Lived Experience Forum

[greenpea]

@saturnzoon  Hey saturnzoon am hearing you hun and so sorry it has fallen through again. Do you have anyone who can do the form with you?

[Maggie]

Hearing you also @saturnzoon  but have no advice to offer. 

[eth]

So sorry to hear your news @saturnzoon   I know full well how awful it makes you feel getting rejected again.  That cannot be understated.  The whole process definitely has a negative effect on MH.  It's an awful roller coaster of getting hopes up only to have them dashed again.  Give yourself a bit of space if you need to, do some NDIS-free acivities for a bit (usually took me a week or so).

I had trouble with section 24 too.  What ended up getting me through (aside from the disability advocate and legal aid solicitor that the da got for me)  were VERY specific reports from psychologist, psychiatrist and occupational therapist - each of them went through the 6 functional categories mentioned in section 24 (communication, social interaction etc) one by one and gave fine details of how I am affected in each of them.  This has to be done by people with 'clinical' qualifications (clinical psychologist etc).  Unfortunately getting an OT report costs quite a lot, but it really helps your case.  The disability advocate may  be able to access funds from somewhere to cover it, not sure about that.  Mine was paid for by Carers NSW when my sister-in-law became my carer and applied for it.

At the NDIS end you do a "Request for a Review of a Reviewable Decision" - there is a time limit on doing this after you get your rejection letter (however you can request a time extension if you really need it when the due date gets close).  It should be mentioned in that letter where it says what you can do next.  This request triggers an internal review where NDIS re-assesses your application with the new evidence you have provided (the reports mentioned above) and it has to be assessed by "a fresh pair of eyes" as NDIS says.  You have to have gone through this whole process before you are able to do an 'external review' and apply to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) through a disability advocate.

I get that this information might be a bit much to take in at the moment - maybe print it out so you can refer to it when/if you are ready.

Pointers - I don't know what state you are in or I could get the contact details for you -

1. Carers NSW (or whatever state you are in)

2. Disability Advocates

3. Above (No. 2) will get you a legal aid solicitor

It took me all up 1 1/2 years from first application to acceptance.  I really feel I know how you are feeling right now and just urge you to be gentle with yourself and take a little time out from all the NDIS stuff (a week or two).  But I really want to let  you know that the hard slog to get there has really worked out to be worth the effort.  My life is very different since having NDIS funding for support workers, activities such as water tai chi, MH specific driving lessons with an occupational therapist, weekly psychology etc and becoming more goal focused.

Take care my friend.  Here for you when you are ready xx

 @Roadrunner @CheerBear @Queenie @Alone @greenpea @Shaz51 @Meowmy 

@Hamsolo01 @Ant7 @Smc @Darcy @Adge @Maggie @Zoe7 @Gazza75 @BlueBay

@Appleblossom   and anyone else following.

[saturnzoon]

Thank you @Roadrunner @MDT @Maggie @Maggie @greenpea .

Thank you @eth I will try the disability advocate here in Adelaide, I haven't heard about them, but will look into it maybe next week as right Now, I'm not coping with the decision,  had Trouble sleeping sick of crying just want to shut the whole world out forever.

@Molliex @Queenie @Alone @CheerBear @Shaz51 @Meowmy @Ant7 @Smc @Former-Member 

@Adge @Zoe7 @Gazza75 @BlueBay and all

[Gazza75]

Hang in there @saturnzoon .  As @eth suggested, take a bit of a timeout and look at it when you are feeling better.  Thinking of you 🙂 

[eth]

Sending warm wishes @saturnzoon   Be gentle with yourself if you can.  Try to think of self-care things you can do.

[Former-Member]

Hi @saturnzoon 
I'm sorry to hear that you've had disappointing news about your NDIS application. Members here are wishing you well and empathise with your distress – it's great to hear that others who've been knocked back initially have persisted and found the support of an advocate helpful in the process. For today saturnzoon, I hope that you can be gentle on yourself there. I will send you an email in a moment to check in with you.

[Alone]

Hi @saturnzoon it's horrid isnt it.  It took  me 18 months from when I applied to when my review was finally accepted.  Even then I think I got on because I already had govt supports in place that were all being stopped.

Take care of yourself. 

[eth]

Hi @CheerBear  I saw your post elsewhere re your NDIS plan review meeting on Monday.  The Endeavour Foundation has a booklet you can download and print that's really helpful in preparing for it.  https://www.endeavour.com.au/ndis/resources

There's a link to it on that page.  Best wishes for a wonderful outcome.

[CheerBear]

Thanks for that @eth. I have been looking at the resources out there but not really believing that any of them will help (I'm super sceptical and then some). Just met with my support coordinator which was sort of helpful-ish I guess. He said that if I wanted to prepare anymore than I have it might be helpful to write a kind of 'impact statement' about living with what I do and what it's like (including how much the NDIS not working for me mashes my head). It's a bit of a dicey one as it could trigger all kinds of dark and twisted stuff, so if I was to do it I'd be careful. Sometimes it helps to feel like I am actually doing something though maybe :S Looking forward to the unknown being over now!