Building your child’s NDIS goals is important to ensure that the supports and services put in place are perfectly tailored fit to your child’s needs to achieve. This is a shared responsibility between you and your child with support from your LAC. Your child’s NDIS goals should not only be the things you want for your child, but it should also be the things that your child wants to achieve.
Getting started with your child’s NDIS goals
When you build your child’s NDIS goals, it is best to sit down together and breakdown the things you need to consider. It helps if you start with broad topics and make bullet forms under each topic to ensure that everything is covered. Bear in mind that you have to make short and long-term goals.
Do you have doubts as to how you can gain your child’s cooperation with this task? You can think of creative ways on how you can make this a fun activity for you and your child for example turn instructions into songs, put the topics in a menu like a form, or map out each aspect of your child’s life and pretend that you will have a tour and each aspect will then be a pit stop where you need to discuss the things under it and you can only proceed with the tour once all of the tasks under that pit stop have been discussed. Another creative way would be like that of a mystery game wherein you ask questions to the child to elicit ideas from him/her. In this manner, both you and your child are involved in setting up his/her goals while enjoying the whole journey of doing it.
Short-term goals are those goals you and your child want to achieve within a year, say for example to be able to gain a stronger grip to hold a spoon, a hairbrush, toothbrush, and the likes. While long term goals are goals that you and your child want to achieve in 2-5 years' time like getting enrolled into a school, going further with education, and the likes. It is important to set both short and long-term goals to ensure that your child will receive continuous and progressive support from the NDIS. Another best practice is to consider your child’s likes and interests and spring from there, take, for example, your child has an inclination for music and arts- you may be able to use this as a venue for your child to increase social interaction and improve his/her communication skills. You can also try to look at your future hopes for your child like what do you wish to achieve after secondary school? Also, think of another source of support from people and equipment. Think of your informal supports and their availability so that you can draft the number and schedule of support worker/s you need to assist your child. Think of ATs that will be able to assist your child with his/her daily routines.
Who are the people you need to tap when developing your child’s NDIS goals?
Aside from you and your child, these people can help or give you pertinent information that will aid towards stronger and vivid NDIS goals:
· Local Area Coordinator
· Early Childhood Partner
· Support Coordinator
· General Practitioner
· Paediatrician
· Child Care Educator
· Teacher
· Therapist
Some of them are not actually required or obliged to join you during your Plan Meeting or assist you when you draft the NDIS goals but they can offer support by providing you with information about the diagnosis, clinical recommendations, and the likes.
Developing your child’s NDIS goals is gearing towards your child’s future. Be ready for it and what better way to do it is to prepare. Do keep in mind that you can always ask for support when you are on this journey.
Do you have a child with a disability? Leave the stress of managing the financial side by choosing to be Plan Managed with Yogi Care. Focus on doing a stress-free NDIS journey with your child, and allow us to deal with the rest.
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