To make the most of your NDIS plan you need to be prepared for your planning meeting. This means you need to understand what you get now and think about any areas of additional support you may need.
Think about what you do every morning, afternoon, evening and night.
• Where do you do these activities?
• Who supports you to do them?
• What support do you need to get ready, to get up in the morning or when you come home?
What support do you need to do these things?
Write down how you get to activities, what support you might need for the whole or part of the activity, or for specific tasks such as personal care or meal assistance during the activities.
Consider whether you currently use:
• Paid Support
• Family Support
• Peer or volunteer support
• Mainstream (i.e. Doctor) support
• Therapy or behaviour support
• Aids and equipment or a modified home environment
Do you currently get funded for:
• An individual support package (ISP)
• Early Childhood Intervention Support (ECIS)
• Flexible respite or other carers package
• Continence aids – Continence aids payment scheme (CAPS)
• Nutritional supplements – Home Enteral Nutrition (HEN)
• Futures for Young Adults (FFYA)
• Travel, either from a service or mobility allowance
• Other support or services related to your disability
You need to know what supports you get now to share this with your planner.
What are your goals?
Goals describe what you want to achieve. Once you are clear about what support you receive and what works for you, this will help you think about your goals.
During your planning conversation, the planner will talk to you about the goals you want to achieve across many aspects of your life. The planner asks this because a NDIS plan is based on goals, and support will only be funded if they will help you meet these goals.
Examples for goal setting includes:
○ Think about what’s important to you;
• I like attending book groups every week.
• I like participating in activities at my Local Community Hub.
• I want to improve how I communicate.
○ Then work out your goals;
• To increase my ability to access the community for Social activities.
• To be involved in the community and engage with others.
• To improve my ability to speak clearly.
○ So the funding support you need to achieve this goal might cover the following;
• (Help from) a speech pathologist to improve my communication.
• To attend the Community Hub
• A disability Support Worker to get me to a Community Hub and book group.
How NDIS Decides
NDIS provide what they consider to be reasonable and necessary supports meaning that they fit the following criteria:
(a) The support will assist the participant to pursue the goals , objectives and aspirations included in the participant’s statement of goals and aspirations
(b) The support will assist the participant to undertake activities, so as to facilitate the participant’s social and economic participation
(c) The support represents value for money in that the costs of the support are reasonable, relative to both the benefits achieved and the cost of alternative support
(d) The support will be, or is likely to be, effective and beneficial for the participant, having regard to current good practice
(e) The funding or provision of the support takes into account of what is reasonable to expect families, carers, informal networks and the community to provide
(f) The support is most appropriately funded through the NDIS, and is not more appropriately funded or provided through other general systems of service delivery or support services offered by a person, agency or body, or systems of service delivery or support services delivered
