Small-practice NDIS support · Newcastle & Lake Macquarie
Fancy Cat Supports is a small, independent support service for people used to holding it together — who often present well while carrying more than they show. Here, the effort behind that is what gets noticed first.
High-masking doesn't mean low-needs. Many people with disability, neurodivergence, or complex support needs have spent years being told they look fine, and have learned to survive by performing that fineness. Fancy Cat Supports was built for exactly those people.
I bring a social-work lens, a holistic approach, and a genuine commitment to decolonising, anti-oppressive practice. Your culture, your identity, and your history belong in the room — not off to one side of your goals.
Your needs are real, even when they aren't obvious to others.
Your preferences and pace guide every session.
LGBTQIA+, CALD, and neurodivergent affirming — always.
Your whole self — not just your NDIS goals on paper.
Considered care & advocacy — for the people most used to going unnoticed.
Cats are perceptive. They notice everything — the shift in the air, the energy in a room, the person who can actually be trusted. They are selective for good reason: they feel things deeply, and they've learned that the right environment makes all the difference.
They can hold a lot underneath a composed exterior. They need things on their own terms. And when they finally settle — really settle — it is one of the most quietly beautiful things.
Sound familiar?
Fancy Cat Supports was built for people like us — often told we seem fine, quietly worn out from the work of seeming so, and long done with support that skims the surface. Being particular about who gets close doesn't need to be argued for here.
This is a warm, unhurried space. There's no performance required.
You can just be.
I'm Lisa Mihara-Sharoud — Liss — a social worker, support worker, and AASW-registered practitioner based in Cardiff, working across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie. I hold a Master of Social Work and a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours). My career has been spent alongside people navigating complex systems, invisible workloads, and long days that take more than they should.
I work with high-masking NDIS participants: people with disability, neurodivergence, or complex psychosocial needs who often present as coping well while carrying much more underneath. I see the effort that takes, and I know that effort deserves to be witnessed, not just managed.
My practice is grounded in anti-oppressive, trauma-informed social work, with a genuine commitment to intersectionality. My own multicultural, CALD background — Japanese and Egyptian heritage, raised in London, now in Australia — is part of what I bring to the room. So is my own neurodivergence. Culture, identity, and lived experience shape care rather than sit outside it.
There's a difference between ticking boxes and doing work that actually changes something. My background in social work and psychology shapes support that is evidence-informed, relationship-anchored, and adapted to whichever day you're actually having.
I don't work from a script. I work from curiosity, care, and respect for your expertise in your own life. My role is to walk alongside you, never ahead of you.
Starting from what you already have and who you already are.
Always working at your pace, with your history held gently.
Challenging systems, not you. Always.
Your full identity — culture, gender, sexuality — belongs here.
This is an LGBTQIA+ affirming, CALD-inclusive, and neurodivergent-celebrating practice.
Your NDIS goals matter — I just don't lead with them.
Before anything else, we begin with a holistic wellbeing assessment. Not a checklist. A genuine, unhurried conversation about who you are, what matters to you, and what gets in the way. Everything that follows is shaped by that.
A thorough, strengths-based assessment of your wellbeing, support needs, and goals, delivered by an AASW-registered social worker. Where a standard intake form asks the minimum, this one takes the whole picture: your environment, your relationships, your history, your energy, and what a good life actually looks like for you. It shapes your support plan and can back an NDIS plan review.
Ask about this supportAll services are billed at current NDIS Price Arrangements and Price Limits (PAPL) rates. I work with plan-managed and self-managed funding; I am not able to take agency-managed participants at this time. A service agreement is provided before any support begins. This isn't a crisis service — for urgent support, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, 13YARN on 13 92 76, or your local mental health service. Get in touch to talk through your plan and what might be possible.
I'm currently taking a small number of new participants — the ones where the fit feels right. If any of this sounds like the support you've been looking for, I'd love to hear from you. Reach out and we'll find a time to talk about your plan and whether we're a good fit — no pressure, no performance required.
Fancy Cat Supports acknowledges the Awabakal and Worimi peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the surrounding lands. We pay respect to Elders past, present, and emerging, and commit to decolonising practice in all our work. This always was and always will be Aboriginal land.
