In this episode Mel chats with Alexandra - or Alex - Browne, a senior support coordinator and recovery coach in the NDIS space. Having started out in occupational therapy, Alex has been working in the disability sector for a decade and her own son, Ethan, is on the NDIS. 

Alex is an expert on evidence - the reports, assessments, letters and information we need to provide the NDIS in order to paint a picture of who our family is and what we need to live an ordinary life. 

Part one of Alex and Mel's chat covers why we need to include something Alex calls a "comparison document" in our evidence, how to talk about our kids through a functional - rather than medical - lens, and the critical components of our NDIS evidence. 

Useful links:

NDIS Act 2013 Section 34 Reasonable and Necessary Supports: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00332

NDIS Rules 2013 NDIS Rules 2013.pdf: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2013L01063

The six functional domains: https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:133077ec-7487-3022-b5ba-fa85787fafa4

Hireup's Navigating the NDIS portal: https://hireup.com.au/navigating-the-ndis/

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In this episode Mel chats with Sarah-Ann Taylor, a Sydney-based brand communication expert who works in PR and is a mother of two boys, two-year-old Roman and Franklin, who’s five, and has cerebral palsy. 

When it comes to navigating the NDIS, Sarah-Ann does her research and she doesn’t take no for an answer. This chat covers how she makes sure that Franklin isn’t waiting months - or years - for the supports he needs and how new changes to the NDIS can help us to do the same for our kids.

This episode of NDIS Know-how is sponsored by PAEDs Education. Mention 'NDIS Know-how' for 10% off their specialised courses when you email PAEDs Education: [email protected]

Visit the PAEDs Education website for more information: https://paeds.education/cms/

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In this episode Mel chats with Brisbane-based Sarah Thomas, founder of an incredible blended tube-feeding product called Wholesome Blends. Sarah is a single mum of twin, 14-year-old boys, Cohan and Lewis. When the boys were three, Lewis had a stroke that led to several diagnoses including cerebral palsy and epilepsy. 

Sarah knows the NDIS from both the participant and provider perspective. She shares advice around advocating for our kids, and making sure we secure funding for every ‘consumable’, as they’re called, that they need.

Find Sarah's Wholesome Blends website here: https://wholesomeblends.com.au/

Vote for NDIS Know-how to be in the running for the Listener's Choice award at the Australian Podcast Awards here: https://australianpodcastawards.com/vote

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In this episode Mel chats with Ingerlise Svaleng, the founder of "kindness project" 21 Gifts, about how we can advocate for our child’s strengths and passions in a system that's geared toward their so-called deficits.

Ingerlise is from Norway and now lives in the Sutherland Shire of NSW with her husband and two daughters, four-year-old Lola and Maia, who is seven and has Down syndrome.

Through partnerships with 120+ hospitals across Australia and New Zealand, 21 Gifts delivers beautiful little suitcases, bursting with gifts, to parents of babies who’ve just received a Down syndrome diagnosis. You can find a link to this brilliant organisation here: twentyonegifts.com

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In this episode Mel chats with Lisa Duffy who is, hands down, one of the loveliest people working in Australia's disability sector. Lisa started out as a physiotherapist before finding her true calling in complex case management and working with people with disability to navigate their support options in the 10 years prior to the NDIS rollout. 

Since the NDIS came along, Lisa’s been helping people gain access to the scheme and plan for NDIS reviews. You can currently find her at Disability Services Consulting (DSC) where she does support co-ordination, training and writing to build capacity and understanding around the NDIS. 

