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April last year Jane Thompson made the decision that she needed to prepare for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) to ensure that her sister-in-law Jill would receive all the funding she needed to live a fulfilling life in the community.
Having never accessed advocacy support before, Jane and her husband went on to google and searched the terms “advocacy” and “NDIS”. They found VALID straight away and saw they were running NDIS training sessions in the metropolitan region. Jane rang Families as Planning Partners trainer Maree Hewitt and got through straight away. “Everyone is so contactable and responds straight away,” said Jane and she signed up for the course immediately away.
The VALID NDIS – Families as Planning Partners course aims to empower participants and encourage person-centred approaches. The course is designed specifically to assist parents and families of people with disability to get ready for transition to the NDIS.
Jane found the course very helpful. “The information focused on how the NDIS works and the importance of keeping the language realistic about funding an ordinary life.” Using the workbooks provided by Maree and the VALID team, Jane and Jill were able to establish Jill’s short term and long-term goals.
“You have to be well prepared,” says Jane. “I would never have gone to the meeting without training. We got more than what we asked for because we understood what is reasonable and necessary.”
By coming to the planning meeting prepared with Jill’s goals and a list of Jill’s day to day needs made the meeting ran smoothly. “The planner didn’t have to look anything up because we had it all there for her.”
Would Jill recommend the course to others? “Absolutely. Don’t contemplate it, just do it. Get the best information from the people who know it all.”
You can find out more about NDIS – Families as Planning Partners course here
