Direct Payments Reassessment - nervous as hell!

[googlyeyes]

We have been getting 4hrs pw direct payments for ds1 for a couple of years now, and had a couple of reassessments in that time which have been nerve wracking but ultimately not too bad.

Had a phone call today to say we are due our next reassessment and it's really thrown me as this time not only are they saying they need 2 hours to fill out the forms...they also need to observe ds1. They have never asked to see him before, so I'm now worried that they are looking for reasons to take the money away. They want to go and see him at his special needs after school club, where he will likely be v tired and mellow, and I'm really worried that they will see him as an 'easy' child. When they see him sitting on a beanbag quietly twirling his hair at the end of a long day, they won't appreciate that this is very, very far from the whole picture, and how his condition impacts on our family life in innumerable ways. His passivity can be very deceptive, and give no hint of the sorts of behaviour he is capable of if everything is not revolving around his wants and needs.

He is demonstrably severely autistic, and largely non-verbal, but the social worker might well not be able to look beyond the scenario in front of her eyes at that point. I mean, what ARE they looking for? He isn't going to be able to talk to her, so it feels like it has to have a sinister motive.

And a 2 hour long questionnaire when the last assessment was only 10 months ago?

Please tell me I'm being ludicrously paranoid!