AFSA Parent/Carer Forum 2017

The AFSA Parent Carer Forum on the 25th July was a resounding success.  The speakers were generous with their time and expertise and have provided copies of their presentations for us to share.

SPEAKER ONE – Julie Phillips – Effective, practical advocacy advice

SPEAKER TWO – Janice O’Connor – Service Providers and the NDIS

SPEAKER FOUR – Jan Ashford – Communication Aids and the NDIS

Christine Scott, Speaker Three – Managing the Planning Process, spoke at last years AFSA AGM (November 2016) after which she generously allowed us to upload a comprehensive set of documents to our website -see NDIS Information. Christine indicated that some of these documents are being progressively updated and we will update our web site as they become available.  Christine also suggested the following:

• www.seeva.com.au – a new website to help families/individuals search for services when preparing for the NDIS.  NB. Another site mentioned by Janice O’Connor was www.clickability.com.au which lists Australian Disability Services that have been rated and reviewed by consumers.
• Person Centred Planning/preparing for the NDIS – a good planning tool for children is on the Association for Children with a Disability website – and for older teens/adults – the VALID documents which are posted in the AFSA NDIS Information section.  NB from AFSA – Yooralla also has some useful resources on their website and Carers Victoria has information from a carers perspective – start here and have a look around their website.
• In response to a question, Christine gave the following advice re letters of support to the NDIA from therapy providers – the letter should cover three aspects:
  • A diagnosis of the disability
  • How the therapy is related to the disability and what the therapy is going to do, and
  • What are the outcomes – short, medium and long term.
• Christine also advised the importance of preparation before your NDIS meeting, but if you are presented with a question that you don’t know the specific answer to, make a note of it and say “I’ll get back to you with an answer.”  Don’t say “I don’t know”!
• Christine also mentioned  the VALID NDIS Families as Planning Partners sessions and courses – see here for information and here for details of upcoming courses/sessions.

Due to unforseen travel delays Stephanie Gotlib was unable to make our Forum.  We will arrange for her to speak at a future AFSA event.

Committee member Michael Meehan took comprehensive notes of each speaker’s presentation – these can be viewed in this pdf document.

AFSA trusts that these documents and links will be helpful – please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any further queries, suggestions or feedback.