A National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) expert will attend the next meeting of a fledgling user group with an informal motto of "build not wreck".
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Maree Barnes, whose son Joe has Down syndrome, founded Orana People Using NDIS (OPUN) which focuses on the exchange of information.
"Our goal is to become more skilled at navigating the NDIS and get better outcomes for people who are using it," she said.
"There's no point sitting around whingeing. You've got to build not wreck".
Mrs Barnes came to the view that a user group was necessary after she and a friend shared important NDIS information in a supermarket aisle.
Her friend, Cassie Gardner and husband Mark, spoke about supported independent living at the February meeting of OPUN at the Dubbo Campus of Charles Sturt University (CSU) .
"They provided a great overview of supported independent living funding systems and opened our eyes to some of the options available," Mrs Barnes said.
The user group's proactive approach to learning has caught the attention of the NDIS.
Its expert will conduct an Ask Mr Anything session at the OPUN meeting at CSU from 7pm on March 11.
Questions should be submitted to Mrs Barnes by March 4.
"I want to make it really clear this is a really positive group," she said.
"..what we have found is that as an entity we have some legitimacy in the eyes of the NDIS."
In April OPUN will use funding from LiveBetter to host workshops by Sam Paior, founder of the Growing Space.
Mrs Barnes said the "solo parent to two with disability" did not work for the NDIS but had been "very involved in shaping it".
On April 10 Ms Paior will conduct the Mastering Self Management Workshop.
On April 11 she will provide an "in-depth understanding of the NDIS, how it works, what to do to get a great plan and how to make the most of it" at NDIS Deep Dive.
"There are registration costs but they are covering the cost of her coming to Dubbo which is an amazing opportunity," Mrs Barnes said.
The founder of OPUN is keen to see new faces at its meetings.
"NDIS is very new to our region," she said. "We've only had it for a little over 18 months.
"It's not perfect and it hasn't been awesome for everybody but to me it has been infinitely better than the system we previously had because you now have choice and control.
"Now the funding sits with us and we decide which service providers we want to use."
To join the user group send an email to maree.x.barnes@gmail.com.
