Facebook DLA group feels uncomfortable

Thankfully, even the courts are more enlightened than you. Since the risk of harm element was tested in the UT.

@BrightYellowTrain And sometimes people who can make the journey as long as nothing goes wrong can still be assessed as meeting the criteria. And sometimes people can qualify because of the risk of harm which doesn’t always have to be present for more than 50% of the time.

That is exactly why the system needs overhauling. Being able to claim higher rate PIP because of the above is nuts.

Facebook group that has close to 150k people in it
That's enough to tell me it's likely to be a poor quality group on any topic.

If you want high quality help and support you need to avoid big groups, avoid public groups, avoid poorly moderated groups.

Anyone who knows how to google can know how the points system works. You also need evidence.

And sometimes people who can make the journey as long as nothing goes wrong can still be assessed as meeting the criteria. And sometimes people can qualify because of the risk of harm which doesn’t always have to be present for more than 50% of the time.

Yes they can say the child appears tired but that doesn't really prove anything and it could also be prompted by the parents saying they haven't slept. They're are lots of reasons why a child may appear tired and they're are lots of ways a child who is tired might express this. It is all very subjective.

Again you would still need evidence to back it up.

Some of the replies on this thread highlight why some people in receipt of this help should keep it to themselves. Some people on the outside will have little knowledge about the day to day difficulties, but assume that they know everything, and then judge.

@BrightYellowTrain Given that the claimant in question was able to make bus and train journeys unaided and unaccompanied, I am highly suspicious of what was written on the forms to enable higher rate mobility to be claimed. Like I said, the mother knows how the points system works.

The oldest now has PIP, a mobility car and likely a disabled badge, because one thing opens the door to the next and the next.

If you are in England, the enhanced mobility component doesn’t always mean someone is automatically eligible for a blue badge. 12 points on the planning and following a journey activity doesn’t entitle someone to a blue badge.

They may apply and be assessed for a blue badge. That isn’t related to PIP and anyone can apply and be assessed.

To be eligible for a motability care you must be in receipt of enhanced mobility. The vast majority of those with ASD who qualify for enhanced mobility are eligible via having 12 points on the planning and following a journey activity. That means someone (or their appointee) has proven they “Cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid.”

Just because you can’t see someone’s difficulties doesn’t mean they don’t exist. In order to receive an ASD diagnosis one must have difficulties that limit and impair everyday functioning.

They will, I would have thought, look at the what the claimant wrote on the form, and look at the medical evidence that they have provided, and that would build an overall picture if what the claimant is saying, is likely to affect them, in the way that they are saying it does. I am not saying that they do not get it wrong. I absolutely think that they do, there have been many a thread on this very topic. To suggest that they just go on what people say, and nothing else, is not true imo.

Unless you live with them every day, with respect I highly doubt you know daily needs and support in every aspect for that child/person.

Unless you work for the DLA you do not need to assess the validity of anyone else’s claim. You can rest easy in the knowledge that people aren’t jumping into Scrooge McDuck style swimming pools of cash at the expense of the DLA. People are allowed to ask questions on a support group, even if you think the answers are obvious.

@LostTheMarble with respect, your experience is nothing like the family I referenced.

Sometimes school can back this up if the child frequently appears tired during the day.

Some things are difficult to get professional confirmation of though. For instance the difference between mrc and hrc is night time needs, so it is only the parents who actually see this and whilst a paediatrician may prescribe melatonin, they still have to go on what the parents say about how they are through the night.

You have no idea what the needs of the other child is. This family reads like mine - from the outside it looks like I have one very high needs child and another (whilst still autistic) doesn’t have the global/learning disabilities aspect. Both have high rate DLA, because of their evidenced needs. Not because I know ‘how to fill out the form’. People don’t see the issues at school, the years of difficulties with not sleeping despite being on melatonin, the inability to manage basic skills that a child of that age is managing well. Yes my child can talk to you but still needs full help with going to the toilet and bathing themselves. You do not fill out the form based on ‘bad days’, you write about what you/the school have to do to help them every day so they can just about manage the same as other children do without much thought.

Because some children with an IQ above 55 (what was before case law changed it traditionally seen as the cut off for ‘severe impairment of intelligence’) cannot apply their intelligence in the real world so are still considered to have a severe impairment of intelligence. So, as long as they meet the other elements required for SMI they can still be eligible for HRM under the SMI criteria.

Many have to appeal regardless of their IQ.

It doesn't matter how well the mother has worded the application form you still professional evidence backing it up.

@BrightYellowTrain , I will be honest I’ve always been confused by people have been awarded hrm under smi for average intelligence, because I know families that have had to go to tribunal, when there child has profound learning disabilities. I really don’t understand how the decisions are made .

OP, your instinct is probably right. There are people who know how to game the system and so they do. In my own family, there are 2 autistic children. One, with their high level of needs, deserves everything they are awarded. The other, in the same family unit, is a world away. But the mother is the same and because of the very high needs child knows how to fill in the forms. So they both get awarded everything. The oldest now has PIP, a mobility car and likely a disabled badge, because one thing opens the door to the next and the next. It's bullshit. The system needs a massive overhaul. People are 'encouraged' by the community to fill in the forms thinking about their 'bad days' but if bad days only happen once every few weeks, it's not a truthful assessment. This government will do something about it and it will be draconian because the pendulum has swung too far in the entitlement direction, so genuine claimants are about to find life getting harder, which is very unfair.

I know the group you are talking about. You do get people posting who don't understand the level of need required to get DLA (the highest rates in particular ) but they are put right by the vast majority of posters.

I joined a DLA Facebook group that has close to 150k people in it.

Post a link. We can check it out then.

It doesn't just go on what people say. They do make ridiculous assumptions even with evidence.

Sure.

No it isn't you're right.

But some of the main PIP conditions that PIP claims are awarded for, are conditions which 100% rely on the narrative of the person when judging functional disability.

They can provide evidence of a diagnosis, they can't provide evidence of functional disability so it goes on what the person says.