for your other goals,

Once they have approved you plan and you tell them you have elected to have the NDIA to pay for your supports directly. The will ask you which providers you will be using. As you are not changing any thing, your service provider(s) will come out and ask you to sign your service agreement for the next 12 months.

But can you do me a favour ask yourself if there isn't any thing new you'd like to try.