The Freeing Benefits of Supported Independent Living for People with Disabilities
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was developed to allow for more choice for people with disabilities to get the help and support they want and deserve. To help with that, they’ve designed supported independent living (SIL).
A type of support that helps participants live as independently as possible, SIL puts supports in place specifically designed for each participant. This offers more than a few benefits.
Even compared to traditional alternatives, supported independent living can be an appealing option. If you’re living with a disability, it’s always worth knowing what your options are. Let’s take a look at what SIL is and how you can benefit from it.
You could end up being more interested than you thought you’d be.
What is Supported Independent Living?
First, let’s get clear on what supported independent living actually is. It’s an alternative to traditional disability support schemes and is the brainchild of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. See it as another choice in living an independent life and getting the support you need.
It primarily focuses on helping with long-term, significant disabilities. These participants usually need some form of assistance during the day, with this varying from participant to participant.
This offers more than a few benefits, each of which could convince you to consider supported independent living. Five of these stand out, as they can have much more of an impact on your life than you’d think.
At a minimum, you’ll see it as a viable alternative to traditional support methods.
The Benefits of Supported Independent Living: 5 Top Picks
1. Making New Friends
Living in a SIL house is the most common way to get supported independent living services. It offers more than a few benefits, many of which will be obvious. One of the more overlooked is you can expand your social circle and make new friends.
These people will be in similar situations as you, and you’ll have many similar interests with them. You could end up with a much more active social life than you would’ve thought.
Then there’s the fact everyone lives quite close to each other. You’ll see your new friends as much as you want without needing to worry about anything.
2. Freedom & Safety
Some tasks can be challenging for people with disabilities, and they could even be dangerous to do alone. That’s why many people err on the side of caution and make everything as safe as possible. This often feels like it can be at the expense of freedom, however.
With supported independent living, this isn’t a problem. The initiative – and the SIL houses themselves – are designed to carefully balance freedom and safety. You shouldn’t have a problem feeling free while staying safe.
Since both of these can be quite important, there’s no reason why both shouldn’t be prioritised. One shouldn’t come at the expense of the other, and you’ll have plenty of both.
3. More Opportunities
With many more traditional support systems, choices and opportunities are relatively limited. You’ll be restricted in how things can be done, as that’s simply just how it’s done with certain services. With supported independent living, however, that isn’t an issue.
You’ll have many more opportunities with what you can do and how you can do it. You shouldn’t feel restricted when you’re trying to get this done.
And that’s without mentioning the recreational activities and other amenities you can take advantage of. You’ll end up with a noticeably better quality of life because of this. The lifestyle alone could make it more than worth considering.
4. Reliable Support
While you’ll want to be as independent as possible, it doesn’t mean you wouldn’t need some support. When you need this support, you’ll want to make sure it’s actually there. With supported independent living, you can rest assured knowing that’s the case.
When you live in a SIL house, support is there for whenever you need it. You’ll get it no matter what kind of help you need. Staff actually listens to you to properly understand what you need and how they can help.
You wouldn’t have any issues getting the help you need, no matter what time of day it is. It’s understandable if you’re a little nervous at the start, but you’ll start relaxing before you know it. You’ll have full confidence you’ll get everything you need when you need it.
5. Becoming Independent
Perhaps the most obvious benefit of supported independent living is you’ll get a lot more independence. While you could still need help with various tasks, you’ll learn the skills needed to do quite a few things yourself. You’ll also get all of the support you need to get it done.
In time, you could only need help with the more complicated tasks, and you might be able to do everything else yourself. You’ll also have complete autonomy over everything you do, giving you much more independence.
With how much this affects your quality of life, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have it. While it could take a little time to get there, there’s nothing stopping you from working toward it.
Supported Independent Living: Wrapping Up
Supported independent living offers multiple benefits and helps to transform a participant’s life. An appealing alternative to traditional support methods, it can be the best option for many people.
That doesn’t mean going with any SIL provider, though. If you choose it, you’ll want to go with the best. At Soteria Independent Living, our team of specialists work with you to help you get the independent life you want.
More independence, a better quality of life, and more awaits. We focus on your individual needs, giving you the best and most appropriate support and help possible.
When you work with us, we walk side-by-side on the path to a more independent life.
We’ll help you lay the foundation for your future life. Get in touch to find out how we can help you. A better life awaits, and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t get it.