News | 22 January 2015

Life’s never been better really

Meet Siobhan

Siobhan is 14 years old. She loves music, boccia and Facebook and her life has been transformed by the NDIS.

Siobhan’s mum Caroline says they always struggled to find the right support for Siobhan and the family before the NDIS. They tried after school care, overnight respite in houses, family-centred respite programmes – nothing really fit what they needed.

Since the NDIS the family has been able to tailor their support and as a result they both get more enjoyment out of their mother/daughter relationship.

Siobhan had three clear goals under the NDIS: “boccia, hanging with friends and being without my mum. These were all very much building blocks for my plan,” she said.

It took the family a while to get their NDIS plan right – find the right workers and make the most of their supports. But their latest plan now reflects what they need.

Siobhan loves it. “The main thing now is that we have control over the process and what we do,” she said. I don’t have to have mum do everything now and that’s really awesome. I can go to boccia without mum and life’s never been better really. I feel really awesome and excited about the future, knowing that I’ll be in charge of who supports me to do what and when.”

And for mum too. “The NDIS has already changed the dynamic within our family, in that I am not doing so much of that personal care role with Siobhan,” Caroline says. So in the mornings I get to be a mum before school as opposed to that all-encompassing role.”

Watch the video of Siobhan and Caroline as they share their NDIS journey.

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