how should you prepare for your ndis planning meeting

How should you Prepare for your NDIS Planning Meeting?

Your NDIS planning meeting is a big part of your NDIS journey. To get the NDIS funding for the support, it’s essential to prepare well for the planning meeting. If the planning meeting goes well, your NDIS funding will be granted to achieve your goals . The planning meeting usually occurs between 2 to 4 weeks after NDIS approve you as an NDIS participant. The planning meeting is a conversation between the participants and the local area coordinator or NDIS planners. The planning meeting helps in deciding what to include in your NDIS plan as per your goals.

If you are new to NDIS, it’s possible to feel clueless about your first NDIS planning meeting. This blog will help you with some tips to prepare you for your first planning meeting. SO, let’s begin!

1. NDIS will ask some questions

The NDIS will ask you some questions at the meeting. It’s better to know these questions in advance so that you can prepare well.

The planning meeting will take 1 to 2 hours, and during the meeting, they will ask the following questions-

  • They will ask for your personal details such as name, age, address, and the type of your disability.

  • How you manage your daily activities and what type of supports and help you require in your home to live a normal life.

  • For which activity and tasks you need help, this includes anything you do daily, weekly, or monthly.

  • You need to mention what are your goals for the next 12 months and what you want to achieve in this duration? What supports and services you need to accomplish these goals?

  • The last 15 minutes of the meeting will include a questionnaire on how hard or easy it is

  • to perform the activities and tasks. The way you answer these questions will influence how much funding and support you will receive.

2. Tell them all about your goals.

Once you get an idea of what supports you need in your life, it’s time to figure out your goals. Goals describe what you want to achieve. Another way to think about it is what’s important to you and which goals matter the most to you. During your NDIS planning meeting, the planner will talk to you about the goals you want to achieve with the NDIS funding.

If you need any specific support, it should be related to the goal you want to achieve. Goals are all those things you want to achieve, big and small, to live your life comfortably and independently. You should try to be as clear as you can with your goals as it will help the NDIA understand what you want to achieve and what supports and services you will need in the future.

3. Disability questionnaire

In the meeting, your planner will ask you questions about your disability and the impact of your disability on your life and ability to do things independently. You have to be very specific while answering these questions.

How you answer the questions will highly influence the support that will be in your NDIS plan. Think about the questions and then answer as your NDIS supports depend upon it.

4. Decide how you want to manage your NDIS plan

You have the choice to select between self-managed NDIS planners, the agency managed, or the plan-managed. It would help if you decided on the option you prefer at your planning meeting.

Here are those three options

  • Self-managed- For each service you receive, you directly pay for services and then apply to the NDIS. You can apply to the NDIS, pay for the funding, and then pay for the supports. Under self-management, the participants can negotiate their price directly with the provider. On top of that, you can use both registered NDIS providers and unregistered providers under self-management.

  • Agency- managed – Under NDIS or agency managed, the NDIS service providers will need to send their invoices directly to the NDIA. Under this option, the participants can only choose providers registered with the NDIS.

  • Plan managed- Under this option, an independent organization provides NDIS plans for the services you require. In plan management, the NDIS plan manager sends you monthly statements to keep an eye on how you are going with your NDIS budget.

These were some of the crucial points to note before going for the planning meeting. Another bonus tip while going to the NDIS planning meeting is to look presentable. Make sure to groom yourself and look presentable to leave a good impression.

Let’s catch up and talk about your plan.

Access Foundation is a registered NDIS support service provider organizations in West Australia. We can help the NDIS participants with pre-planning for their plan meeting and make them confident to attend the meeting and make a good impression. We also support the NDIS plan management participants and help them access the funding they require to achieve their goals. For NDIS supports and services, get in touch with us and let us assist you.