Independent Assessments
Submission 321
31st March 2021
i escaped from Centrelink and the Disability Support Pension nearly three years ago now after 20 or so years on the pension. My main physical disability was misdiagnosed, and fairly recently re- diagnosed and treated, and then i returned to work. I am also in the process of receiving a neurodiversity diagnosis and have a different physical disability to contend with and i am currently scraping by without the NDIS but will not manage on my own for much longer, and i certainly will not manage at all if something happens like redundancy and i lose my job, however, i am currently still too traumatised by Centrelink to apply for the NDIS, and if independent assessments come in then dont see how i could possibly, willingly subject myself to the ndis in future, at all.
in dependent assessments will rely on our ability to present the right information at the right time which iam guaranteed not to be able to do and ill miss out on support that need for basic everyday things that everyone else takes for granted.
im still traumatized from my disability support pension assessments with centrelink employees. these interactions damaged me emotionally as the employees told me what icould and couldnt do and how ishould and shouldnt feel they completely dominated me and ilost my confidence and selfesteem andability totell mystory. this has had devastating effects on many areas ofmylifeand adversely affectedmyemployment skillsforwhichiamnowpaying forththerapyforthe long term. these skill include both mysoftskills suchasinterpersonalskillsandhardskillssuchas projectworkskillsforth traumafromtryingto communicatewithcentre linkworkerswhoconstantlydominatedmeissogreatthatirequireconstantreassurancefrommymyteam.
youhavetounderstandicannotandwillnotsuccessfullyprovide theinformationrequiredt assessmydisabilityandfunctiontoa stranger. pleaseletmerepeat-icanotandwillnot successfully provide theinformation requiredtassessmydisabilityand function toa stranger.notinonesessionandonottovertime. ym ycommunicationdifficultiesmeanthathisinformationmustbegleaned overtim ebysomeoneliknownowndtrustandsomone knowledgeableaboutm ym conditionsand whoknows whattolookforandtakenoteof,forexample bymytreatingdoctors.
in dependent assessmentswillallow assessors to miss information.they will not asktherelevant questionsandiwi llnotprovidet here levantanswers. fore xam ple ,thequestion:canwalk400 metres?yes . ican - butthe assessorw illcloseh ere andi wi lln otknow thatine edtoxplainfurthernorwil li beabletowolunteert heinform ation onmyown.form ethecase isnotclosed. icantechnically walk400metresbut i needtonothave walked400metresthedaybefore. ineed tonotfai ledtocleanbath room,andsometimesijustcantwalk400metersregardless ofotheractivities.iwil lnottobe ableto explainthisattimetbecauseineed togethest rangerawayfrommeas soonaspossible. thisisa just anexamplewillapplytoanyallquestions.
Independent Assessments
Submission 321
Some people have said the assessment will take three hours — I will be done at forty minutes. I cannot sit in the one spot and talk about myself longer than that. And I will be the one blamed for leaving the affointment - even though my disability means that I cannot possibly sit there for that long and cognitively consider what is being said to me, and form responses that are going to be relevant.
Independent Assessments are damaging, inappropriate and not fit for purpose. The assessment questions and the information gathered will be deceptive and misrepresent me, my needs and my function. Independent Assessments are not normal, not natural and for me - not possible.
Independent Assessments will exclude me from the NDIS. But | fear that this is actually the real d goal of these assessments. Independent Assessments will allow the prioritisation of some over oters and the ‘others’ will be left to fend for themselves - and we will not be able to. As a society, we cannot let this happen if we believe in decency and fairness.