A lot of the first trip happens in your head, days before you go anywhere. Is there a step at the café door? Probably fine. Probably. And if the tram stops halfway and you end up somewhere you don’t know, then what?
For a lot of people living with disability, those questions stack up until staying home feels like the easier choice. And for a while, it is easier. Then a few weeks pass, and the world outside the front door gets noticeably smaller.
Forget the big day out for now. What actually works is one familiar route, done so many times it gets a bit boring.
Why the boring route works
Doing the same trip every week sounds pretty dull, and that’s kind of the point. After a few goes, you stop worrying about the timetable or where the ramp is, because you already know. Once that stuff isn’t taking up all your attention, you start noticing other things. Maybe the librarian remembers your name. Maybe there’s a flyer for an art group on Thursdays that you’d actually like.
NDIS goals around social and community participation can do real work here, but only if they’re written with some detail. “Increase community access” tells nobody much. “Catch the bus to my local library on my own by June” gives a participant, their support worker and their therapist something concrete to aim at together. People using support coordination in Melbourne often find a good coordinator earns their keep at exactly this stage, turning a broad goal into supports that actually point at it.
The city has good bones, and a few frustrating gaps
Melbourne runs the largest urban tram network in the world, and the newer low-floor trams paired with level-access platform stops make a big difference for wheelchair users and anyone who struggles with steps. The catch is that plenty of older stops still involve a step up from the road, so check the tram stop ramp access before you head out.
If you need someone with you to get out, look into Victoria’s Companion Card. At participating venues and events, your companion gets in without paying for a second ticket. It sounds like a small thing, but for some families it’s the difference between going and not going. Some things that help with the first few outings:
- Go at a quiet time. A weekday tram mid-morning is a completely different experience from Flinders Street at 5.30pm.
- Bring someone along the first time. Next time, they can hang back a bit.
- Keep it close to home.
- Have a backup plan, like knowing where you can sit down or who you’d call if you needed to leave early.
Where NDIS funding can help, and where it can’t
A lot of people don’t realise travel training is something you can ask for. Depending on the NDIS plan, capacity building funding might cover an OT or support worker who learns a route with you and practises it until you can do it on your own. If public transport isn’t an option for you at all, you might get transport funding instead.
You won’t get it just by asking though. The NDIS has to see it as reasonable and necessary, and it needs to link to a goal in your plan. A letter from your therapist explaining how travel training would help you reach that goal will go a lot further than a general request.
And plenty of things don’t need NDIS money. Local councils run inclusive programs like sport groups and art classes, and a lot of community groups are more accessible than their websites make them look.
Stepping back is hard for families
If you’re a parent or carer, watching someone you love head out on their own can honestly feel harder than going with them. It’s easier if you do it in stages. Walk to the stop together for a while. After that, maybe you just meet them at the other end, until one day all you need is a text saying they got there. Some days won’t go to plan.
A missed tram or a packed carriage can knock someone’s confidence for a few weeks. That’s normal, and it doesn’t mean you should give up on the goal. You might just need to make the next step a bit smaller.
You don’t need to be out every day. One trip a week that someone actually enjoys is a good place to start. If it’s something you want to work on, bring it up at your next plan check-in and ask your support coordinator how to make it happen.
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