From: To: Community Affairs, Committee (SEN); Subject: Spam: Submission to the Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012 Date: Thursday, 17 January 2013 11:09:26 AM
Please consider this email a formal submission by me to the Senate Standing
Committee on Community Affairs Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance
Scheme Bill 2012.
The current disability system has many problems that need to be addressed.
I have a 10 year old with Autism and ADD. She struggles at school (even with special education support). Her IQ is high but her behaviour is very challenging and school has a lot of trouble with her. She has been homeschooled for the last 6 months, but will be starting back at a public school this year part time. The special schools wont have her as her IQ is too high. She is a constant strain. It would be helpful to have someone come in to shower her once a day and get her dressed in the morning. I am providing her care as my husband also has autism. She has a special diet which means a lot of time spent in the kitchen. She doesn’t respond to the ADD medication and tried to kill herself when she was on it. As I already feel exhausted, I worry that I will not be able to care for her until she is
- And what then? She doesn’t want to go into a retirement home at 18 but I certainly will be all used up. Where will she live? If there is no accomodation appropriate then she may end up on the streets because I certainly couldn’t keep managing the level of care required as I am going to continue to age. It would be great if she could have school support, then work support and accomodation. It would take strain off me to know there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that what I am doing now will have an end date when she becomes an adult. Please included people with Autism - even the ones titled “high functioning”. They require a lot of support to make anything of their lives. She has an IQ of 143 but behaves like a very young, trusting 6 year old rather than a 10 year old.
The main features of the NDIS that will make a difference to the community are:
People with a disability can choose the types of support to use, Better access to education and work opportunities, People with disability/family will influence the types of support and services offered
The most important services for the NDIS to provide are:
Employment support, Accommodation options, In-home care and domestic assistance
I support the introduction of the NDIS.
I hope it will mean my daughter can grow up to reach her potential. I hope she will have accomodation and a job that is appropriate for a young person and not end up on the street. Her autism gives her very high anxiety and so she seems more like she has a mental illness than autism. But with support I feel she could engage and contribute to her community as an adult. I think many disabled people would like to contribute and that they deserve the support so they can. I think carers are exhausted and that what they do is completely unsustainable.
I agree for my submission to be made public