In this conversation Lisa takes us through the steps - or as she likes to describe them, the train stations - that we need to stop at on our way to accessing the NDIS. She also offers up some priceless pointers on how to get fluent in NDIS language and a bundle of useful links that you'll find below:  

NDIS Eligibility checklist:
https://www.ndis.gov.au/applying-access-ndis/am-i-eligible
NDIS Operational Guideline around NDIS Access:
https://ourguidelines.ndis.gov.au/home/becoming-participant/applying-ndis
https://ourguidelines.ndis.gov.au/home/becoming-participant/applying-ndis/do-you-meet-disability-requirements#caused-by-impairment
NDIS Access Evidence:
https://ourguidelines.ndis.gov.au/home/becoming-participant/applying-ndis/how-do-we-weigh-evidence-disability
NDIS List A conditions:
https://ourguidelines.ndis.gov.au/home/becoming-participant/applying-ndis/list-conditions-are-likely-meet-disability-requirements
NDIS List B conditions:
https://ourguidelines.ndis.gov.au/home/becoming-participant/applying-ndis/list-b-conditions-are-likely-result-permanent-impairment
NDIS Access Request Form/application:
https://www.ndis.gov.au/how-apply-ndis/what-access-request-form

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In this episode Mel chats with one half of the phenomenal podcast due that is the Too Peas - Mandy Hose. Alongside Kate Jones, Mandy hosts Too Peas in a Podcast, a weekly audio offering exploring the ups and downs of life as parents to kids with disabilities.  

Mel speaks with Mandy about her experience of navigating the NDIS on behalf of her 17-year-old twin daughters, both of whom have hemiplegia, a form of cerebral palsy. Their conversation covers why Mandy chose to be plan managed with support coordination, what it actually means to have support coordination, and how Mandy is feeling about the next big transition as her girls gear up to leave school and venture into adulthood.  

Link to the Too Peas in a Podcast episode on support coordination: https://toopeasinapodcast.com.au/pea-fessionals-andrea-and-felicity-talk-about-support-coordination-for-your-ndis-plan/

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In this episode Mel chats with her friend and Hireup colleague Briana Blackett. Bri is the sole parent of her two sons, Max, who is 15, and thirteen-year-old Freddy, both of whom have autism. Bri is also a senior journalist and seasoned advocate. This conversation covers how to advocate for our kids - especially those with autism - at an NDIS planning meeting, the liberating benefits of being plan managed, and what changes to our government and the NDIS could mean for our community.

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In this episode, Mel chats with a bonafide NDIS expert. Carl Thompson is a former NDIS Local Area Coordinator (LAC) and the founder and director of NDIS service provider Sort Your Support. Carl's also an NDIS participant, so he knows this scheme inside-out and back to front.

Carl and Mel's conversation takes a deep dive into NDIS plan reviews - what they are, how to ask for them and what the process looks like - from internal reviews to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. Notepads at the ready!

Link to Sort Your Support: https://sortyoursupport.com.au/

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In this episode Mel chats with Tara Thompson, the mother behind the wildly popular Willow’s CP Journey instagram account. Here Tara shares snapshots of her day-to-day life as a mum of three girls - Ava, who’s nine, four-year-old Indie, and Willow, who’s seven, and has cerebral palsy and autism.  

This conversation covers the power of our community - something that is front of mind for Tara in her new role at Kindship, an app that connects parents in the disability space. Mel also gets Tara’s advice on how to make home therapy fun - something she’s an absolute master of.

Link to the Kindship app: https://www.kindship.com.au/

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In this episode Mel chats with Stacey Touma and Bree Pennie, both of whom have kids on the NDIS, and both of whom work for a wonderful organisation called Kindred that supports families raising kids with disabilities. 

Stacey lives in Brisbane with her husband, Mark, and their three children, including Alex, 10, who has a rare genetic condition called Williams Syndrome. Bree lives on the south coast of NSW with her partner, Mitch, her daughter Dylan, 9, and her seven-year-old son Dax, who was born with Congenital Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and has physical disability. 

In this conversation we cover parent and carer wellbeing, and the relatively unknown concepts of parent capacity building and coaching. 

Link to Kindred's Healthy Mothers Healthy Families program: https://healthymothers-healthyfamilies.com

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