NDIS Assessment Springfield

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Understanding National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)

Today, people are more aware and open to the concept of disability. Comparing today’s inclusivity versus people’s inclusivity a hundred years ago, the generation today is more sensitive to the needs of a disabled person. Before, people with disabilities are often labelled as helpless, cursed, or possessed. Today, people with disabilities are respected and supported by public and private organisations. The needs of specially abled individuals are now given attention for a fairer and more inclusive environment. All thanks to decades of research, assessments, and trials from animals and humans themselves.

It was March 2013 when the Australian government legalised a system called NDIS or the National Disability Insurance Scheme, along with the National Disability Insurance Agency or the ‘NDIA’. The NDIS is a program funded by the Australian government to help support eligible people with intellectual, sensory, physical, cognitive, and psychosocial disabilities. This service can also be taken as an early intervention for adults and children with developmental delays.

During its trial stages, it only catered to Tasmania people aged 15-24, South Australia for children aged under 14, the Barwon area of Victoria, and the Hunter area in New South Wales for people aged up to 65. Today, it is almost accessible to entire Australia, including Springfield. However, this service is different from a welfare service as it does not give a lifetime aid. Instead, it aims to help people level up their skills or equipment in taking care of the disabled and to improve their independence over time.

Types of NDIS Assessments

NDIS assessments are done by psychologists through a series of tests. Some might provide counselling and therapy depending on the disability of the person. These types of tests are highly subjective to the population of the disabled person in a state. However, there are 4 common assessment services that most specialists offer:

Functional Assessments. Functional Assessments are done by assessing the person’s abilities, disabilities, and challenges in functioning. This includes physical disabilities as well as mental disabilities and aims to identify the disability area that a person needs support with. It is usually done through a series of physical tests or tests that targets body part functionality.

Intellectual Disability Assessments. Intellectual Disability Assessments are like the mental version of functional assessments. This includes assessing a person’s intellectual capabilities. This may include cognitive assessments, adaptive assessments, autism assessments, etc.

Cognitive Assessments. Cognitive Assessments assess the person’s IQ. This exam is not only for people with disabilities but for anyone who wants to know their IQ. However, a person’s IQ can also describe his or her disabilities or extraordinary abilities which is why this test exists in NDIS.

Dementia Assessments. Dementia Assessments are done to identify the early symptoms of dementia in people with intellectual disabilities. This is done as prevention and preparation for possible permanent dementia.

This list of services is purely subjective based on the organisation and some might have more services than others. It is better to directly consult and ask for all services offered by the resident’s local NDIS assessor.

What about the NDIS Independent Assessments?

Independent Assessments are introduced so that people with disabilities can have more personalised options for these assessments and so that they will be fair and accessible for everyone.

As of April 2021, Linda Reynolds, minister for the NDIS, announced that independent assessments will not be implemented until feedback from current trials has been assessed and further consultation has taken place. This decision was made due to pieces of feedback given to the pilot independent assessments done across Australia.

A survey by the NDIA Research and Evaluation Branch showed concerning results showing that:

Only 46 percent of people who took independent assessment experience an excellent service
Only 49 percent of their assessor seemed to know about the participant’s disability
Only 48 of the independent assessment reports showed a very good reflection of their meeting
Only 42 percent of the results of the independent assessment showed a very good reflection of their functional capacity
Only 39 percent of the assessors rated their training as excellent

NDIS Independent Assessment is a great alternative for public service assessments. However, surveys show that it is not yet that accurate and dependable as of today. It is too early to say that it is a bad or a good idea, which is why independent assessments cannot be implemented for now.

NDIS Assessment in Springfield

For NDIS assessment in Springfield, Carers Queensland is the assigned NDIS assessor. Different states are catered by different organisations, but the support provided is the same. There should be no differences when taking these kinds of assessments. The tests are standardised and generalised so that regardless of where they will be taken, the support that a person will receive is fully based on the assessment and not on the location or the organisation.

Should a Springfield Resident take the NDIS Assessment?

Depending on the resident’s observation of his or her family member, it can be a great decision for a family to be able to get this type of support from the government especially if there is a family member with a disability. Taking care of a disabled person is not an easy task especially if the disability is severe. However, a person can also opt to not take the government support if they have the means to self-support the family. In Springfield, the support that a family will get far outweighs the costs of these assessments so applying for NDIS is almost a no-brainer for a family living with a specially abled individual.

Take note that a resident can also take these assessments even though they do not have any symptoms of disabilities. Some disabilities, like dementia, need early prevention. Thus, an annual assessment or a regular check-up is a great assurance for a family. Intelligence Quotient (IQ) Tests and Intellectual Assessments are also services offered by the local NDIS assessors. These do not require a resident to have any disabilities.