George's Journey

21/06/2019

George's Journey

George is a 20 year old young man with cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities, and Autism. He lives in Melbourne, Australia with his parents Jim and Anna. We would like to share George's Journey with you; his daily challenges, good and bad, as well as the challenges we, as George's parents, face on a daily basis. George is on the NDIS and has SUPPORTS available to him. This blog will provide our experience with the NDIS, both positive and negative. Welcome to our journey.

19/06/2019

Hi All,

Today I will be discussing the options available to NDIS participants once their plan is approved. There are 2 options available. The first one is Agency managed and the second is self managed.



AGENCY MANAGED:
Is when you allow an agency such as Yorralla, Scope and other organizations alike to handle all of the funding and coordination of all the supports that have been funded.
This usually requires the NDIS participant to sign an agreement handing over control of all funds and organizing everything for you. It's designed to take all of the stress away from the family who are caring for someone with a disability. This sounds fantastic and it does work for some.
The major problem with this option in my opinion is that you don't really have a say in many things as you have signed over the authority of the plan to an agency. You will always be chasing them. Let me give you one example.
You require 2 support workers for your family member daily for 5 hours a day. The agency that m manages your plan hands over a portion of your funding to a carers agency provider. They send out daily 2 support workers. These support workers are not necessarily the same ones daily. That is a major problem as people with disabilities need consistency and familiarity as the are vulnerable. The only thing the agency is obliged to do is to provide you with 2 workers. Any 2 workers.
Let me take it further. You have funding for Speech Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Psychologist etc... you usually would see these allied health professionals once a week or month depending on your support package. The work that is done in that one session per week is not enough to assist the person with the disability to improve his or her quality of life. That's where the support workers come into play. They should be working daily enforcing what the Speech Therapist or OT is wanting to implement. That cannot happen if you have different support workers all the time. Consistency is paramount.

SELF MANAGED:
Is when you as the primary carer have full control of the funding and the choice of allied health professionals and support workers you use. This is a great way to overcome the problems with agency managed plans. It allows you to have consistency in care, in treatments and where you think the funds are best spent. After all, no one knows your family member better than you.
You are even given funds to have a support coordinator who will assist you every step of the way so that is a very big plus.
The only 2 shortfalls there are which I personally don't believe that they are , is that 1: You must pay for the service and then claim it back through your mygov portal. The funds are reimbursed within 24 hours straight into your nominated account.
2: You must keep records of receipts of all payments.
Not such a huge task since most people do weekly family budgets and record keeping.

In my next blog post I will be discussing why we chose the self managed options, the problems we encountered and how we have addresses them to start achieving better outcomes for George.

I hope you all enjoy our story and please feel free to comment and ask any questions you may have. My endeavor is to reply to each question weather personally or through one of my blogs.

Until next time,
Keep Strong , Keep going

18/06/2019

National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Introduction

Hi all,
As we begin to share George's Journey with you, we will also be sharing George's experience with the NDIS and the lessons learnt along the way.
Today I want to introduce you to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
It's an Australian Federal Government Initiative that financially assists people who live with disabilities to achieve maximum independence, and supports within their daily lives and to become actively involved in their communities just as any other citizen of Australia would expect or have the right too.

It covers everything that a disabled person requires such as Carers, Psychologists, Occupational Therapy,Speech Therapy, Assistive Technology and more.

However, just because you are living with a disability, you do not automatically qualify for the NDIS.
Whilst the description of disability is somewhat stereotyped as a visible difference between the capable and the disabled, it's not as simple as that. Not all disabilities are visible.

The onus is on the person and family living with the disability to show how it impacts on their normal daily lives and what supports are required in order to achieve the best daily living outcomes.

In my upcoming blog posts, I will go through the process of applying for the NDIS, what you need to do to achieve the best outcomes and I will be using George's and our experience as an example.

I hope you all enjoy our story and please feel free to comment and ask any questions you may have. My endeavor is to reply to each question weather personally or through one of my blogs.

Our aim is to post 1 blog post per week going through George's Journey. It will at sometimes be confronting, sometimes inspiring, sometimes happy and sometimes sad, but in order to move forward and hopefully help others out there, we need to be completely honest and open.

07/06/2019

Like we said a few days ago, we will be posting our blog posts on our page manually. Please feel free to share, comment, discuss, and above all raise awareness.

Introduction
Through George's Eyes

This blog has been created so that George and us, his parents, can share with everyone his journey in life, the NDIS and what changes it has made to his life both positive and negative.
George attended Ashwood Scool in Melbourne.

Once George finished his schooling, things started becoming a lot more difficult for George.
Whilst Special Needs Schools in Australia have fantastic facilities and equipment, they still don't address each child's disability individually. I say that with deep sadness.
One must realize that all children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Cerebral Palsy, etc are not the same. No two children with the same so-called disability are the same.
Whilst I understand that schools must follow guidelines, it is difficult for most children to obtain the necessary skills required to achieve maximum independence for the rest of their lives. Maximum independence meaning to try and reach their maximum potential.

The education system is too generalized for these special children or in our case our 20-year-old son George who is now an adult

Until next time,

07/06/2019

We are looking for 2 Disability Support workers for our 20 years old son who has intellectual disabilities and cerebral palsy and autism. We are located In Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne.
The suitable Candidates must be under 30 years of age, speak Good Greek and English. Experience Preferred but not absolutely Necessary.
Must have or be able to obtain an ABN number and a working with children Police check.
The position is full time and a great financial package will be discussed with the successful candidates.
Please provide a full Resume accompanied by a Current Photo and cover letter expressing your interest in this position.
The position is for immediate start and both Male and Female are encouraged to apply.
Interested Overseas migrant candidates must have all visa requirements sorted out prior to applying.
Please no time wasters.
Please forward your CV along with all other requests to jimtsolakis4@gmail.com.
Thank you in advance.

05/06/2019

No Words!!!! Shattering!!!

This is so bad.

02/06/2019

Yes, They really do exist!!!

02/06/2019

29/05/2019

So, we sent quite a few messages to Facebook regarding the block of our website, because it violates their community standards (???)

Here is their response. This means, that they have not even bothered checking it out. Therefore, we will continue posting our blog posts here on our page.

We received your report and appreciate your patience as we work to fix technical problems on Facebook. Though we can't update everyone who submits a report, we're using your feedback to improve the Facebook experience for everyone.
To contact us about non-technical issues, please visit the Help Center.
Thanks,
The Facebook Team

18/05/2019

Facebook blocked our autism awareness blog on this page because it violates their community standards.
How is that possible? Obviously someone reported the page, and it's a shame.
Please spread the word, as the blog helps those interested in the NDIS program regarding children with disabilities in their family.

13/05/2019

Somebody is reporting us and Facebook keeps blocking our blog. Their excuse is that it violates community standards. From now on, we will be posting our blog posts on this page as well, so feel free to discuss, post your thoughts, and comment. Let's interact!

Cheers!

13/05/2019

Hi All,
Today I will be showing you all some of the attitudes and comments that people with special needs and their families have to put up with every day.

JUST HAVE A LITTLE THINK ABOUT IT AND LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS.
Comments and discussion are encouraged!

Until next time,
Keep Strong, Keep Going.