NDIS teething problems

[davidc4430]

'It's soul destroying': NDIS teething problems make many feel they're not worth the help

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-18/ndis-teeting-problems-make-many-patients-feel-not-worth-help/9...

is there anything this govt touches thats not a screw-up?

[johcaschro]

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@this-one-time-at-bandcamp wrote:

You made a statement saying that funding for people with little hope of having a meaningful life should be dispensed with.........which included the two autistic children in the OP.  How is their behavior a choice?  In fact you referred to them as little bleeps......be interesting to find out what word was bleeped out.

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No I didn't, go back and read my post again (and David and Chamo, do the same, please)

I just recognised the fact that our limitied amount of money allocated to the NDIS is sometimes spent for no or little apparent benefit to those upon whom it is spent and in light of this fact, I suggested that we either (vastly)  increase the amount of money allocated to the NDIS or that we take stock and prioritise the funding towards those who stand to benefit the most from it.

It's not my fault that those with autism seem less likely to benefit from the well-intentioned efforts to ameliorate the sufferings of their ungrateful little lives.

[johcaschro]

In fact you referred to them as little bleeps......be interesting to find out what word was bleeped out.

Interesting? but of little or no apparent benefit to anyone.

[this-one-time-at-bandcamp]

Amazing how you attempt to backtrack............you inferred that the behavior of autistic children was a choice....

[davidc4430]

NDIS loses legal challenge, agrees to pay $15,000 annual food bill for severely disabled NSW man

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-03/man-wins-legal-battle-to-have-ndis-pay-for-costly-food/112744...

[chameleon54]

WOW So that thread is 18 months old. Seems like only yesterday. Fortunately in that time the wife has settled into her support services and is making the system work successfully for her. Unfortunately many others have not been so lucky.

I re-read one of davids posts about people with mental health disabilities being overlooked by the system. I don't think much has changed on this front with access to the NDIS for people with permanent mental health disabilities still very difficult to achieve. It shouldn't be that hard. If a person has a formal diagnosis of a permanent disabling condition from a registered psychiatrist, maybe backed by a second opinion if you want to get pedantic, that should be enough.

As it is now, people with mental health disabilities are required to work through the jobsearch scheme, regardless of whether they are capable of working or not for a minimum of two years. Then in order to be assessed for the NDIS, they must have had treatment and be stabilised. How can someone with schizophrenia, Bi-polar and similar conditions ever be stabilised ? It just aint gonna happen. Even with the best in support and medical care, sufferers are going to have relapses where they become highly unstable, often on a regular basis.

The criteria for support for those with life long conditions needs to be reassessed. Unfortunately I suspect the government is afraid of opening another Pandora's box and simply hasn't got the money to allow these people the support they need.

[not_for_sale2025]

Having a serious mental illness may not be enough to qualify for the NDIS unless the person has disabilities covered by the scheme. The types of disabilities are listed on their site and on the application form. The main service for people with a mental illness is the Mental Health Service. However, people with a physical or intellectual disability and a mental illness would be more likely to qualify for the NDIS because their types of disabilities are more likely to be those covered by the NDIS. The NDIS was not introduced to rescue or replace the mental health services in each State. It is the mental health services that need to improve and in particular stop discriminating against people with disabilities.

[chameleon54]

I suspect part of the problem is that we are still a long way from understanding many mental health conditions. Often they are not clear cut and can have multiple layers of presentation. Anxiety and depression often co-partner many conditions as do compulsions such as eating disorders, OCD, self harm  or other various forms of compulsive behaviour. Some of these conditions may be treatable or manageable with medication, while other facets of the presentation can be permanently debilitating. It is this complexity that does not easily fit into the clearly defined and inflexible structures of the NDIS.

[not_for_sale2025]

People with Schizophrenia, for example, may have what is referred to as positive and/or negative symptoms. The positive symptoms are usually hallucinations, delusions and thought disorder. The negative symptoms can include amotivation, lack of volition and problems with affect. The negative symptoms are more chronic and are very difficult to treat. They can be debilitating.

A key NDIS criterion is the impact of psychosocial disability on the individual. Not all people with Schizophrenia would have psychosocial disabilities and arguing that they do could prove very hard. You are right IMO, we need to learn more about the serious mental illnesses. But in the interim, the greater challenge is to merge our knowledge of disability and mental health to reach agreement on things such as; whether mentally ill people experiencing negative symptoms are psychosocially disabled. Until that occurs people with a mental illness will be assessed on NDIS criteria, whereas the mental health services will be guided by their criteria. And unfortunately, the criteria are different in many respects.

[davidc4430]

Catastrophically injured Australians still waiting for national insurance scheme meant to roll out with NDIS

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-20/national-injury-insurance-scheme-injured-australians-waiting/...

3 years on and still the ndis is failing to live up to the polliticians promises