Living alone is already a big challenge for many people, and for disabled people who want to live independently, doing that is much more difficult.
Fortunately, the National Disability Insurance Scheme, a government-backed program, provides numerous support options to disabled people nationwide and helps them achieve their desired living a better-quality life.
What are the support options available?
Home and Living
The Home and Living Plan is an objective in which they want to give the right home and living supports that will assist the participant in reaching their goals.
As part of their planning process, participants and their families can address their home and living aspirations. The NDIS will provide all the support the participant chooses in their home and living plan.
The NDIS funds all the reasonable support services that they offer in the home and living plan. However, the NDIS will not cover day-to-day living costs such as rent, groceries, utilities, etc.
Individualized Living Options
The ILO (Individualized Living Options) is a package that lets the participant have the freedom to choose all the aspects of their preferred lifestyle.
The main purpose of the ILO is to help participants live the way they want, where, and with whom they choose while also managing and implementing the support that they need.
While this one is similar to the home and living plans, the ILO goes deeper into understanding the participant’s home and living aspirations based on their preferences and needs.
The ILO has two stages:
- Exploration and Design – The participant takes complete control to decide what they want in their ILO package.
- Implementation of Supports – While the participants have the freedom to choose how they would want to live, ILO can still redesign the plan to suit the needs of the participants.
Supported Individual Living
Supported Individual Living is a program where someone will help participants with daily tasks to help them live as independently as possible.
Building up various skills are also essential, so SIL will help them enhance skills that will help them be an independent member of society.
SIL is great for those who require a lot of help. That means they will need a lot of assistance throughout the day. They will receive funding for SIL as part of their NDIS plan if it is the most appropriate support for them.
All three options offer choices such as individual living with support, group living, and living with housemates or family members.
How do all these support options help people with special needs that live alone?
In conclusion, the NDIS plan for disabled people who live alone puts the participants in an environment where they can continue to grow and develop as contributing members of society while also receiving the necessary support.
These plans consider everyone’s preferences, strengths, assets, support requirements, and community networks. Making this benefit work to the fullest is the responsibility of an NDIS plan manager.
Independence is something that anyone can achieve, and that does not exclude disabled people. They need a push in the right direction, and with the same effort that others put in to gain independence, they can also live to become an independent person with many more aspirations.