DLA Payments

The money should be used for things like therapy, travelling costs medical appointments, special dietary requirements that you have as a result of illness etc and hobbies that enable them to move forward with their illness. All of your sons conditions are improved by or can be improved, even cured, by well researched therapy and treatment. The sort of therapy etc that the NHS doesn't cover. THAT is what the money is for. Not pocket money

I also wouldn’t use the DLA as pocket money. It is for the additional costs associated with DS’s disability. You aren’t helping DS by allowing him access to that amount of money.

My DC get pocket money and the DLA goes into the household pot.

Have you checked whether you are eligible for UC? When there is a severely disabled child the maximum people can earn is often higher than many realise.

"I don’t get any additional financial support."

You receive nearly £700 a month of benefits - Your choice to spend it on lego and computer games.

I have to admit that there would be no way the entire DLA payment would be given to my son as pocket money.

Some goes in his GoHenry account, most of it goes on things he needs like incontinence products, clothes, specialist shoes, taxis, sensory toys etc. And then the rest goes in the family pot to cover specific foods and the extra we use in water and gas/electric.

Obviously it's up to you how it gets spent, but I personally don't think this is the best use of the money.

Mine receive dla and that wouldn't be the arrangement in our house.

It is used to cover their extra costs. Yes, it goes on goodies like our merlin passes but we manage their money.

I would definitely be using some of it to pay for some high quality therapy.

I haven’t read the answers but you can spend it on whatever you like. I receive it for my child and they don’t have access to it. It pays for the extra bits they need each month and there is a bit extra left which I give as pocket money to all 3 of mine. (I believe they all need extra treats with what they all put up with due to the one child’s extra needs)

I think you are very naive in allowing him to spend all of this money on Lego etc. It is to cover all additional costs arising from his disability, why are you funding the extras out of your pocket?
Allowing him so much "fun money" isn't teaching him to manage money either.

My sons DLA gets added to the pot and all his needs are met.

690 a month (or most of the money) goes on toys 😳
This is not what disability benefits are for, yes, to benefit the disabled child but surely 690 a month to spend on what he likes is just going to make his future really hard to come to with when he cant buy "nice" things every month

I would save whatever you don’t need and give him some cash for treats. I don’t trust governments not to make cuts in the future so I would save as much for him as you possibly can now.

This is bonkers!!

A 12 year does not need that amount of money!

Use it for the additional cost of his disabilities e.g. extra food, household costs and for goodness sake use it for some specialist counselling so he can improve and not suffer for the rest of his life

There is no way I would be giving a 12 year £690. I might give him £100 at most.

The spa is there for him but covers costs etc. I have a family member with a child in receipt of dla. Some if it is used to cover costs some used by the child for whatever. In this case is they are doos restricted then use some of it for that. If they were an adult the money would have to bused to cover costs

Is this a wind up?

That would be £182 a week!

surely it would be better spent on therapy than on Lego?

Dla is for his disability, so food if he's fussy, bedding, clothes, sensory items etc etc.

Not to go on toys.

I wouldn't allow this. It should be for his benefit and the extra clothing, bedding, etc., should come first without putting you in financial distress. He doesn't need to spend £600 per month on toys.

Totally your choice how you spend it - my child’s DLA goes into normal household account, but I make sure all her extra needs and costs are met. Only slight possible issue could be how you manage their expectations in the future? As when an adult, your child might not be able to afford that much money for ‘nice’ things, when they are in supported accommodation, living independently etc the DLA/PIP might be needed for bills and it could be upsetting having to adjust to this?

I use my son’s DLA for things like his swimming lessons and football training, along with any additional items he needs to support him. I put some in savings for him and give him a small amount of weekly pocket money. The rest I set aside and helps towards taking him for days out in the summer holidays etc. I also don’t have much disposable income and we have discussed the possibility of him having an iPad or something similar for homework and to play games on so will use his DLA to go towards that. He is 10 years old so I don’t think he should receive all of that money to spend on what he wants - he would buy a lottttt of crap 😂

You can choose how best to spend that money. It’s for the benefit of your DS. If Lego, games, art supplies and books soothe him and make him happy then what has that got to do with anyone else? It’s benefitting him which is what the money is for!

My son receives DLA (both care and mobility) and it goes towards food, bills, his swimming lessons, clothes. Basically it just goes in to the pot with other household income and it makes it easier to afford these things that all benefit him. And yes sometimes I will spend his money on things like toys, an ice cream, a trip to the play centre, a game etc.. I never ring fence his DLA for anything truly specific. It just pays for stuff. Sometimes stuff that people think it shouldn’t be spent on but it’s not up to them how I choose for DS’s life to be made easier by it.

For DD most of her DLA is used for home schooling because she can't cope in main stream school and doesn't meet criteria for special school.
Without her DLA we couldn't afford to home school.

For Ds his DLA is mainly used on things that help him and replacing clothes and toys he's bitten.

We get DLA for our youngest son who has autism and learning difficulties. We spend it on extra tutor sessions for him.
I personally wouldn’t give him the money to spend as he’d waste it and I thought the whole purpose was to benefit the child.
If your son requires certain foods that are more expensive then use his DLA for that.

When my son was younger it simply went into the household pot... anything he needed came first, but the rest was just used on food, life etc!

Now he's older the same applies really (Has autism, OCD not that's relevant) His needs come first.. he eats his clothes so they have to replaced every few months, and his biggest interest is musicals so it pays for tickets (I can often go free as carer as he can't go by himself) .
The rest is either saved or used... for example we are going on a long haul holiday next year and his contribution is from his PIP. Other times, yes it goes towards household bills, because if he were able to live away from home (he would need supported living) he would have to pay heck of a lot more in rent!
I might add that he understands and agrees with this!

it has never been spent on anything that doesn't benefit him, but actually, it's ok to use it for things that benefit him but don't just give him fun... if you are struggling with bills, keeping a warm house in perfectly reasonable!

If he has good understanding I would suggest talking to him and setting aside a reasonable amount for lego or whatever, and saving some, with a small contribution towards his food/bills.

As I suck up DC3's expenses as and when I tend to put her DLA in the family money pot. It's more work for me to calculate exactly what are her expenses but it roughly evens up (private therapy / travel costs are regular but other things are more ad hoc)

My daughter's just goes into the family pot. I don't keep track of what £s are spent specifically on her or which ones are spent on general household stuff or which £s are - shock horror - spent on me or my husband.
We have one pot - husbands wages, the DLA, carers allowance and child benefit are all just added together.