Tara is fulfilling her drama dreams

Published On: 24 June 2019Categories: NDIS, News

Like many 18-year-olds, Brisbane woman Tara  has dreams of the screen and stage.

Tara, who has Down syndrome, was one of the first people accepted to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) when it rolled out in Brisbane in 2018.

Before the arrival of the NDIS, Tara and her family had never received any funding.

Once accepted to the Scheme, Tara set about using her funding to pursue her passions in the arts and to prepare herself for future employment.

She is now studying a Cert III of Screen and Media at TAFE and uses funding to build job readiness skills, taking part in work experience two days a week at Peddle Thorp Architecture on Eagle Street.

“I want to work well. I have a couple of goals, the first one is to work,” Tara said.

“I am at school and now I am doing work experience in the city at the architects. I set up the meeting rooms and clean the rooms. There is a lot of meetings and lots of standing up. I work really hard.”

Tara’s mother Louise said the NDIS funding had allowed Tara to increase her independence and be more selective about the supports she receives.

“Tara is working towards finding a meaningful job in an area that interests her. The School Leaver Employment Supports (SLES) funding has provided support workers to teach Tara job readiness skills.

“Tara is learning the unwritten rules of having a job or working in an office, and receives travel training to get her to work safely.”

“She is now engaging in her local community in a meaningful way and the long-term goal is for Tara to be able to live independently.”

Funding has also allowed Tara to become more involved in a range of creative pursuits.

“During Tara’s meeting with the NDIS we spoke about how much she loves the arts and drama.

“Because of the funding Tara now receives, we can meet those social goals in an area that she is interested in.”

All of Tara’s hard work in the arts space has paid off in recent months, appearing as a paid extra in a number of feature films and TV series.

“In August last year Tara signed up with an agency, and she has been an extra on two movies and a TV show. She was part of Godzilla VS Kong, Dora the Explorer, and a Netflix TV Series.”

For Tara, the filming of Dora the Explorer was a particularly unforgettable experience.

“I was on TV for Dora the Explorer. You can look for the girl in the tie-dye t-shirt!

“They shoot at very different times to a normal job. One day we started at 5.30am in the morning and on another shoot, we came back at one in the morning!

“Every time I do something new, I focus on what I am doing. I like to do a good job. When I am in the movie studio I listen to what the director says and I do it.”

Louise says the arrival of the NDIS has been life altering for Tara and the family.

“Everything is new. It is about getting to know the person with disability and what lights their fire. She didn’t have the option to do these things before. Personal training, drama lessons, art lessons and access to the mentoring program and work experience is all new, and it has been great.”

“We don’t have endless resources to fund these things on our own, so with the help of the NDIS funding, Tara has been able to create a great life.”

“I tell everybody, this is through the NDIS, this would never have happened before!”

“Now she is doing what she wants to do and she is loving it.”

For Tara, it means the beginning of a new and exciting career and she is learning to juggle the competing time pressures of work, study and a busy social life.

“I am very, very busy but I really like it. I am working hard and I don’t like staying at home a lot.

“I like going out, its way more fun.”

Louise says that proper preparation assisted Tara’s smooth transition onto the NDIS, and encourages other families to access all the information available to them.

“I attended lots of pre-planning workshops, I gathered information and I put it together in my head beforehand. Then all I had to do was articulate what we had already been envisioning for Tara.”

Carers Queensland hosts regular NDIS information sessions across the Brisbane region.

For a full list please visit: ndisbrisbanecarersqueensland.eventbrite.com.au.