Anyone started with the NDIS?

Hi @Queenie the person who will do my planning meeting said they will have read all the reports and statements NDIS have already before the meeting. Hope this is the case for you too. I'm still going to take all mine with me. Also get a direct ph no. for the person who is doing the meeting, and an email address if possible.

Also the Endeavor Foundation and ReimagineToday have excellent resources re preparing for the planning meeting, including booklets you can download or print to complete before the meeting. 'Reimagine My Life' and 'Mapping my world' are the titles of the 2 I've seen, very similar to each other.

@Twinklelight this is the thread I just mentioned on A Long Rave.

Hi everyone @eth@Queenie@Mazarita@Bunniekins@Sophia1

Nice to meet you all.

I have just started my NDIS. It has just been sent off and immediately just waiting to hear back from them for an appointment.

What have other people experienced after that process. I heard it can take up to 3 months. That's a long time

Hi @Twinklelight the next steps depend on if the NDIS accepts you or not. I really hope you get through with your first application. Are you going on 'psychosocial' disability only or do you have physical issues too? The main thing they look for is proof that your disability/ies are 'life long and significant' - hard to prove with psychosocial. And then they look at how your function is affected.

I know it's a lot of pages in this thread now, but detail about the process I've gone through is all there, too much for me to say in one post.

For me it's taken since I first applied in Feb last year until a month ago when they conceded and accepted me 2 days before a hearing with the AAT was scheduled to happen. My planning meeting will be Monday week. So ..... a very long haul with lots of stumbling blocks and a roller coaster ride between hope and despondency.

I really hope you have an easier time of it and am happy to answer specific questions you might have.

Hi @Twinklelight and all

I too have just started my NDIS journey Twinklelight. My understanding is that there are some disability support services which, if you're currently receiving, will grant you automatic eligibility to the NDIS but if you're not currently receiving support services or the support service you're with isn't one of those that do grant you entry (it's all based on funding streams) then you go through the access request process, which is where I am at.

I am currently with a community mental health service that is not one that allows me access to the NDIS (I'm in a phams funded program) so I've had to provide an access request form (ARF).

The NDIA guidelines (section 4.8) state that the NDIA has 21 days upon receiving a valid access request, to determine eligibility. However, according to the NDIA there are a huge amount of access requests currently waiting for processing so I've been told that the wait could be many weeks on top of the 21 days. I have heard different estimates from 5 to 12 weeks. I submitted mine about 5 weeks ago and it is still in progress. I have been and plan to continue to call the NDIA once a week from here to check the status of my ARF (and urge them to provide some kind of communication on their website about the current delays in processing access requests).

Interested in hearing how you get on and wishing you the best with it.

Hi @CheerBear @Twinklelight @Queenie @Bunniekins @Mazarita

I'm chasing up recommendations for support organisations on fb that I might choose to use once I have the NDIS funding in place. It's hard to find out who's out there in my area - I've just contacted the local disability alliance to see if they can help. Today I plan to fill in the Reimagine My Life booklet - tomorrow is the pre-planning meeting.

Best of luck @eth with your pre-planning meeting. I hope it isn't as stressful as your NDIS journey to date.

I hear you @Twinklelight and @CheerBear It's always p'd me off how NDIS gives us time limits to jump through their hoops but doesn't have time limits to respond. Another truly unfair aspect of the process.

I spent 8 hrs yesterday going over all the documents I've collected and notes I've made in my AAT and NDIS files. So now I can see that my goals have remained constant; I've made little progress with them despite having 4 hrs a week from PHaMs ; the support my bro and sil provide is not sustainable in their lives, and I'm much clearer about what to ask for. Also clearer about how funds are allocated to core and capacity building categories and things like how to get transport funds in 2 different ways -transport training in cb as well as support provider transport to get to and from increased community activities. Also much clearer about what I need that I can't afford on my DSP (I did manage to use a Shebah cab twice but cannot afford it on a regular basis) and ways I've exhausted 'main stream' and medical supports available. Also completed most of the Reimagine My Life booklet I downloaded and printed and had a go at the list of planning meeting questions that I posted here some time ago.

Phew!!! I don't think I could be more prepared than I am but I'm sure my sil and disability advocate will come up with stuff I haven't thought of.

Wishing everyone a happy day with things going according to plan.

@Queenie @Mazarita @Bunniekins and anyone else who reads this post.