Moving out of home is a big step. You might want to live with others or you might want your own space. Either way, the goal is the same: a home that feels comfortable, supportive and right for you.
There are lots of living options to explore, including renting, buying, living with family or sharing with friends. While the NDIS does not fund rent or everyday living costs, it may fund disability-related supports that can be shaped around different living arrangements, as long as you can explain your goals and the supports you need.
Start with your life, not the funding.
When you start looking into independent living, it’s easy to hear funding terms straight away like ILO, SIL or SDA.
But those options only make sense once you’ve worked out what you actually want your life to look like. When you start with the funding, you may end up in a living arrangement that doesn’t suit you.
When you start with imagining the type of home and life you want to live, you can request a clearer plan that reflects:
- Who you want to live with
- What you want your home to feel like
- What supports you need and when.
Create your vision for home.
A strong vision helps you move beyond one-size-fits-all options and focus on what works for you. It puts your quality of life, your sense of belonging and the right supports at the centre.
Here are some questions to help you shape that vision.
| The person |
|
|---|---|
| The household |
|
| The home and location |
|
| The support |
|
Gather information that shows the support you need.
Once you have a clearer idea of how you want to live, the next step is showing the NDIA what supports you need across the day. This helps make sure your NDIS Plan matches your goals and your real support needs.
Here are three ways to start.
1) Map your current support.
Keep a simple record of what each day looks like over a couple of weeks. Write down what support you get, such as:
- Reminders and prompting
- Help planning your day
- Organising appointments or transport
- Support with routines at home.
Include roughly how long things take. This helps show what support might be needed if your family wasn’t there to help.
2) Document what you can do and where you need help.
Ask your allied health team to describe:
- What you can do on your own
- What you can do with set-up support
- What needs hands-on support.
If you’re asking for home and living funding, you’ll usually need an occupational therapist to complete an assessment and write recommendations.
3) Be clear about when support is needed.
Instead of saying “I need support all the time”, describe support in a way that’s easy to understand like:
- What times of day you need help
- What kind of help it is
- Whether you need someone close by overnight
- Whether technology could increase your independence over time.
Feeling confident with the next steps.
It’s normal to feel unsure when you think about living more independently. You might have worries and your family or the people who support you might have worries too. That doesn’t mean independent living isn’t possible. It just means you need a plan that helps you feel safe, confident and supported.
Your concerns can be useful because they help you work out:
- What might be hard for you in a new home
- What would help you feel safe and settled
- Who should check in with you and how often.
A simple way to do this is “what if…” planning. You take one worry at a time and turn it into practical steps.
Write down:
- What are you (or your family) worried about?
- What can you do to make it less likely?
- What will you do if it happens anyway?
- What supports could help?
This can help you and your family feel more prepared. It also makes it easier to explain to the NDIA what supports you need to live safely and more independently.
Understanding NDIS home and living options.
Once your vision is clear and you’ve gathered evidence, you can explore which NDIS home and living supports may fit.
The NDIS has three main options:
- Supported Independent Living (SIL)
- Individualised Living Options (ILO)
- Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA).
A simple way to remember it:
- ILO and SIL are about support in the home
- SDA is about the home itself (the ‘bricks and mortar’).
SIL.
Supported Independent Living is generally for people who need a significant amount of help throughout the day, 7 days a week. A common arrangement involves two to four people living together, with an approved roster of support workers.
ILO.
Individualised Living Options is also about supports in the home, but it’s designed to help you explore different ways of living beyond shared supported accommodation. This might include more tailored household arrangements and support designs that suit your routines and goals.
SDA.
Specialist Disability Accommodation is funding for specially designed housing for people with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs. SDA funding is separate from the funding that pays for support workers and does not cover the everyday cost of rent or expenses.
Leap in! can help.
If you think home and living supports might be right for you, Leap in! can help you understand your NDIS Plan and get the most out of your supports.
You can contact us on 1300 05 78 78, email [email protected] or chat with us online at www.leapin.com.au.
