#ndis

I keep writing out these big paragraphs to explain why it’s a necessity where I live, then deleting them because it’s long even for me. I can literally write an essay if I need to, but the fact of the matter is I can explain it all until I’m blue in the face and it doesn’t matter. My thoughts on my own needs don’t matter. At this point, the opinions of the medical professionals that literally spent days writing reports for me don’t seem to matter either, especially not with all these “reforms” coming in. My OT wrote a report that when printed onto A4 paper was literally thick enough to be a book, containing detailed risk assessments, photos of the environment I live in, diagrams explaining the physics behind why wheel + mud = bad, photos and reports of the closest towns that are not accessible at all and not possible to be made accessible due to a variety of complicated reasons and so much more. And it wasn’t enough. Not to get this chair approved or to stop them from cutting funding to pay people to come out and help me. My ability to go outside was deemed “not enough value for money”.

My LAC suggested if our appeal isn’t successful that I reach out to my area’s minister, as she has gotten involved a few times to vouch for people on similar matters with the NDIS. Sounds great on paper until I look her up and discover that a big part of her campaign to get elected was fear mongering about trans people, specifically in sports. So my choices are continue to bang my head against the wall arguing with the NDIS or I, the trans person and former athlete, can ask the person who spent months demonising and othering my other community. Happy fucking pride!! Even if she did help me, I’ve been burned by “help” from politicians before who went ahead and twisted my words into something to help them get elected before back when I didn’t know how to recognise that kind of behaviour.

I debated even posting this because there’s so many people on the NDIS who are facing way bigger and way more dangerous cuts to their funding than me. When I called my LAC to ask what to do, she legitimately sounded like she might cry because so many of her clients were facing issues. A lot of people are looking at loosing their funding entirely. The state of the NDIS under these reforms is scary, but being able to do things like go into town or even just go outside are not luxuries. They’re necessities. Being able to touch grass should not be a privilege.

They are ALSO expected to WORK WITH CLIENTS if they themselves have COVID or other contagious diseases. Also with no PPE, not even a mask, provided or required.

Disability support workers are generally casual. No sick days, not even for COVID, not even if their work is why they got sick in the first place.

My disability support worker has had COVID 6-7 times. She refuses to work while sick during the contagious period - which her company does not like her doing and her income is heavily impacted by this - but has worked with broken bones and the like.

Personally I would fire my disability support company in a moment if someone with COVID showed up at my door. It's fucked up that the good support workers, the working class people, have to suffer the consequences of having integrity that their companies and the industry do not have. By refusing to kill their clients by bringing COVID to their homes.

It's so elementary but so many people don't realise that, like... the NDIS or social security or whatever it's called in your country doesn't exist to improve the lives of disabled people.

If the government wanted to give out "handouts", they would just do it. There would be no NDIS, no centrelink. The main, stated goal of these offices is to make sure as few people as possible are given government money.

That's why MyGov is so user-unfriendly. That's why centrelink makes you go through so many steps with so many arbitrary deadlines. They're padding it out for as long as possible in the hope that you die first.

The ironic part? If the government just gave out "handouts" to everyone who needed them, they would save money. Because their budget to keep the Disabled People Killing Machine running gets higher every year.

When you hear about the NDIS costing millions of dollars, the reporters saying it are using some tricky bullshit. They intentionally frame it as if the money given to people to live is what's costing so much. They conveniently don't mention the fact that, just like a business, the NDIS is expected to save money every year. So more and more money is spent on the systems designed to find excuses to kick people off it, enough that it offsets the amount actually saved.

Robodebt was only a "scandal" because of the public outcry. Robodebt was centrelink's greatest achievement at serving its purpose. That's why they're trying to do it all over again.

Obviously we don't have accessible infrastructure. Obviously we don't have the rights we need to survive. Obviously we're not given the tools to succeed. Disability is inherently oppositional to capitalism. For capital to grow, we must die.

My OT and myself were CC’ed into an email conversation with the LAC and the NDIS delegate who denied the chair. the delegate thought this was a manual wheelchair for one, so not off to a great start, and when it was pointed out to him that they already gave him what he said he’d need for this new chair to get approved he deflected and said he actually needs evidence that the outdoor-only power wheelchair would not break my floor. My floor. Indoors. It’s also cement. Before the house was built, this was my dad’s shed, where he parked the farm machinery and literal trucks. This detail was in the report. LAC and OT pointed this out and the delegate just doubled down and said he needs proof. So apparently now I need proof that my floor is, in fact, cement because he’s pretty sure it’s not… he’s never been here mind you, he’s just confident. Why? I don’t know he wouldn’t elaborate.

According to the delegate, I’m supposed to use my plan funding to get the OT to come and confirm this. apparently it’s totally reasonable to expect the only OT for 2 hours in any direction to take 2-4 hours of her time (rural travel + actual consult), which comes out to about $387.98 - $775.96 of “taxpayer money” (as the NDIS critics are so fond of reminding us all) to confirm that a floor is, in fact, cement, so this person can confirm this wheelchair can be used in an environment we explicitly stated it would not be used in. The way the OT needs to confirm this is with a photo. I’m not supposed to take the photo myself and send it to her, nor are the 2 dozen photos of the wheelchair inside the house with the cement floor visible suitable… because reasons. He never gave us any, just repeated that they weren’t suitable.

Even my OT said this was ridiculous and she isn’t charging for this, but we have it in writing that’s what the NDIA wants us to do. She’s trying to find a day when she’s visiting another client nearby to drop in and do the check.

But it’s the disabled people who are wasting the money and blowing out the NDIS budget, Obviously!!