Two for two: Bayden smashes his goals

Newcastle surfer and National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) recipient, 34-year-old Bayden Parker is currently riding a wave of success.
In the past month he has passed his Ls test and secured a new job, with the support of Challenge Disability Services social worker Abdenor and the Connexions program for young active people with low support needs.
Getting his Ls and a new job were Bayden’s goals for his NDIS plan and now he can rest easy knowing they have been achieved.
“I fell off my chair when I found out I had passed my Ls test. It was a lot of hard yakka: study, study, study,” Bayden said
“We studied the practice test on the computer and going through the book and the answers. Abdenor’s help made me feel more confident about going into the test.”
While it was Bayden’s hard work that helped him pass the test, Abdenor was on hand with words of encouragement, an extra push to keep him on track and assistance with tricky questions while he prepared.
“When we could, we would study together twice a week; he was always on time for our meetings and ready to go,” Abdenor said.
“He didn’t give up, he kept trying and involved himself thoroughly in achieving this goal. Bayden certainly put in a lot of effort.”
The second goal on Bayden’s NDIS plan was to secure a good commercial cleaning job. He recently secured a job cleaning offices and is now in the process of completing background checks and paperwork to get started.
“While I’m a commercial cleaner now, I really want to get my red Ps because I want to deliver pizzas. I think being a pizza driver will be a good way to meet more new people,” Bayden said.
“Having my license will make it easier to go for A to B, and makes me more independent. I can finally load up the trolley and fill the car with groceries, so I don’t have to carry 50 bags of shopping on the push bike.
Surfing is never far from Bayden’s mind, and having a licence will make this much easier especially when he buys a car of his own.
“I am saving up for a nice car. I want to get one that has easy access so I can throw the surfboard in and go to the beach, rather than have to carry my surfboard on a pushbike,” Bayden said.