Hello everyone, I'm new. I joined here mostly because I'm in need of some help with my NDIS stuff. I am about 7 months into my first plan now, but unfortunately, things have been very rough, have not worked out and are more like a disaster than support. I was previously receiving state disability services under the old disability model, and I had my planning assessment last May. It is clear to me that the person who did the planning assessment did not listen to me, because once my plan and funding were approved and came through, most of the funding had been allocated towards a category of support that I specifically stated I don't need or want anymore. I don't know how that happened, and I have tried to communicate with my planner about this, but she also has no idea, and nothing has been done to fix it, rather I have been told to just wait until my review for the formulation of my second plan.
The category of support this happened with is the social, community and civic participation one. I personally do not need any help going out into my local community, I can do that on my own and it isn't impacted by my psychosocial disability. Given, I am a very introverted person and do not really go out much besides to do things that are actually necessary as opposed to just social things, but that is just the way I am and not part of my mental illnesses or psychosocial disability. Unfortunately, I have met a huge amount of providers who treat it like it is and try to force me out of my home, and to do activities just because they like them and expect me to.
Because most of the funding was allocated towards that, as in, in my core budget it specifically states an amount that must be spent on that category, I have had to have a support worker organisation. To me it seemed like that wasn't a choice, so I continued with the one I was with under the previous disability services. Problem is that I do not get on with them and they don't get on with me, either, because they do treat my harmless introversion as if it is a disorder. Plus, obviously, something isn't going to pan out well if it is essentially something you're forced to do. I have basically completely withdrawn from this organisation now because of the negative impact they have on my actual mental illnesses and psychosocial disability.
I find relationships of any kind extremely difficult due to my diagnoses of complex PTSD and major depressive disorder. These are the diagnoses that are in relation to my psychosocial disability. I have had them for most of my life and I am very treatment resistant to things like therapies and medication. These illnesses take away my ability to function in most areas of my daily life, but especially with self-care and home maintenance.
Part of my funding went towards some type of support coordinator, I can't remember what type. Connection of supports maybe? It took almost 5 months to hear anything about or from this person. Before that, I was just left to try and get out of the above support organisation and find supports I actually need instead. My funding was also approved for other things in relation to my daily functioning deficits, albeit nowhere near as much. So there I was, trying to contact local providers, all day, every day for about 5 months with absolutely no success whatsoever. None of them answered their phone or responded to any of my emails. Then the support coordinator finally comes around. We have a conversation via email. She was very rude and inconsiderate, basically took everything I said for a grain of salt and treated me as if I have no idea what I'm talking about. Kept telling me I should just be doing this or that treatment instead. If they worked, I wouldn't have funding.
Somewhere she asked if I had utilised a mental health occupational therapist in the past with my MHCP. I said yes, and that I have literally tried all of the mental health occupational therapists in my local area because my GP had referred me to them in hopes they may have been able to help. None of them were able to, unfortunately, and I told the support coordinator this. She basically claimed that I made that up because of my mental illness.
She asked if I have a psychologist and a psychiatrist. I said no, I don't, mostly for the same reason as with what occurred with the mental health occupational therapists. Again, she refused to believe me. No such thing as treatment not working she says. I've been in the mental health and disability sectors for 3 years, I know this. 3 years? I've been a consumer for almost 20 years, so I don't know if she was trying to claim authority with that statement, but it didn't register in my brain at all.
At this point I am wondering what use this NDIS even has for me, and am considering leaving at my review for the second plan, because I'm just done with it all, I don't deserve it, I am just a person trying to help myself function in my life and have some semblance of quality of life in despite of my mental illnesses and psychosocial disability, for the first time in my life. I have had a very, very rough and horrible life thus far, very abusive life, hence the complex PTSD diagnosis. I was raised in foster care my whole childhood and it really damaged me. I need some real help to enable.me to build a life of my own for once. But if its not there, who can really blame me for walking away?