Sherryn Groch

Young Canberrans with high needs could be locked out of respite care by Christmas unless a last-minute solution is found to "critical" funding shortfalls under the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

As families warn they will be forced to surrender care of their children without the regular break of respite, advocates are calling for an urgent intervention in the territory to address the "market failure" of services.

Ms Y Berry MLA
Minister for Education and Early Childhood Development
Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
GPO Box 1020
Canberra ACT 2601

Dear Ms Berry MLA

Subject: recognise behavioural clinicians in the ACT

Thank you for your response (29/3/2017) to our emails.

SOfASD is disappointed that you chose to deny implicitly our request to meet (made in our letter 30/1/2017).

In your response, you wrote:

With a recent video, the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) released a bit of information about its NDIS Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) Approach as it affects autistic children. Regrettably, The NDIS ECEI Approach falls well short of best practice early intervention (EI) for autistic children.

Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia, a national grass-roots ASD advocacy group known as A4, applauds the NDIA’s intention to help children with disability into EI as quickly as possible. However, A4 is concerned that the NDIS ECEI Approach:

• avoids diagnoses and does not recognise the distinct nature of ASD and the distinct needs of autistic children;

• does not provide the impartial and comprehensive advice that parents need so they can make informed choices about EI for their autistic children;

• rejects expert advice that autistic children need intensive individualised ASD-specific and comprehensive EI; and

• diverts families from effective (evidence-based best practice) EI for their autistic children.

RICK MORTON, Social Affairs reporter

The future of the $22 billion Nation­al Disability Insurance Scheme has been thrown into ­crisis after as many as 2000 people with serious mental health conditions and disabilities were shut out of the program in the ACT, the first jurisdiction to fully adopt the new model.

The territory scheme reached its “target” of 5075 clients within hours of full rollout on September 30. Newly eligible people have been turned away and told to wait for a vacancy, which is typically only available when someone in the NDIS dies.

The ACT is a test case for what experts say is likely to happen when the scheme in other states reaches maturity in 2019-20.

From: Karna

Dear Mr Bowen

With the NDIS rolling out nationwide it is time for the NDIA and its parent policy agency, Dept. of Social Services to start making policy on a number of disability issues such as that of people with autism spectrum disorder and challenging behaviours such as aggression. These people are a large portion of your clients mainly in tier 3 and fall often into the too hard basket due to high support needs and very difficult behaviour. They are the clients most NGOs and other providers do not want as they are expensive and a hazard at times to staff and other clients. I have a son myself who at times falls into this group and am well aware of other “informal supports “doing it very tough with such adult or adolescent children usually males. ...