Chasing Deams

Ready to go!

The National Disability Insurance Scheme is rolling out across Australia are you ready to roll with it? Or are your fearing change and digging your heals in.  The changes under NDIS mean you will now be supported to do the things you like to do!  The NDIA refers to these as goals. As people with disabilities transfer to assistance under the NDIS they are asked to supply a list of goals.

Goals can be written around what you enjoy doing, the things your doing now (good I want to keep producing art) and want to keep doing or you might decide to do something new like jet skiing. All of us are different and we all want different things in life. If you boil down all the talk about NDIS it comes down to one thing . . . What do you want your life to look like.

The power and decision making is in your control, not the NDIA, not your service provider, and not your support workers. You will be able to chose your provider and the types of supports you want. If your advenious and good at finances you can employ your own support staff.

No! If you happy with how life looks now you do not need to change your supports. What you do need to explain to the NDIA is how you current support assist you to do what you do now. But, whether you happy with life now, or you want to be daring and spice your life up or just become a little more independent you still need to develop a NDIS plan.

The NDIA will want to know your thoughts around you network system and what supports you have now.  Are you happy with your accommodations or would you like to move? Do you work or study or would you like to? What are your hobbies and interests? If you go horse riding now do you want to keep doing that or try something new like rock 'n' roll dancing?

Getting ready for the NDIS and starting to write your NDIS begins about answering questions like these and putting them on paper. Your NDIS goals are not:-

• About your disability
• About what you can't do
• About the support you need
• About hours
• Who will support you.

That is the old way of thinking about how to provide your support. These are the things you will determine as you decide how you want to achieve your goals. Do you want to study online or do you want one on one support to attend classes on campus. Under the NDIS two people might have the same thing they want to do, but the way they do it might look very different.

The new concept is to look at how your package can enable you to live a great life and participate in the community through studying, working, attending day programs, volunteering, travelling with friends, moving out of home or learning new ways of communication.

You should know the NDIA has to objectives:-

1. To enable you to become independent as you can; and
2. assist you to engage in the life or the community.

Once the NDIA know your goals they want to know how you want to achieve them.  If you want no changes its ok to say that.  The NDIA must provide supports that are reasonable and necessary to enable to achieve your goals.

So if you can't walk or need a assistance to get out of bed and your goal is to play basketball for Australian then they must provide you with a wheelchair and personal care assistance to get ready for training. You might ask for a support worker who also likes sport and might be able to support you in the gym.  

So the NDIA are happy to consider new ways or new technologies to enable you to live your life. Which is why no one is discussing this like no of hours.  You might find using an assistance dog, might increase your independence so you need less one on one assistance from a worker.

Naturally I am using simplifty examples to start you thinking and maybe even dreaming of what your life will involve under the NDIS. Today I just want you to start.  Maybe that's a list of your current activities, draw you a week time table and write all the things you do in a week.  Then make 3 columns, list your activities then tick in or out!

Now you have a list of activities that can become your 2017 or 2018 goals.

The next step is to circle any activities you want to keep but you think you might want to change hour you do that activity or with who you do the activity/  Don't think about how for now. You might want to talk to some other people first or you might like time to explore new possibilities.  Yep! I reconk it be a good idea you ask people like mum and dad or your support workers to help you to find new ways to do things or new things to do!

This is what we mean about getting ready.  My goals I've tucked a way for a few months, I look at them again before the end of the year, I might want to change them or find I forgot about learning Chi Tai.

Not sure where to start?  The start by making lists, the NDIS is coming and now is the time to think about what that might look like for you.