60-year old Cathy Marion recently embarked on her planning journey with NDIS. A mother of a child with intellectual disability, Cathy was in the unique situation of developing a NDIS plan for both herself and her daughter.
Cathy began her NDIS journey in December. As a resident within the City of Bayswater, both Cathy and her daughter were earmarked for the NDIS trial, which began rolling out in January.
“I was able to talk to the NDIS at the beginning of January and explain the fact that I needed to do a plan for me and my daughter Susan. They were very good about it, found her name in the system and linked us together, all I had to do was ask,” she said.
“I was then contacted again in the middle of January and was able to make an appointment and do our plans over the phone. I emailed the planner my existing plan and they were able to move over our goals and aspirations. She also spoke to both of us to help fill in the details as necessary.”
Cathy and her daughter Susan had both received Activ’s NDIS planning document and found it incredibly useful in helping to develop their plans.
“It helped us to focus on what we do each and every day, what supports and services we receive and then record them in one, central place which is really important when you’re developing a plan.”
Cathy said that the key to getting your NDIS Plan right is the pre-planning.
“It’s important to sit down and work out everything you do in a week. Start from scratch and really have a think about what supports you need to do your day to day activities.”
“When you’re setting goals also make them as broad as you can. For example, Susan really wanted to focus on meal preparation. At the end of the year she might be able to cook a meal, but it would be great if she could also do the shopping, or move on to making a two course meal. Making the goals open ended means that you can get the most out of your funding,” said Cathy.
“It’s important to note that people with intellectual disability may face more challenges than those that have higher needs, so it’s really important to pre-plan and work out what you need before you go in.”
If you are working on your NDIS Plan or have any questions you can contact Activ’s Customer Engagement Team on (08) 9387 0473.
If you need help with your pre-planning you can download Activ’s NDIS Planning Documents here.