Assisting people with disabilities with their mobility needs.

In this post, we are discussing all things to do with specialised driving instruction.

What is a specialised driving instructor?

There are driving instructors and then there are driving instructors. Then there are specialised driving instructors.

It is important to note that according to our research on what is available to providers the NDIS/NDIA has not specified what a constitutes a specialised driving instructor. It is an itemized item for funding but no specifics as to what makes a specialised driving instructor has been provided across available information as far as we are aware.

Furthermore, there is no training or qualifications that make a driving instructor specialised. There is no university degree or certificate level qualification, and therefore it is based on experience.

It is also important to note that the RAA, a renown driving instructor school in South Australia charges $125 per lesson. The Williams OT rate is currently $102.87 (Nov 2019).

To answer this question, we feel it is best to discuss what Williams OT offers as an entire service rather than the individual instructor. We will also discuss what our driving instructors do that are above that provided by a standard driving school.

Williams OT is a service specializing in assisting drivers with disabilities. This is all we do day in day out. We do not see drivers without a disability and focus all of our attention into this area. We review all current literature and peer review articles to assist with setting our driving lessons/rehabilitation sessions.

We have a team of occupational therapists with advanced training in driver assessments and rehabilitation. These occupational therapists set rehab and training programs for the clients following a full and thorough assessment of their capabilities associated with a disability.

The driving instructors, as part of our team, work similarly to allied health assistants to implement the programs. Every week we have meetings between the occupational therapists and driving instructors to discuss clients and how to best move forward. 

Our driving instructors must keep case notes of progress for the occupational therapist to review and as required report back to NDIS. Furthermore, we require our driving instructors to undergo intensive training at the start of their employment with Williams OT. And we also require our driving instructors to advance their skills with professional development, specifically associated with working with clients with disabilities. We have training packages on how to operate and manage vehicle modifications, or as in this case, how to work best and train people with Autism and developmental and intellectual disabilities. 

Our driving instructors have honed their skills working closely with Occupational Therapists trained in Driver Rehabilitation. They have received regular professional development sessions to improve knowledge in the rehabilitation field.  An area not usually covered by your standard driving instructor. Our driving instructors work one on one with occupational therapists to develop plans to move forward. They then continue to consult the occupational therapist to implement their plan to move forward and work with clients with disabilities and learning difficulties.

There is no one size fits all approach to driving instruction. No two people are the same and an individualized approach is required. Of course, participants/clients have the choice to use a standard driving instructor, but will they have the understanding and compassion.

To find out more about what is involved in our training as a specialised driving lesson, please watch

https://www.facebook.com/WilliamsOccupationalTherapy/videos/421982925194193/

Is specialised driving instruction funded by NDIS?

In short, YES

Frequently LACs (Local Area Coordinators) contact us to tell us that Specialised Driving Instruction is either: 

  1. no longer covered by NDIS, or 
  2. it is only to be used for modifications training, or 
  3. some other reason that Specialised Driving Instruction is not covered by NDIS.

All of these suggestions are incorrect.

Specialised driving instruction is an itemised item. However, there is no price allocated to the item. This is because all specialised driving instructor quotes need approval by NDIS and written into plans. This does not mean that it is not covered by NDIS. It just needs to be approved. We have rung NDIS on repeated occasions and had this confirmed over and over again.

For specialised driving instruction, it needs to be approved by NDIS for the funds to be released. 

Further information:

Call record:

Phone call with NDIS 15/11/19 – 11:33 am

Called to discuss the Support Catalogue effective from 1st Oct. On pg 58, the 1st support item 0129 – specialised driver training – is a quote only service, the last 4 columns on the right are for

“Travel” , “Cancellations”, “NDIA Reporting”, “Non-F2F”

NDIS ID SIM231 reported “The legend on this document explained ‘if there is a green tick in these boxes, it means the provider can charge for these services, if there is a red X then the provider cannot charge for these. However, for these fields for specialised driver training these boxes are blank, I can confirm that providers are fundable, are able to charge for travel and cancellations for specialised driver training provided it is in service agreements and has been approved for funding. 

What to do next…

We want you to comment below about your experience. Has funding be cancelled for you? Have you had difficulty getting funding approved?

If you need specialised driving instruction, please ask as for a quote as soon as possible so that it can be written into a participants plan. IF you get this as soon as possible, this will delay approvals.

Furthermore, you may need an occupational therapist assessment to prove that the participant needs specialised driving instruction. We can assist with this assessment too. In fact, this is the centre of our practice. We have assisted many participants to prove that specialised driving instruction is indeed warranted and assist participants to win appeals and have funding approved after law cases.

If you need specialised driving instruction and you need a service that understands what it is like to drive with a disability, then use the “get in contact form” or give us a call on 0466 592 891.

Bonus

To show just how much we go out of our way to assist people with disabilities attain their licence, check out this interview.