At only two-years-old, our son was diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder and as you can imagine, our whole world changed. After the initial shock, we quickly set about navigating the minefield of diverse options available to support him in his journey through life. Like most families and carers, we soon discovered how daunting the choices and options were. Along our journey we rode waves of adulation, disappointment, anger, frustration and the sheer exhaustion that comes with caring for someone with special needs. That diagnosis was 16 years ago; fast forward to today and like many families in Australia, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has been life changing. Never before has there been such flexibility and control in managing supports and funding to achieve greater independence, community engagement, employment and improved well-being. With that control and flexibility, however, comes many challenges and complexities with much of the difficulties in navigating the system remaining. Over the years while supporting our son, we have both built successful careers; Mark in accounting, financial services and education, and Sonya as a registered nurse with a background in special education. Since the NDIS was first introduced in 2013, we’ve also been self-managing our son’s funded plan. For the past decade, Mark’s role as the general manager for a national financial services company involved processing tens of thousands of payment transactions each month - but he couldn’t shake the feeling that his skills could be better put to use elsewhere. He began dreaming of starting his own business providing support for people similar to our son, and families similar to ours. One Tuesday night a few years ago while sitting around our kitchen table, we put together a plan to bring more meaning to our own lives by using the skills, experience and knowledge that we have gained over the years in order to help NDIS recipients and their support networks with their own journey. And so the Purple Leopard Group was born. We’ve assembled a team of like-minded people and professionals highly skilled in accounting, financial management, and health service delivery that is underpinned by the love caring and support borne out of our own personal experience. There’s no doubt about it - helping those who need it most is the perfect fit for us, and a job we are incredibly passionate about, because like we said - we’ve been exactly where you are. We vow to take care of all the things that we’re good at so that you can be free to focus on maintaining the quality of life that we all deserve. Like we’ve said before, and will say time and time again…
We promise to never treat you like a line on a spreadsheet.
