Diary of an NDIS Worker Day 146

 7 April 2025

Dear Dairy,

The thing I love most about this work is that there are no meetings, I am never at the computer screen and that the accountability is way easier than a funding agreement.

I have enough work. The energy output can be tiring at times. Shifts can get cancelled and new shifts can be added.

C is still a constant - we are working on a creative project now - which gives great insight into her personality and process.

I shop for a lady - I am the only person she sees all week. We go through her list - it matters the type of bread I buy and the size of the potatoes I bring back too her.

I cook for a woman and her two kids. The work is good.

I see a woman who has a dog, we talk about food a lot -they have tried many diets. 

I am working with a woman who is writing a book. 

Another client we do gardening together, I am jealous of how great her compost is!

Nice to be working with care, connection, compassion and no tariffs.

Dairy of an NDIS Worker Day 102

 22 February 2025

Dear Diary,

C has been so much better lately, their mobility and headspace is good.

We talk across so much terrain.. we drive to appointments in my car.
Do 'car disco' songs that we love, singing together in imperfect harmony..

I am shopping too for a new client - elderly, frail, but mentally agile. 

I see others scouring the supermarket shelves for items in a way that denotes that the food is not for them.

We talk through their list before I shop, the client - A, is meticulous in their writing and description of the items they want.

It's astonishing to me that she cooks roast dinners, heats up soups and steams vegetables. And asks me to unpack their beers.

A doesn't go out ever. 

Their vacuum cleaner is old and frail like them. I run it over the hallway and in their bedroom. 

Take them fresh tomatoes from my vine.

Each time I shop it feels like an act of service and I am oddly anxious that I may not have got the precise item they requested. 

I brought the wrong bread last week - they response was so despondent that I rushed back to the supermarket to change it. 

This shopping after all means more to them than most.

Another client D - we cook together. They aren't confident, they put them selves down. I stand next to them saying you can do this, it's ok and what they cook always looks amazing..

I'm working with another client on their memoir.
Having had amazing mentors myself I apply that skill of 'walking along side someone'.. as they traverse the massive task of getting a story down, pondering each word and polishing each sentence... in the long and treacherous road to publishing... where self belief is everything..

So I am over a hundred days into this.. and my oh my I love the work..

Trump makes more and more preposterous pronouncements ..

Let's just see what he actually does.

my website has had a makeover..I'd love you to have a peak
justinesless.com

Diary of an NDIS Worker Day 81

 2/2/2025

Dear Diary,

As the heat began to build in Melbourne I was down at the allotments with a client.

We worked hard. Weeding and preparing a new plot.

There were plenty of people there today, for a working bee. 

There was plenty of wisdom there too.

Advice was plentiful on how to clear the plot, constant reminders to rest regularly and drink lots of water.

Good gardeners are great at reusing everything.

Each plot was filled with luscious vegetables and bright pink and orange flowers.

By eleven we were done. Sweaty, but satisfied with the work over the last couple of hours.

We returned tools and wheelbarrows. Had so many conversations about vegetables, the heat and general complimentary comments to each other on the work we had all done.

I came home.

Showered.

Made a lunch using the huge haul of tomatoes and cucumbers.

I came home thinking about the great Ted Lasso quote..

Smells Like Potential.

One of the best things about the community garden was there was zero screen action, zero AI and I didn't hear anyone talk about Trump.

For more go to justinesless.com

Diary of an NDIS Worker Day 74

 26/1/2025

Dear Diary,

Last week C had another fall.

I feel her health is failing rapidly along with her memory.

I am not sure that I am the right carer for her anymore.

I took a new client out for a cup of tea.

They are in a residential mental health facility.

They can leave the facility under supervision for 1 hour blocks 3 times a week...

The hour we spent together was joyful.

They recited poetry.

Tried on their new lipstick.

And showed me photographs from when they were married.

I spent a day with another client chatting and taking them to a medical appointment. It was fun and easy going.

I was contacted by a lady who wants me to help them with their novel on a weekly basis.. Of course I nearly cried .. what a time to be alive..

I registered with another agency.

Said no to an agency that only had clients living far from me. Continued to up the word count on the next book
Spruiked for freelance work.

Slow but steady.

Diary of an NDIS Worker Day 69

 22/1/2025

Dear Diary,

I have another client.

C has been a constant.

There are days when I am utterly exhausted.

There are days when the habit of looking for the shiny object, the better thing, the thing that will make me feel more successful or bring in more cash shine bright and I want to turn my full attention to that..

I worry about money a lot some days.

And others I just think well I can pay the bills this month, so all is well.

Sometimes I think I should be applying for a 'proper job,'and then I trawl through position descriptions and feel repulsed at the thought of having to demonstrate my ability, complete endless Key Selection Criteria only to be told thanks but no thanks, or worse still enter an environment where the workplace bully is allowed to stomp through the minds and crush the souls of all who work there..

It all just has to be ok.

And then I worry again, am I self sabotaging by working in a role that is casual and sometimes pays less than I am used to being paid..

And then a friend told me this great line..

'Worrying is just praying for something you don't want.'

When I started this Diary Trump had just won the election.

Now he's in office with a 2 gender rule.. 
and the Nazi salute is trending on twitter...

Diary of an NDIS Support Worker Day 56

 9/2/2025

Dear Diary,

This week I saw C twice.

The first time we sorted through their bedroom in readiness for a new bed.

I have never considered myself to be a patient person.

Maybe this is a new attribute.

I worked with a new client.

The best way to describe the work is psycho social support.

And whilst my income has dropped significantly I'm still happier and calmer than I have been in a long time.

Day by day.

That's all we got.

Diary of an NDIS Worker Day 49

 1.1.2025

Dear Diary,

Today I took a new client to an appointment.

We spoke a lot about incidental connection versus scheduled contact.

Sometimes it is the silence of a day, as debilitating as a shackle.

Sometimes it is the tinkling sound of a giggling child that can illuminate a day.

Sometimes a friend cancels, and the evening looms, a spectre of despair.