AIBU to seek a mandatory reconsideration of my son’s DLA award?

There is a strong correlation between coeliac disease and ADHD. My daughter paediatrician for coeliac said there is even some potential causation there - and we found this to be true - we were looking at a referral for ADHD before DD was diagnosed with coeliac, a year on and her attention, focus, inhibition control etc are so much better. But there is such a strong push against medicalising neurodivergence, as some ND advocates say its part of who they are, not a condition to be treated or 'cured', so he explained that exploring medical factors for ND has become a bit 'taboo'.

Thats why they have a decision maker who decides on the rates.

Why are you so intent on trying to somehow catch the op out? It’s just so indicative of the type of bullshit prejudice disabled people face every day at the moment. You’re probably the type of person who thinks that because I am entitled to a motability car that I shouldn’t use it for anything remotely related to any leisure activities and I should literally rot away at home rather than do anything to make my existence any better.

MR is always worth a try. It sounds like due to night needs, MRC sounds more suitable.

My son is 10 and gets HRM and HRC. He has an ECHP and is in mainstream. He has 2:1 support but for physical reasons. He is behind in Maths but just missed out on exceeding expectations in English by like 3 I think it was.

My son gets high rate for both two hes severley autstic with severe learning disabillties non verbal etc
But its not up to either you or me to judge what other kids are entitled to its down to the assesors.

Yep this is the situation for our son. He attends an independent school fully funded by the council. Each place costs £70k per year, per pupil. It is an autism specific specialist school but it is independent. Many children with ehcps get fully funded places at all kinds of independent schools.

Definitely worth a mandatory reconsideration as alot of decisions are changed.

Keep ALL evidence of costs eg receipts for his nappies/pull ups, cleaning wipes etc as they are very strong evidence.

They will question you on who provides the personal care at school. Is there a school nurse or something that changes him & cleans him up (sorry I don't know much about the private schools) or are you going in to do this.

Keep a record & evidence of every time the school call you in to collect him or change him.

It isn't quick. You are looking at a six month wait.

But if he is soiling throughout the day then it clearly isn’t enough is it?

This is so so ignorant. Are you aware that LOADS of private places are funded by the LA because they recognise that some children can’t access mainstream education. It doesn’t have to be a specialist school. It DOES have to meet the child’s needs. Some parents are luckily in a position to fund. But just because they can doesn’t mean they should. Every child has a right to a suitable education.

And DLA is deliberately not means tested because thankfully the state recognises the enormous financial weight that a disability brings.

It isn’t a pie. You don’t get a smaller slice.

This sounds very unusual. It is very obvious when a child has soiled themselves, even just a little, as they will smell of faeces. I have quite a lot of experience of such children. So if it does happen at school, they will be very aware.
Did school complete their part of the form? When I’ve done this as Senco, I’ve been able to include copies of the toileting records showing how frequently a child has been taken to the toilet, what support they've needed, how many soiling incidences have occurred during the school day and so on. This is very strong evidence that a child has high needs 24/7.
His school Senco needs to complete a Health Care Plan with the support of the paediatric encopresis team and he needs supporting in school to go to the toilet at set times. The daily use of laxatives will not encourage his bowels to start working naturally.

No. Just means that the money comes from another source and they’ll also have more information to help them get a better handle on his needs.

www.ipsea.org.uk/pages/category/education-health-and-care-plans

This is exactly it. There is a limit to resource and children and adults who are truly 100% reliant on others will miss out if claims from people who don’t need it financially continue to argue for more. It also forms part of the ‘if child A gets higher rate for everything and they can go to mainstream school then, then, then’
argument. And that’s a horrible state of affairs.

Private school is a massive luxury. OP is clearly not on benefits paying for it that way. She doesn’t need this extra money. And let’s not forget she’s trying to argue for more. She’s already been awarded some.

The money simply isn’t required as the OP can afford to pay for private school. It’s not like she can’t afford continence products for him or similar.

I don’t know enough to comment on chances of success but I think there is no harm in asking for mandatory reconsideration. It might be worth going to a CAB or university law clinic to get some basic advice. Even if rejected on MC, you can appeal and success rates are in the region of 75%.

It might not be. If you lawyer up and go via IPSEA or SOSSEN in the first instance, and keep your focus on his need for continuity of placement then it might go straight through. I’ve just done my Nephew’s and it was eye wateringly expensive placement wise but the LA didn’t have a viable alternative so he got it. <preen>

The other thing about EHCP is that if the school he’s at is the only one which can meet his needs (eg high level of support, small classes etc) and you get it named in section I of his EHCP, the LA must cover the costs.

I realise this will make some posters burst into flames!

I wish posts could be filtered by 'legally correct'.

@Newyeargymwanker I'm sorry you have a tough time. You must realise, though, that within each band of DLA there is a range from 'just meets the criteria' and 'just misses the higher activity.' I don't know you at all, so I don't want to be insensitive, but as an example, someone who is completely immobile, with a tracheostomy for breathing, requiring suction every 15 minutes, a peg tube for feeding, a drug regime that takes hours, twice daily physiotherapy, etc., will still only get high rate care. They won't get a top up payment because they have higher needs than the non-verbal but otherwise healthy child in need of constant supervision because they have no sense of danger.

I guess what I'm saying is that @Blinmey asked a question about whether her child had been awarded the correct DLA rates, not whether you think it's fair that a child who is verbal and goes to a private school qualifies for DLA.