Rolling on with the NDIS (My Journey)

 

A key aspect of my NDIS plan is living independently in my community. This includes things such as independent living, planning for my best life (health & wellbeing), building my visual art practise, and participate in the Ipswich arts community.

 

 

 

One of the key groups that will enable me to achieve my goals is Ipswich Arts Connect, over the weekend we participated in the first Ipswich Arts Festival. Which was a celebration of visual arts, story telling, poetry, music and performance. One of the activities I took part in that allowed me to market my  Ignite Artists Network   was Ipswich Rocks. 

Being involved is this activity allowed me to be creative; enjoyed exploring Ipswich parks, build my business networks and advertise. Each of these are core elements that will allow me to achieve my NDIS goals.

 

Rocks were located over the weekend

 

People who are finding my rocks are now discovering my business and supports I provide to local artists on the art journeys and hopefully enjoying my Disability Week's posts on local artists living with disabilities.  Hopefully next year we can host our own event as part of the FUSED festival.

 

 

HIDE *  FIND  * CLAIM PRIZE * REHIDE

 

See Ipswich Rocks on facebook 

 

The National Disability Insurance Scheme is designed to support people with disabilities to engage in their local communities through providing support with their daily living activities; support to access the community; mobility and medical aids; technology that improves independence; physical therapies and behaviour supports.

 

Participants now have greater choice about how they will achieve their goals and what works for their family units.  These choices involved:

 

• How they want to be supported
• Who (Service Provider) they want to support them
• Generic services such a cleaning services can now be accessed. 
• When they want to be supported. You may not want to go to bed at the same time every night. Some nights you might want a night on the town.
• Where to purchase your equipment
• How to manage your package.

 

I am partially self-managing my funds through a Plan Manager. It took a lot of work to initially, as I negotiated service agreements and established a weekly routine that would suit my current work commitments and enable me to get my artwork to galleries on time. Remember I wanted support to work around my art practise and  not my art practise around my supports and staff availability. 

 

I am currently producing a series of dolls to exhibit

around the theme of diversity and inclusion

to exhibit in 2018.

Now the agreements are established with my service providers, its just a matter of forwarding the invoices to my plan manager for payment. This has given me full control over what my weekly support looks like.

 

Sure 10 weeks on . . . things are still not in order and to be honest I am learning along side my providers. My support team is still not finalised and transport continues to be an issues. However I was not under the illusion that it would be otherwise. Transport and the associated costs has always been and issue and will continue to be until decision makers realise what it costs people with disabilities to travel from A to B.

Last week I travel from North Ipswich to the Ipswich Show grounds and back and didn't receive much change from $17.

Just before I joined as a NDIS participant, I has a reoccurrence a choric health condition so I am still feeling my way as  to what my new activity level will be.  Thus I anticipate more changes to my schedule ahead.  However, that is what a normal artistic life looks like.  
 

If I can give one tip:- it is life isn't going to stop while you transfer to the NDIS and setting up the support you want does consume a fair bit of time to get it all set up, so be prepare for those unexpected bumps in the road.

 

In terms of building my individual art practice this week a new group exhibition opens to the public at Aspire Gallery - Landscapes, Seascapes and Treescapes. 

 

  

As I continue to build on my doll collection.