After months of waiting for the NDIS to approve the quote for my to get an automated gate was finally approved. It was recommended to replace my rotted, unsafe, inaccessible back gate. Better late than never and months later it was installed. Not without way too many steps in the process though.
Firstly, the quote I got was so long ago and had expired. So I had to go and get another one.
The man came to install it on Sunday and once he was done, he handed me two remotes.
I asked “What about all my supports? I sometimes have 10 people come in a day, what will they do to get in?”
He said “There’s a keypad I can install, but that’s not included in the quote”.
I quickly understood that this gate system was built for two people who live together and get a remote each. Not for someone like me who has many different people coming and going each day. That’s a problem.
Thankfully, he came back a few days later and installed a keypad that all my supports would be able to use. This cost an extra $1,000 and because I didn’t have NDIS approval, I had to self fund the expense. But without this functionality, my supports wouldn’t be able to access me and my home.
I had to ask him to take a video of how to use the new keypad so I could sent it to my supports. It was surprising to me as well that I had to request a manual of instructions on how to use the gate as it hadn’t been provided to me yet. I would have thought that this was something I’d be given the day it was installed. I needed to know what to do if something goes wrong with it.
This wasn’t the end of my woes of the gate though, as I hoped it would be. 
I move quite slowly, and usually with automated doors, when it senses someone there, it stops closing. My gate didn’t do that. I was fearful that if I didn’t move through it quickly enough, it would crush me, or Molly (my dog) would get caught in it.
The gate man had to come back again and enhance the sensitivity of this feature for my safety. But in doing so, the gate no longer opened all the way. I had a support worker tell me that she had to squeeze herself through it as it no longer opened all the way.
I’m grateful to this man who came back, now a fourth time, to fix the gate. But what has been so frustrating is this experience has taken so long with so many extra steps, that if my needs for an automated gate were understood from the beginning, it could have made this process so much simpler and easier for everyone. And less expensive.
There have been so many little problems that could have been stamped out early if my needs were understood first. Had I been asked a few questions prior to getting the quote or installation done, this process would have been a lot easier.
What can you do to understand a persons’ needs early?
Are there certain questions that can help you obtain clear knowledge on why someone needs a certain bit of equipment? Are there ways that you can educate them and their supports so they can continue to use it safely?