DLA Payments

Indeed and the High rate mobility
My son gets it under SMI rules but he's 13 non verbal goes to.a school for children with severe and profound learning disabilities,,very limited understanding of the world around him etc etc.

Have those parents requested a MR and then appealed? They should. Understanding money, drawing, lego etc. doesn’t prevent a child being eligible for HRC, but some need to appeal for it.

This would be a terrible idea. This is not a good strategy for dealing with EBSA.

Yes, I understand the criteria. I've just never known anyone to get higher rate unless they have incredibly complex needs such as needing, medication, turning, suction etc at night . I worked with quite a few families who had non verbal children with asd who would wake for hours in the night who still only received middle rate. I'm surprised a child who understands money, who draws and plays lego etc receives such a high rate.

This.

But I think people are being ridiculous if they think the money shouldn’t be spent on things he enjoys.

There's a big difference between using some of it for those things, which everyone would understand, and allocating the whole £690 a month for that, and that making out that you have no additional financial support.

My son is 10 and we get HRC and LRM, about £500 per month. I wouldn't consider giving him the money to spend on toys etc - for us it is about topping up the family pot to make up for the extra costs involved in having a child with extra needs. A tutor to help him keep up with school, a cleaner so we can spend more time with him, physio sessions, car payments so we can get him to all his appointments etc.

My son is only 9 and gets about half what your son does- it just goes into the general pot of money with everything else. He gets pocket money (£20 a month). The rest goes towards his tutors/hobbies/educational stuff (he is home educated but goes to a private school once a week) and then general costs of life.

You can spend it however you like but... 'you don't get any additional financial support' because this IS the additional financial support.

This is to pay for the extra or more expensive food, clothing, therapy etc etc, that he needs that a kid without his disabilities would not need.

Good luck taking that amount of money off a kid of his age now though - that's going to go down like a lead balloon I bet!

Personally I don’t think he needs that much money to spend on himself.

But I think people are being ridiculous if they think the money shouldn’t be spent on things he enjoys. Things like books, art supplies and Lego can be really calming and soothing activities. Even games can be too.

My DD has Autism. Playdoh really makes her happy. We go through lots and lots of playdoh. I see it as therapeutic for her. She likes lots of other things too, but Playdoh really is her fave.

My DS also has Autism. He loves his Nintendo Switch. It really is his pride and joy. If anything happened to that Switch I would use his DLA in a heartbeat to buy him a new one if I could, because it’s his comfort. No he doesn’t spend all of his time playing on it before anyone suggests that he does, but he likes to know it’s there. Replacing it so quickly might seem a bit indulgent to some people, but when you have a child with Autism who is attached to something you know how they will feel if that thing is suddenly gone.

LookingForPurpose you clearly don’t understand EBSA in DC with complex needs.

Oh my gosh, I would NOT be giving any 12 year old that kind of money to spend on themselves!
DS is 11 and gets middle rate care and low rate mobility.
It goes into the general housekeeping money and is used to benefit the whole family.
It has made it possible for me to home educate him, so he's benefiting that way.
And I recently needed to pay for a private Ed Psych Assesment. Saving for that sort of thing would not be possible without claiming absolutely everything I'm entitled to.
But in general I don't treat it as "DS's money".
I give both kids equal pocket money and put aside equal savings for them. But that's completely separate from the DLA.
I worked as a welfare rights advisor for many years and I would say most families just put it into general family finances.

I personally wouldn't do that. My son is the same age but suffers with compulsive behaviour and it would be gone in minutes. Like you I'm a lone parent but a non working carer. The money goes into the household pot. Son gets pocket money and I save some towards big ticket things. Otherwise it goes towards bills, the adult size clothes and shoes I have to buy him and food (compulsive eating). Ultimately you spend it on what you want but in wouldn't give that amount to a 12 year old on a monthly basis.

So he really IS spoiled then. From now on every single penny he gets would be tied to him going to school. Miss one single day because you don't want to go in? Your pocket money is ZERO.

I spend my DS’s DLA on private OT and private psychiatry.

Obviously you can spend DLA on whatever you want but its not really supposed be saved for a rainy day it's supposed to be for the added every day costs of having a disabled child

It may keep him occupied but at 700 a month your house must rival Legoland.

I've been very grateful this month that we've been able to save 3 years worth of DLA for a rainy day, as we have had to use it for private assessments and legal fees. I would encourage anyone to save it for such a rainy day (obviously if not required for day to day living) as you never know when you might need it.

That is a lot of money. Is he getting counselling/therapy to address his issues> Tutoring to make up for the school refusal? Quite apart from the day to day costs of looking after him, which this money could be going towards, it could be going towards expert help for him to manage his conditions longer-term. Seems bizarre to give that much money to a 12yo to spend on toys and games.

I find it hard to comprehend a child with such complex needs has any grasp of money .

if this is true how is this helping ?

my Ds ‘s Dla did pay for tutoring , activities , travel . additional sensory clothing , weighted blanket .

I literally don’t see how this benefits a child ..
if he is on higher rate mobility this is to support the child’s travel . I am not sure colouring in helps .

The DLA is for you to help with the additional costs of a child with disabilities. By all means give him some as pocket money but not all of it. When he gets PIP when he's 16 it will technically be his money (the DLA is your money) but even then you can use it to contribute towards fuel bills for example.

I know it's going to be difficult to change the situation but it's not HIS money.

Its also for children who.have severe mental impairment ,my son gets it for that but he's 13 severe autism/ learning disabilities, non verbal Cognitively around 2_or 3etc ,etc
I'm also wondering how the Op,s child met the criteria🤔

My sons DLA (medium band so £282 every 4 weeks), I put in a separate account and use it to buy anything he needs, replacing things that get lost or broken (he has ADHD so this happens a lot), and the money helps me pay for school trips etc that he wants to go on.