Squeaky Wheel

06 Jan Squeaky Wheel

I was talking with two parents of children with disability and the subject turned to the NDIS.

Parent A (let’s call her Jane) – I’m so pleased I finally got my daughter officially recognised as being on the autism spectrum and we have qualified for NDIS funding. It’s great because my daughter is now seeing a psychologist who “gets” her. But the whole process was strange, because we were allocated funding for things that we don’t think we need for our daughter. On the other hand, the things we stated we “must have” have not been funded. And nobody will tell me why.

Parent B (let’s call him Bob) – Oh yes. The first plan they give you is always strange. They give you things you don’t want and don’t give you things you do want. When I rang up to query this, the staff member told me they don’t fund “bad parenting”. It took me a while to calm down and speak to Elaine, but then I appealed the decision and we were granted more appropriate funding for our son.

The trick is… you need to be the squeaky wheel. It seems to be a pattern that the initial NDIS plan is quite low, but you get a much better result on appeal.

Be the squeaky wheel!

This fits in with a thank you note from a client of mine “your passion for change is infectious. Thank you…”

Be passionate about the changes you want to see.

Be passionate about defining the changes you want to see.

Be passionate about collecting information and data on the issue you want resolved.

Be aware that people need space to think – use the mute button to allow them to ask questions, so it’s not just a stream of very passionate consciousness.

The passionate, squeaky wheel almost always wins the battle for change in my experience. It may take time, but that’s just the process of bureaucracy.

This article comes from my column entitled “Here to Help” in Hunter Local, January 2022. If you have an everyday problem just begging for a simple, real world solution, send it to “Here to Help” and let’s see what we can achieve.

Elaine Abery has a closet full of great ideas and empowering solutions. She’s also the Director of Unravelling Red Tape, a company dedicated to helping everyday people, not-for-profits and companies change the world through improved decision-making and legislation.