1- Terrible, ineffective, and disrespectful communication.
2- Having to prove to a government body that you will be disabled forever when you don’t want to accept that for yourself and your future.
3- having to separate the mental and physical elements when I am in one body and it is all connected.
4- No help or support until NDIS approves you.
1- I was not told of the outcome of my NDIS application for months after I applied.
There is a paper trail of emails that I sent and phone calls that I made to try to secure the outcome.
However, when I finally found out over the phone, I was told internal review could not take place because three months had already lapsed since “was notified” which of course was false information because I was notified right then over the phone.
2- I have always been proactive in both my physical and mental health yet I have significant struggles.
I am on a chronic pain management plan through the hospital, and it was part of that medical team suggestion that I apply for NDIS. I do not want to have to prove to anyone that I will be disabled for ever because I don’t want that to be my reality. Yet I do need additional support and my current issues impact my every day life. NDIS has given me nothing but more mental stress and physical pain.
3- my situation is complex yet in the simplicity of the NDIS I am expected to either apply for a mental disability application or a physical disability application. I have put time, money, energy and effort into both my physical and mental health for so many years, because I have been struggling with both of these things for as long as I can remember. These things should not be looked at separately. NDIS should take into account, a persons, whole experience and life in relation to the scheme that would best support them. You can’t split the person from their mental health, and you can’t separate them from their physical body, it’s one.
1- trained staff that actually care about people. Management that keep people accountable when they stuff-up paperwork. For months on end, not knowing if my application had been excepted, what were the consequences of the staff that ruined my experience? Nothing. It’s not good enough. I would be ashamed to be employed by NDIS.
2- you need to look at a persons life, not try to hurt them through the NDIS application process like they are cattle. Time and effort should be spent on understanding a persons needs and not reliant on paperwork. People who apply for NDIS should be able to have a face-to-face appointment or at least over the phone. I had to provide a lifetime of paperwork from every service provider, it was a full-time job just gathering that amount of information only to be treated like I wasn’t even a human.
3- do not make people apply separately for either mental or physical needs. Look at the person as a whole. Assessed them on their current situation and that passed. Don’t make them predicting the future that they gonna be disabled forever. Don’t make them have to prove that to you. It’s so patronising and depressing.
Sadly, I do not have one positive thing to say about NDIS.
Do better.