The NDIS is a great scheme to support Australian people with permeant and significant disabilities. The NDIS certainly created a greater demand for disability support workers due to the fact that now more people with disability are able to afford to get carers and support workers due to the funds available through the NDIS plan.

With the increased demands for the NDIS support worker roles also came a change for people either taking studies in the disability sector or applying for such roles but the question is : what makes a good NDIS support worker?

We have summarised five key points that we believe it makes a good NDIS support worker:

1. The support worker should allow the individual they support to be independent.

A good support worker must understand the balance between providing support and stepping back and let the persons they support perform some activities on their own. Often participants feel good when they interact with people in the community themselves or order a meal in the restaurant, express themselves rather than the Support worker doing that for them, they can guide and observe but giving the participant space to be independent and feel confident is highly advantages.

2. Support worker should encourage other people to address the person they care for directly.

It is always good that NDIS support workers encourage people in the community to speak and address the they person they care for directly, this promotes understanding of equal rights and opportunities in the community.

3. Support workers should use augmentative and alternative communication

Augmentative and alternative communication is a kind of communication used to communicate with people who has limited speech abilities. It is usually a combination of vocalisation, eye pointing, gestures and pointing to symbols as well as other visual methods as a way of communication.

4. Support worker should not judge or assume regarding the person ability

While the support worker main role is to assist the person they care for and doing tasks on their behalf and for them , it is not wise to make an assumption about the person ability, a good support worker should ask the person if they would like to do certain tasks even if they take long time to do it they should have the chance to have a go , you would be amazed what some people are able to do, besides that would give the person with disability sense of joy and independence .

5. Support workers should use common sense and think creatively

Besides proving support and care for participant , support worker’s essential job is to help the persons they care for to achieve their goals , so it is always great to try and think outside the box, pay attention to the person you care for and focus on what are the things that help them to achieve their goals whether it is short or long terms, do activities that leads to working towards these goals , for example, enrolling in an art class, joining a club, cooking food or whatever activities that promote goals achieving is encouraged. Support working is not only a job but it is an art , so support workers should use their imagination and try to see the bigger picture on how they can help make a difference on the person’s life, empower and enabled the persons with disability.