Step 1 – Download the YOP-X App
Search for the YOP-X app in the Android or iOS stores to download and use.
Step 2 – Complete Your NDIS Wallet
Within the app, complete each of the surveys under the various management pillars. Check your NDIS completion score on the home screen to see your progress.
Step 3 – Print Off Your NDIS Wallet
Once completed, access the NDIS Wallet from the app homescreen, then tap Export PDF. You can then email or transfer this PDF onto your computer.
Step 4 – Get an NDIS Access Request Form
Telephone 1800 800 110 and ask for an NDIS Access Request Form to be posted out to you. You may be offered the option of filling the form out over the phone, but given the detail required on the form, we strongly encourage you to fill it out with assistance from the following support people:
Occupational Therapist
The following assessments can be carried out by an Occupational Therapist to include in your application:
- 1. Functional Assessment
- 2. Home Safety Assessment
- 3. Balance and Mobility Assessments
- 4. Cognitive Assessment
- 5. Disability Impact Assessments
Neurologist
Ask your Neurologist to provide a copy of your diagnosis, and a letter of support as to why you are applying for the NDIS.
Step 5 – Fill out the Access Request Form
You will be required to provide detailed information about how your day-to-day living is being affected by having young onset Parkinson’s. We asked NDIS staff if they had any advice for filling out the Access Request Form, and this is what they told us.
Describing Your Worst Day
You may find yourself filling out your NDIS application with an Occupational Therapist on a good day. Your medication might be working, you may have slept well, and overall you might be feeling ok.
Describing your worst day and how it affects your life is what’s needed at this time.
Think about a really hard day, perhaps before your medication has started working, and where day-to-day tasks are difficult. Describe what that kind of day is like, but describe it without any supports you may have in your life, like a partner or another person who may usually help you. This is the kind of information that will help when your application is being assessed. Identifying all of the ways that your day-to-day living is being affected by having young onset Parkinson’s, can guide you to set goals to improve your overall functioning, and this will be the next important step of the application process.
Setting Goals
Identifying short and long term goals is an important part of the NDIS application process. NDIS funding is attached to goals, and what supports you will need to achieve these goals. Goals need to be as specific as possible, and meaningful to you. For example, your goal may be to continue to maintain a clean house, however mopping the floor when you have young onset Parkinson’s may take you two hours to complete. The support you may need to achieve this goal could be a cleaner to visit once every two weeks. In this way, you have linked a goal to the support you would need to achieve this goal.
Reasonable and Necessary Supports
The term ‘reasonable and necessary supports’ will be used to make a decision on whether or not to fund your requests for support. This is important to keep in mind when you are listing the kind of support you feel will assist you in living with young onset Parkinson’s on a day-today basis. What are the reasonable and necessary supports you need to achieve your goals? Are these supports directly related to the way young onset Parkinson’s affects your day-to-day functioning?
Here are some examples of goals and the supports that might be considered reasonable and necessary for someone with young onset Parkinson’s.
| Goal | How will I achieve this goal? | |
| Goal 1 | To obtain physical assistance to help me with managing my household, helping me to complete meaningful domestic and community-based activities | – Support worker assistance – Occupational Therapy assessment |
| Goal 2 | To feel safe and secure when I am at home, work and within my community | – Support worker assistance – Support from a relevant health professional to assist me with regaining my self-confidence – psychology and counselling support, occupational therapy. |
| Goal 3 | To reinstate my attendance to meaningful social activities and appointments that contribute to my health and wellbeing | – Transport assistance – Support worker assistance – Speech Pathology |
| Goal 4 | To improve my physical strength and balance in order to better participate in daily activities. | – Physiotherapy, Exercise Physiology and Personal Training/Exercise Groups |
| Goal 5 | To explore assistive technology and modifications which will help me in maintaining my independence at home, at work and in the community | – Occupational Therapy assessment – Level 1 and 2 (Low-cost low-risk) assistive technology) – Complex assistive technology requiring assessment, trial and review (such as electric beds, lift chairs, powered wheelchairs etc.) |
| Goal 6 | To address the psychological challenges that have arisen as a result of my Parkinson’s and to implement some better self-care routines | – Regular input from a Clinical Psychologist – Regular Counselling and coaching – Support to engage in appropriate courses and groups with a focus on improving mental health and wellbeing – Support to explore positive sleep-hygiene practices with support of a relevant health professional – Dietician support to improve diet |
| Goal 7 | To explore opportunities to maintain meaningful employment | – Support to feel safe at work – Professional education for the workplace so that they can better understand my Parkinson’s disease – To determine the reasonable adjustments to assist my successful return to work – Occupational therapy assistance to explore a graduated return to work and develop strategies to help me maintain my effectiveness at work |
| Goal 8 | To maintain my most meaningful relationships and continue to actively participate in my role as a wife/husband, mother/father and daughter/son | – Counselling and coaching – Allied Health input as above (assistance to meet other goals which will subsequently contribute to my successful relationships with family and friends) |
Getting Your Plan Right the First Time
It is difficult to get more money for your plan once your application has been approved, and a plan review may take a long time. For this reason, getting the correct supports included in your first application for the NDIS is really important.
Step 6 – Complete the Primary Support Person/Carer Statement on the YOP-X App
A Primary Support Person/Carer Statement can be a valuable supporting document for your NDIS application, to demonstrate everyday difficulties you experience through the eyes of the person who supports you. It is written by the person who is your primary support, for example your spouse, partner, housemate, best friend or sibling, to provide additional details of how young onset Parkinson’s is impacting on your life and the lives of those around you.
Step 7 – Attach The Following To Your Access Request Form
- Printed NDIS Wallet
- Letter From Your Neurologist
- Occupational Therapist Assessments
- Primary Support Person/Carer Statement
Step 8 – Return Your Access Request Form
Once your application form has been completed, take it to an NDIS office or an NDIS Local Area Coordinator to be lodged. In this way, you will be given a delivery receipt, and you can expect to receive a response within 21 days. If your application is not approved and you are considering appealing the decision, we strongly recommend that you submit a new application instead. In this way, you can look at any additional information that could support your application and avoid the possible delays that may come with
