Often not a positive one.

The ground-breaking endeavour, the biggest social reform since Medicare, remains a worthy goal but a far from perfect reality.

As NDIS Minister Stuart Robert has pointed out, "the image of a plane taking off while still being built remains an apt description".

Imagine the experience for passengers in such a plane.

Indi MP Helen Haines' office receives on average eight calls a week from people frustrated by their experiences of the scheme.

There's the mother asked if her son would "grow out" of Down syndrome, the woman in a wheelchair denied funding for incontinence pads, the man whose plan took six months to approve and then contained errors that held up the process further.

IN OTHER NEWS:

The Border Mail has also been contacted more than once by NDIS participants or their carers telling of delays and red tape.

Dr Haines' submission to the government's NDIS review noted the Ovens Murray district had more than 2000 scheme participants.

Her eight recommendations included ensuring participants approved their own plans, the National Disability Insurance Agency had sufficient resources to do its job and the agency planners were properly trained.

These are not unreasonable demands; in fact you might consider them obvious, self-evident, merely a necessary starting point for a program that supports people with disabilities.

This week Mr Robert announced NDIS participants would be able to request longer plans of up to three years' duration, reducing the need for frequent reviews.

People can now also ask for a copy of their plan in their preferred accessible format, like large font, audio, e-text and braille.

Again, nothing beyond what we might expect.

We urge the minister and the federal government to keep on responding to concerns with sufficient funding.

For the NDIS is simply too important to be allowed to fail.