NDIS - some articles to read

I recently saw a post on a Facebook group, indicating that many people who are currently grappling with the changes in the disability sector and the implementation of the NDIS are people with good cognitive skills, and advocacy skills. This is people with disability, as well as carers and people who support people with a disability. And many of these people are having problems understanding the steps, and how to put a plan together that gets funded appropriately.

But what about those who do not have good cognitive skills, or do not know how to advocate for themselves, or those they support?

This is an article from a few months ago, where the issue of funding for advocacy organisations is being discussed.NDIS: Advocates argue funding cut will make scheme participation difficult for those with intellectual disabilities

Alos check out the renamed NDIS Tier 2 Policy Framework, called Information, Linkages and Capacity Building 

It gives you an idea about how community inclusion is going to be developed in communities in this new paradigm. Hopefully many of the good community inclusion and capacity building organisations and projects already out there are not going to be lost with this new Framework.

Access Easy English engages people with disability in all their projects. Consumer review is paramount to the functionality of any project or document.  It would be fantastic if this could be grown further, and we could employ people with limited literacy to help to write the actual documents. This is the model in the UK. Talk to me about how you could include this in your organisation.

Cathy

Cathy Basterfield

cathy@accesseasyenglish.com.au

www.accesseasyenglish.com.au

0420532328

NDIS: winners and losers

2 recent articles I have read, discuss the issues for people who may not be accessing services under the new paradigm of the NDIS.

There are lots of positives under the new scheme, however as Jenny Green and Associate Professor Jane Mears in their article, The Implementation of the NDIS: Who Wins, Who Loses? (reference 1) state "On balance the individual funding was more likely to be used by people of working age with low support needs (from Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs 2010, p.13)."

Think about the implications of this type of data on the people you support.

How many of the people you support, fit the category of both working age and low support needs?

People with Complex Communication Needs are most often seen as having high support needs, and many also have difficulty advocating for themselves.  How many people with Complex Communication Needs are accessing the NDIS? How many are getting a meaningful plan for their ongoing support and future needs? How many are getting reasonable access to therapy assessments and support and training for support staff? What do you think needs to be put in place to ensure this significant group of people are accessing the services they need?

As stated by Soldatic et al in their article Intellectual Disability and Complex Intersections: Marginalisation, (reference 2) the NDIS is an opt-in model of service. In their article they draw attention to the work of Leipoldt’s and Hallahan who have suggested "that relying on the market to deliver individual choice is a problematic framing for the full realisation of disability rights. This is partly because a market-based system requires sociocultural literacy in “choice and self-interest” The authors go on to indicate  "Numerous disability groups have also suggested that there are a group of people at the margins who experience multiple and complex forms of disadvantage and, therefore, do not necessarily have this literacy.” (Sociocultural Literacy).

They also go on to suggest, “For these groups, accessing the NDIS may be a major challenge. If the onus is on the individual to prove his or her eligibility on a case-by-case basis, people with disabilities with complex social needs are unlikely to have the sociocultural literacy to interpret and activate administrative rules for their own individual benefit.”

These are important issues to discuss, as much of the discussion in the media about the NDIS is of the huge benefits for people with a disability. Often those that appear to be missing out, are those with little experience of advocacy.  Are people with multiple and complex needs, including social and mental health needs, or poor socio-economic backgrounds and/or poor education going to be able to meaningfully access the NDIS?

We will hear the NDIS is meeting benchmarks, but who is this for? Who is really accessing the NDIS, and who is missing out? What services and professional supports are people being able to access? 

Interestingly the latest quarterly report from the NDIS, has a breakdown of costs/client for support plans. In that  report the NDIS provide a 2 part analysis and so in one analysis, removes the costs of the group of people who have accessed the NDIS from institutional type environments, as being an aberration of costs, due to their high support needs. It would appear people with high support needs will not be a large proportion of the NDIS model. Is that really the case, or is it the case that people with high support needs have a range of other issues making it more difficult for them to know how to access the NDIS.

Cathy

Cathy Basterfield

Consultant Speech Pathologist

Access Easy English

cathy@accesseasyenglish.com.au

www.accesseasyenglish.com.au

0466 579 855

References

1.    Jenny Green & Associate Professor Jane Mears, The Implementation of the NDIS: Who Wins, Who Loses?  Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Journal 2014, 6(2): 3915,-

2.    Karen Soldatic, Georgia van Toorn, Leanne Dowse & Kristy Muir (2014) Intellectual Disability and Complex Intersections: Marginalisation under the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Research and Practice in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 1:1, 6-16,

            DOI: 10.1080/23297018.2014.906050

NDIS - learn more about how to make your plan

In November 2014, a conference in the ACT run by Imagine More had Fiona May, the CEO of one of the ACT advocacy services, ADACAS (ACT Disability, Aged and Carer Advocacy Service) present a paper on the NDIS. She covers various steps and issues people with a disability, and their families need to think about in going forward in this new paradigm.

It is an easy to listen to presentation, with clear ideas and steps to consider. Some of the key messages in her presentation are:

- there will be meetings;

- planning is important;

- think about everything from the paradigm of "your core"(eg self care needs), your "capacity", (inclusion and community capacity) and your “ capital” requirements (equipment);

- think about the line items which you don't see currently, but need to have built into your plan, such as case management, and how many hours that is realistically, And this is not just the time your current case manager spends in face to face time with you;

- ask your current service providers about hours and support you currently receive, and what they think you could also be doing if the funds were available;

- some great ways to think about how to get respite, under the new system;

- if you are doing something, such as  going to a craft group, what are your needs here, eg: how do you get there (transport needs). do you need a 1:1 support person in that environment, when it is new, or ongoing, etc;

 - get an advocate to help you in the meetings, to review draft plans and preparation for the next meeting;

Every plan does need to identify if you are planning to self-manage or the NDIA manage your funds. However, as part of your plan you can choose to self mange just a small part in this plan. As you review your plan (yearly), you can change this to increase or decrease the amount you self manage, if you want to.

Critically, Fiona mentioned, don't fight the system, work with it; this is the new paradigm. She reported, participants who have been through the process, have reported it is not as scary as what they had imagined, but you do need to be prepared. Once the plan has been devised and approved, there are opportunities to appeal, but fight your battles, don't try for the "whole war."  There are lots of ways to provide feedback, as the NDIA learns and beds down this new paradigm. Your plan is reviewed every 12 months, but you can also ask for a review earlier than that.

Listen to the paper here.

 

Cathy

Cathy Basterfield

Speech Pathologist

NDIS registered.

Access Easy English

cathy@accesseasyenglish.com.au

0466 579 855

www.accesseasyenglish.com.au  

Inclusion and Equality of opportunity

Last week, the public became aware of an atrocious situation in a Canberra, ACT school whereby a child with autism was being managed by the school in an inhumane and illegal manner.Read news article here

Unfortunately this is not a rare case, but one that has hit the media, and headlines. Often issues around appropriate support for schools, and teachers are one of many causes as to why poor management decisions are made. Appropriate specialist resources must be made available to teacher, families and teachers to help them implement appropriate educational programs for all students. Read the comment from Graham Innes, the ex Federal Disability Discrimination Commissioner who is calling for a Royal Commission into the state of mismanagement, current support, and resources for children with extra needs in the education system.

Compare this to ...what are the possibilities.

2 young sisters, equally have a love of dancing, and equally share the stage, to a choreographed piece showcasing their skills and abilities.

Cathy

Cathy Basterfield

Speech Pathologist

Access Easy English

cathy@accesseasyenglish.com.au

www.accesseasyenglish.com.au