Submission No 19
INQUIRY INTO IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL DISABILITY INSURANCE SCHEME AND THE PROVISION OF DISABILITY SERVICES IN NEW SOUTH WALES
Name: Ms Manda Leong Johnston Date Received: 9 July 2018
My 11-year-old daughter has Down syndrome and we had been informed mid-2017 that she was eligible for NDIS funding. We finally were contacted for a meeting with a Local Area Co-ordinator in November 2017. Soon after our meeting we received her plan. Immediately I could see problems. We had received funding for an area which we had not requested, nor even discussed, while one activity was not funded when a similar activity received funding. I submitted an application for a review almost immediately, in December 2017. I did not hear back for around 6 months. I finally received a revised plan in May 2018. The funding for the area which we had no need for had been removed as requested. The activity which was not funded was still not funded, and the greatest amount of funding my daughter had been granted, for therapy (speech and occupational), had been reduced by 20%. There was no explanation for this reduction and as a result of it, my daughter’s weekly therapy sessions will not be fully funded by the NDIS. I have found the lack of response frustrating and the lack of explanations for decisions made even more so. The funding we have received has already made a big difference for my daughter but not being able to rely on it is unsettling.