Dear Committee Secretariat,
I’m writing to you to urge you to put an immediate stop to the proposed changes to the NDIS Act and the implementation of the controversial and widely rejected NDIS compulsory assessments.
I do not think these changes will work in my cumstances. I am non-verbal and dyslexic, and use a text to speech device to communicate. I also have very complex physical support needs and use a power wheelchair.
Have limited mobility in one hand only so it takes me a long time to type, and my dyslexia means I often struggle with spelling, so I need people to guess words and play an active role in communicating with me. An important pof this is also making sure that I am not being misrepresented, or denied the opportunity to speak. Most of the time communication is very difficult with people who don’t know me, and many people aren’t willing to give me the time I need to be understood. There is an even greater impact when that person is in a position of aauthority, such as in a medical setting, or when someone can make decisions that affect my life. The insequences of this is something that I have experienced countless times, resulting in me not getting the support I need to live a life.
An Important Part of Getting My NDIS Plan
An important part of getting my NDis plan to be right for me has been building up relationships with people like my support coordinator, planner, GP and allied health therapists, who work closely with me to understand my needs and goals. I know how detrimental it can be when people make decisions about my life without fully understanding me or my needs. With my communication and support needs, having to base my funding on a short standardised assessment with someone who does n’t know me, whose decision I can’t appeal, is such a dangerous proposal. Three hours is too long for me to be grilled for and not long enough for my way of communicating to get across about me. There is too much potential for things to go wrong and people’s lives will be seriously impacted by these decisions.
Weee, Sam