Sophia develops friendships goals with the NDIS

Going out with her friends on school holidays and weekends is the goal for Sophia Savage, as she continues to develop and improve her speech, communication and social skills with the help of National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) supports.

The 17-year-old lives on the Sunshine Coast and is using her NDIS funding to attend physiotherapy to improve her motor skills, speech therapy to progress her verbal communication, occupation therapy and psychology.

Mum, Khanh, said Sophia – who has an intellectual disability – would hide in the house, refuse to go out in the community and was afraid of animals and pets, until she accessed the NDIS in 2019.

“Sophia is now gaining her confidence to join in the community; she talks more to express her feelings, can walk past dogs now without jumping, screaming or running away,” she said.

“Sophia is now supported in her goal to improve her speech and communication skills so she can interact with family, friends and the community effectively, to continue to build social and community activity participation (and) help Sophia to build her daily living skills in the community.”

Speech therapy is also helping the teen to effectively use her Proloquo2Go app to best express her feelings.

Khanh said Sophia is now doing more activities outside and is accessing a support worker to attend a local service provider every Thursday, taking part in sport activities.

“She loves it and is more confident; she likes to go out more and is now not shy to see people around.”

Khanh said before accessing the NDIS she was concerned about how her family was going to fund supports for Sophia.

“We love our daughter and did worry how we could find money to pay for all her therapy, and also how we could support her when she finishes school this year,” she said.

“We can relax now about Sophia’s future and how she is being supported by the NDIS.

“We say a big thank you to NDIS.”

Sophia received assistance to apply for and implement her NDIS funding from Carers Queensland’s NDIS Local Area Coordination Partner in the Community Program for the Maroochydore region.

Khanh said Local Area Coordinator (LAC), Shannon, assisted her to use her NDIS funds appropriately to get the most benefit for Sophia.

“Shannon always answers my questions in a short time and encourages me to communicate with her whenever I need help with the NDIS; I always feel a warm welcome from our LAC.”

Carers Queensland can support you to find out more about the NDIS, to apply for funding and to help you get started with the NDIS.

If you have a disability but are not eligible for the NDIS, Carers Queensland can also help you identify and link to options for support in your community.

You can also contact Carers Queensland on 1300 999 636, or cq.enquiries@ndis.gov.au