Your NDIS plan is there to meet your needs and empower you to live a better life. So, it’s important you know what steps you can take to ensure it’s working for you. From knowing what to do if you’re running out of funding to understanding how to inform the NDIS if your circumstances change mid-plan, in this webinar, Fighting Chance’s Senior Support Coordinator, Alex Browne shares tips and knowledge to make sure you maximise your NDIS plan, including:
Additional resources from the NDIS website:
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]]>In this webinar, Fighting Chance’s Senior Support Coordinator, Alex Browne, deep dives into the new NDIS access process.
Alex covers the following:
Additional resources:
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]]>In this webinar, Fighting Chance’s Senior Support Coordinator, Alex Browne, deep dives into psychosocial disability, a term used to describe a disability that may arise from a mental health issue. Alex guides attendees through everything from NDIS eligibility criteria, to what can be funded and how a psychosocial recovery coach can support participants with psychosocial disabilities to live a full and contributing life.
Alex covers the following:
Additional resources:
Mental Health Access Snapshot Series
Access
Psychosocial recovery coach information
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]]>In this webinar, Fighting Chance’s Senior Support Coordinator, Alex Browne, explores the different types of guardianship, the financial management considerations, and the process to apply for guardianship within the context of the NDIS.
– Different types of guardianship
– Financial management considerations
– When is it important to think about guardianship, and what needs to be considered?
– What is the process to apply for guardianship?
Additional resources:
Child representatives
Nominees
Guardianship
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]]>Watch this webinar to explore the value of Positive Behaviour Support and how it impacts the need for regulated restrictive practices.
– What is a restrictive practice (RP) under the NDIS rules.
– What does it mean when a RP is recommended as part of your behaviour support plan.
– What is Positive Behaviour Support (PBS), and what role do Behaviour Support Practitioners play?
– How does PBS reduce the need for restrictive practices
– What is the difference between PBS & Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA)
– Where can I find more information about Restrictive Practices and Positive Behaviour Support
This webinar is for all parents, carers and support persons of an individual who displays behaviours of concern. This webinar may help you better understand if a person you support requires positive behaviour support services and what you can expect from such services.
Additional resources:
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]]>In this webinar, Fighting Chance’s Senior Support Coordinator, Alex Browne, deep dives into the equipment, technology and devices (assistive technology) that help you, or your person, do things you can’t do because of your disability. She covers the following:
– What does the NDIS mean by assistive technology
– What assistive technology is funded by the NDIS & the difference between low, mid and high cost assistive technology
– What are the steps to get assistive technology in your plan
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]]>Are you an adult or a teenager applying to the NDIS for the first time?
NDIS funding for the supports you need to live your life with choice and control and achieve your goals can be life-changing. However, accessing the NDIS can be a lengthy process. If you choose to go ahead and apply, it pays to gather as much information as you can, check your eligibility and give your application the best chance the first time.
Whilst resources such as the NDIS website and guides take you through the steps, the devil is in the detail to filling out the NDIS Access Request form.
When the NDIS says – “you must demonstrate evidence of your diagnosis from a treating professional” – what kind of evidence do they need? Your disability or impairment must lead to a significant reduction in your functional capacity, but what does functional capacity mean? Your treating professional(s) must provide an assessment and a report, but what should they include? What language should they use?
This blog will take you through the Fighting Chance NDIS Access Checklist and build on the points included. You may also want to watch:
The NDIS access checklist
The first three eligibility questions are nice and straightforward.
1. Are you under the age of 65?
2. Are you an Australian Citizen, Permanent Resident or do you have another special, protected category of visa?
3. Do you reside in Australia?
Congratulations, you’re 3/7 of the way through the checklist.
These questions correspond with Section 1 (the section you fill in for yourself or for your person) of the NDIS Access Request Form, Part A (your personal information).
Next:
4. Do you have a diagnosed disability that is lifelong and permanent?
5. Do you have evidence of this diagnosis from a treating professional?
Include details in Section 1, Part E of the NDIS Access Request Form (overview of your disability).
For certain disabilities, a diagnosis is likely to meet requirements to gain access to the NDIS. You can find the full list here.
If you already have good evidence of a diagnosis from the list of conditions above, or another condition/impairment which results in your disability, you can attach this. According to the NDIS, good evidence should:
Finally, and most importantly:
6. Does your disability have a significant impact on your functional capacity in different areas of your life?
7. Do you have an assessment and a report from your treating professional(s) detailing this impact, and what supports you are likely to need?
Functional capacity refers to your capacity across six core areas of daily life, known as domains. If your disability has an impact on your functional capacity, it means that, due to your disability, you are less able to enjoy the “ordinary life”, that should be the right of all Australians across these domains. You must demonstrate impact on at least one of these domains to be eligible for the NDIS:
For example, if you are a wheelchair user, or you have severe anxiety which prevents you from leaving the house, there is a functional impact on your mobility. You might not be able to access public transport, and therefore the variety of places you can travel is limited, or you might not be able to get to the shops to buy essentials.
The language you, and your treating professionals use to communicate functional impact is important. Clinicians often write in medical language about symptoms, but the NDIS is interested in how these symptoms affect your life or stop you from achieving the standard of living you want for yourself.
You can empower your treating professional to understand and use functional impact language with the following resources:
You have now reached the end of the checklist. If you’re confident you are eligible, and have all the information at hand, you are ready to apply to the NDIS. Complete the NDIS Access Request Form to apply. You can find a copy of the form, and instructions on how to submit, on the NDIS website.
Once you’ve submitted it, you should hear back within 21 days. If your application is successful, the NDIS will contact you to arrange a planning meeting to discuss your support and funding needs.
Good luck!
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]]>In this webinar, Fighting Chance’s Senior Support Coordinator, Alex Browne, takes a look at accessing (or applying to) the National Disability Insurance Scheme for the first time, including:
Additional resources:
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]]>If you are an NDIS participant and want to live more independently, either now, or in the future NDIS home and living supports may be appropriate to help you achieve that goal. It’s not always straightforward, though, to get the right funding, at the right time. In this webinar, Alex Browne breaks down what you need to know about home and living options into digestible and actionable steps.
Additional resources:
1. NDIS Consultation Paper: An Ordinary Life at Home
3. SDA evidence flow chart (Summer Foundation)
4. NDIS form: Request for Home and Living Supports
5. Determining Need – Identifying Suitable Housing Solutions template
6. NDIS Provider SIL Tool for 2022 / 2023
7. NDIS form: Change of details or situation form
8. NDIS form: Supporting evidence – home and living
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]]>Every Friday night, the Burleigh Town Hotel conducts a raffle as part of their Tradie Club festivities to raise money for charity.
On 31 March 2023, Fighting Chance gratefully received a generous donation of $3,547.15!
Long-time supporters of Fighting Chance, Ross Paterson and Neville Hedge, are pictured here receiving the cheque from Ebony, the raffle coordinator at Burleigh Town Hotel.
“What a fantastic donation”, Neville commented.
Neville and Ross are holding their annual charity golf day to raise money for Fighting Chance on Friday, 8 September 2023. This donation will be added to the funds raised at that event.
Thank you to Burleigh Town Hotel, Neville and Ross for your ongoing support of Fighting Chance.
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