Submission No 46
INQUIRY INTO IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL DISABILITY INSURANCE SCHEME AND THE PROVISION OF DISABILITY SERVICES IN NEW SOUTH WALES
Name: Name suppressed Date Received: 9 July 2018
Partially Confidential
The NDIS process has been traumatic for me. I have a vision impairment and am legally blind. None of the staff i have dealt with through the NDIA or Uniting have understood my disability. Often they have misunderstood or made assumptions that were highly inaccurate. I have had to justify my disability and needs beyond what I consider reasonable. Had the NDIA been using the services of experts in my disability many of the justifications and reviews would never have happened as my needs would have been inherently understood and accommodated up front. I felt repeatedly “raped” by the process. Forced to relive my trauma of loosing my sight and the terrible outcome as a result as NDIA and LAC’s asked probing, personal and invasive questions to makde decisions on what was reasonable and necessary. For example, I had to justify why I used a guide dog and was denied funding for it and had to lodge a review. The LAC thought I was mentally ill and sometimes took my dog on the bus for companionship. This was what was captured in my plan. This was in spite of a face to face meeting where she observed me with the guide dog.
I had an NDIA planner decide to halve my core funding for domestic support because “it looked like a lot of money”. This was in spite of copious notes being recorded and assessments completed for the need in the last plan. When I asked her why she said “you dont have children.” And “what does your husband do?’ Again this was addressed with the LAC and in the previous plan and i was forced again to explain my condition and lifestyle, feeling raped and traumatised by the invasive process.
The NDIA consultant also suggested tha I should find cheaper providers. I am currently using NDIA approved providers paying the standard hourly rate. I asked if she would work for less than this? I was also told that I could not get orientation and mobility funding anymore as I had not developed the skills in my first plan. Again a blindness expert would be able to explain why this form of support is ongoing in nature, required for a lifetime etc. Instead I was told by my LAC that she deemed that I required the same travel training as someone who is intellectually disabled. That by those standards I had not achieved my goals of travelling independantly. therefore i was deemed by theNDIA to be “Incapable” of learning to travel independantly so they would no longer invest in this for me. Instead they increased my core supports by double my CB request so that a support worker could assist me when i am in public.
On the positive, once the planning process was over and funds in place I have been able to access more specific funding and suppport than ever before. Once i got Guide Dog maitenance, domestic support and community supports my life has improved. Also the technology funding and the goals I have achieved has been amazing. I am improving each day in my use of adaptive technology and I am participating more in the community. So on the whole the program is great.
Just please employ experts who specialise in specific disabilities to advic and make decisions and stop individuals in the system from re justifying needs over and over each year. That is too traumatic. I ended up back in therapy and had to take out power of attorney with my Dad and husband so they could get my first plan in place because of the emotional distress.