Thank you for this thread. No one has really asked our opinion.. they just sorta of said "Here you go. Here are the changes"
As a teacher, I have a lot of concerns with NDIS in general. I'm not so fussed about the change to Thriving Kids as it's really just a name change to me. - for now.
The current NDIS early childhood intervention allows children under 6 to access support WITHOUT a diagnosis, and children under 9 WITH a diagnosis.
The issue I'm seeing day in day out is that so many families are waiting for therapy for their kids. So the funds are there, but they cannot access the support in a timely manner.
What happens is that parents then search up anyone local. And lo and behold, a lot of these people are not actually qualified!
For example, I had one person coming to school each week to have therapy for 2 students (twins). The family have been using them for years. It costs nearly $200 per child per 40min session (20 mins for notes?). When I met this 'speech therapist', I realised I knew her and she was not a speech therapist at all. She had lost her job as a teacher's aide in a school and was now going into schools to provide 'therapy'. Now according to NDIS, this IS allowed as long as a trained speechie oversees the therapy. However, in this instance, this was NOT the case and the family was charged full fee without even knowing that speech was not delivered by a qualified person. They didn't even have any assessments done, goals set or session reports. So for all those years of 'therapy', these kids were actually not getting what they deserved to close the gap as part of early intervention.
I believe that this is happening everywhere. People get through the system and it's turned into a market.
Another child I work with who is in a wheelchair requires ongoing physiotherapy. The most helpful 'exercise' he has is swimming. To get to go swimming, he needs a physiotherapist, 2 support workers and goes in a taxi. This means each swimming trip costs $1000 (literally).
If the government is purely changing the name, but not changing the way families can access qualified supports, then will it actually close the gap?
There are just too many 'businesses' out there milking the NDIS.
Please note, I am not talking about those who work honestly to support children.
Parents and families are desperate to get their children the help they need.
I hope this 'change' is thought out and planned well. I'd hate to see money-makers use this as a green light to make a few more $$$.
I guess this also aligns with Victoria's new Disability Inclusion Funding in schools. Children do not need a diagnosis to get the support they deserve.
