Being well prepared for your NDIS Plan or Plan Review meeting can make all the difference in getting the right amount of funding for the supports and services you need.
Today, we are launching a new series on preparing for your NDIS Plan meeting to give you a better idea of what information to include and how to write it.
First up, we’ll take a look at describing your daily life. Keep an eye out for future stories in the series including completing the section about the people who support you.
What to include when describing your daily life.
The NDIS considers a lot of things when it decides how much funding to include for the various budget categories.
They’ll want to understand what daily life is like for you, the things you do, the existing supports you use and any barriers to achieving your goals.
You may want to include information about:
- Activities you do in a day and in a week
- Where you spend your time (for example school, work, home, community groups)
- Any help you need to do things
- Activities that are difficult for you
- Your disability and how it impacts your daily life
- Regular interactions with family and friends.
Some tips for completing this information.
- Be detailed. You want to paint a picture of your life for someone who does not know you.
- Be specific. If you need help with something, explain why and what the challenges are for you.
- Include the things that you can do independently and areas you are working on.
- Add details about weekdays and weekends to give a complete picture of your life.
- Write in “first person”, using I and we. For example, “Every day I travel by bus to work”.
Sentence starters to help you write your story.
If you’re unsure of how to describe your daily life, we’ve come up with some sentence starters to inspire you.
In the mornings I…
A typical day for me includes…
The activities I do every week are…
At home I am able to…
I need help to…
On the weekend I…
I connect with other people by…
Describing your daily life – some examples.
“In the mornings I get myself ready for the day and make my own lunch. Three days a week, I volunteer at a local community centre where I help out in the office and with the community garden. Mum usually walks with me to the bus stop and I get the bus on my own and the bus drops me off right out the front of the centre. The bus driver knows me and lowers the ramp to make it easier for me to get on with my walking stick.
I’m not very confident interacting with other people which is something I want to improve. Sometimes I find it hard to use the right words and it can take time to say sentences which people can be a bit impatient with. I have made some friends at the centre who I like spending time with. Sometimes we get together on the weekend and play computer games.
I like to build stuff with my Dad. He is teaching me how to make things like some shelves we made for the back fence. I also like to help prepare meals for our family but have trouble using a knife and cutting board.
At home I am able to get around ok. I have some trouble with the steps at the back of our house so I have to use the front door to go around to the backyard.”
The Leap in! app makes it easier.
The free Leap in! app makes it easy to prepare for your NDIS Plan or Plan Review meeting. It has a special section for Impact of my disability with prompts and guides to help you tell your story across five key areas: Daily living/self care, Communication, Connect with others, Learning and Independence.
The app breaks down the information into sections and converts your information into a Plan Ready Summary that you can print or email ready for your meeting.
Download from the App store, get it on Google Play or use the web app. Need help? Call 1300 05 78 78 or chat with us online via our website.
Further Reading
What is the difference between plan management and support coordination?