The following phrases and questions may be of use when you are having trouble obtaining help from one of the disability services or care providers:
General Phrases To Use
These words may fit into many different situations, and help to explain how serious and immediate your need is:
- "I am relying on you"
- "Yes, I do need an assessment, immediately."
- "Is there was anyone in your department who could better deal with my enquiries and provide me with the help I needed?"
- "How CAN you assist me?"
- "Do you know of another agency that may be able to help me?"
Countering Negatives
If you hear, "no" or, "I can not help you" or, "you do not fit the criteria" or similar knock-backs, these phrases may be helpful:
- "Who else could help me?"
- "Who is it that I need to talk to, above you, that has the authority to to help me?"
Aids & Equipment Applications
When you are appying for aids and equipment, the following may be helpful even if it's not totally true. It lets the aids and equipment people know that you are sure that a certain thing will help you:
- "I have been hiring [whatever the item is] at [whatever the cost is] per week. I find it helpful, but I am on a disability support pension and can't affort to continue to hire it."
Also, if specific people in authority, such as your occupational therapist, have recommended you use an item of equipment, make sure that this is known. These people's opinions carry significant weight with aids and equipment funding bodies.
If Told That Friends Should Help
When you live with a non-family member, (eg, a housemate) and you're told that they should help you with whatever you are applying for, these words can be helpful:
- "The person I share with is not my relative and is not my carer and doesn't want to be."
This situation is most likely when you are approaching the local council for home-help services, incidentally.
General Guidelines
These are some more general rules that can often be helpful:
- As much as possible, ask people to send any information to you in the mail so you have a hard copy.
- Keep an exercise book, or a computer file, of all your contacts for various services and medical people, even if they aren't useful at the time. Things could change in the future and thesoe people might be helpful then.
- If somebody was particularly helpful, send a note to their manager (or talk to them on the phone, which takes less energy but has less impact) saying how helpful the peson was. That person is then much more likely to remember you, which could be helpful.
- Always say, "Thank you". What goes around comes around!
