Belinda Moore had sought $3000 through the National Disability Insurance Scheme to pay for specialised training costs for her son's two carers.

That was so they could become accredited handlers for 14-year-old Corey's assistant dog when he went into respite care.

WEEKENDER: Me and Gordy

The NDIS rejected the application, as it did one around four years ago when the Moore family wanted help in paying for the dog.

Before then, Mrs Moore was successful in an application to the Queensland-based, non-for-profit organisation Smart Pups for a dog for Corey.

But her family had to pay the $20,000 training cost, which covered the extensive work put into the dog before and after placement.

After raising about half that amount, through everything from sausage sizzles to knocking on doors, Mrs Moore applied to the NDIS for the balance.

This was rejected, but Corey eventually was able to get his dog - a Labrador named Gordy - after another organisation came to the rescue with an-almost $10,000 donation.

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The latest funding knock-back stunned the family and ultimately led to legal support being offered by Melbourne firm Slater and Gordon, with assistance from lawyer Anne Shortall.

By then, Mrs Moore had already taken her funding fight for Corey - who has a litany of complex medical issues, including an intellectual disability, a language disorder, frontal lobe brain damage and anxiety - to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The tribunal made no decision, instead referring the matter back to the NDIS - specifically, the overarching National Disability Insurance Agency - to await the finalisation of the scheme's promised internal review of Corey's case.

Corey's behaviour before Gordy came to live with him was often extreme, with his mother recounting episodes that time and time again stemmed from his highly aggressive "meltdowns" that she said seemed to occur "every five minutes" and without provocation.

"It could have been over him wanting to have a drink there and then," Mrs Moore said.

"If I didn't get a drink then he would assault me.

"Corey has signaled damage in that part of the brain (his frontal lobe) and has some blank spots, so he can't yet self-regulate himself without the support of an animal.

"Once his brain went into that mode he had no control. There was no 'I'm sorry'.

"Now if he has a meltdown, it might last two, three minutes or five minutes at the most, but he will now come to me and say" 'I'm sorry Mum for getting angry at you.'

"Whereas before it was nothing."

Before he got Gordy, in the time before he began to benefit from a pet therapy dog at Wodonga's Belvoir Special School, Corey would search the family home for knives he wanted to use to stab his mother.

He would regularly smash-up the family home, the damage bill reaching "thousands and thousands and thousands" of dollars.

Two weeks after Gordy arrived, a support worker rang and asked what had changed at home.

"They said 'Corey seems to be a lot happier when he comes into school. He's saying hello to the teachers as he's coming into the school, he seems to be a lot calmer'."

Mrs Moore feared Corey would revert to his previous behaviour if he attended respite care without Gordy.

Ms Shortall said it was disappointing the NDIS could not see the benefits of a "relatively small expense" that would make "such a difference to the level of care Corey requires in respite if his assistance dog can go with him".

"It's decisions like this that make it hardly surprising that the scheme spent $22 million on external legal fees over the past financial year and there's been a massive increase in complaints to the (tribunal), so let's hope that common sense will ultimately prevail."

A spokesperson said the authority continued to support the family and that to fund an assistance animal "it needs to meet all the NDIS funding criteria and the appropriate evidence needs to be provided".

Ms Shortall said Slater and Gordon would help with a tribunal application should the review not rule in the family's favour.

She said unfortunately it was not unusual for NDIS participants to battle for appropriate support "to increase their independence and community and economic participation so they can reach their full potential".

Also, the review process did not promote confidence and accountability, "especially when people are being given the run-around like Belinda has to have a decision reviewed".

"It's hard to see how the support the family is seeking is not in line with the scheme's intentions given it will help Corey's independence and community participation, which will help him reach his full potential."

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