Disabililty Living Allowance

[yesreally]

Have namechanged for this.

A friends daughter (aged 8) has been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Obviously they have had to make some changes in their lifestyle, but she is still going to school, after school activities, sleepovers etc.
The child is to receive £200 a month in DLA.
I'm shocked. Not at them for claiming it, as they were advised to by the diabetes nurse, but by the system.
There are cancer patients who cannot get the drugs they need to stay alive due to funding issues.
Am I alone in thinking this is strange?

yesreally - the DLA is not awarded to a household with an income of £65000, it is awarded to the child with the care needs

I'm sure they'd happily swap the £200 odd a month for their daughter not having a long term medical condition needing constant treatment and monitoring.

YABU, insensitive and ignorant. As are the people who think DLA is easy to get.

Silverfrog, I don't know, it's tricky.

Obviously you have a lot of extra expenses such as school fees etc.
That should all be taken into consideration of course.

The lifestyle changes that they have made include not having so many sweet things around the house, and having to remember to take insulin/hypo box with them wherever they go. They haven't had any financial outlay. my friend doesn't work, so she is able to be 'on call' if you like, in case of emergency.

Everthing has to change including holiday plans/cost which impacts on the whole family.

yesreally, means-testing is a valid and completely different question from this particular family's care or mobility needs.

Means-testing of universal benefits is a possibility, and encompasses Child Benefit, Winter Fuel Allowance, State Pensions, etc.

There are strong arguments against means-testing (discouraging the vulnerable, little saved due to massively increased admin costs, etc). Whilst working I was always happy for these to be universal benefits, even tho it meant my miserly income was taxed to subsidise Baroness Thatcher's Winter Fuel Allowance, Ivan Cameron's DLA and Brooklyn Beckham's Child Benefit. Because it meant Granny Smith, neighbour with MS and the hairdresser's children got them too.

But if she did work? I'm unable to as a carer and instead of £500 per week I get just over £50.

Birdsgottafly, why has everything got to change? My friends are insistent that nothing has changed. They don't want to her to be different or singled out.

yabu
what is it with people starting threads in aubu about DLA, so you are jealous, Your "friends" dd will only get it cos she is entitled to it.

Jux good post

Why do people think I am jealous?

What a strange thing to say.

yes, but I didn't work when dd1 was born, and had no plans to while my children were young (ie preschool years)

as it turns out, I can now not return to work at all, in all probability. you have no idea how this has changed events for the rest of their lives.

as Birds said: everything changes now. more planning, more detail, more time spent going through stuff. more time spent on personal care. less timeto just live life as they used to.

more expense, with diabetic products, and with potential medical care. more expense, potentially with childcare, should it ever be needed, as their dd needs a higher amount of individual care. more expense with routine medical appointments - parking at the hospital, etc.

under any means testing, we woudl not have had our school and legal expenses taken into consideration (the LA was contesting the fact that dd1 needed that type of schooling, therefore it woudl have been seen as us choosing a private school over the state option).

but this does not get around the fact that it would be awarded for dd1, who has no means anyway.

Op would it be fair to only award it to mothers who work, though?

The long term impact on the family in not yet known.

Benefits such as these have been created after research has shown the impact on all aspects of life that having a disability has.

I have asked what level would you means test at? and do you accept that the child is entitled in their own right as a long term disabled person?

you sound it, you seem to not have a clue what dla is, yet have posted a nasty thread about a friend, glad your not my friend, dread to think what you would say about my dd getting the HR.

"My friends are insistent that nothing has changed. They don't want to her to be different or singled out."

Erm, yesreally, I think they mean socially.

Even you are not so daft as to imagine that they will not change her diet, routine, medical kit...

Thank you everyone who has answered my question, you have been extremely helpful.

I think that based on this information the OP has insufficent knowledge to question the level of DLA.

However, I think that as intended use of the DLA is so broad and varied(obviously as everyone's needs are different) it can be difficult for people with limited knowledge of disability to see why it is awarded it certain cases. The obvious resolution to this would be to stop being so nosy. You can never know the ins and outs of another's life.

I do agree that some aspects of the benefit system needs to be looked at but IMO the recipiants of DLA are in no way a priority or cause for concern.

Op your friends can insist on what they want, which is the common reaction to a diagnosis but their DD now has a medical condition which changes things wether they like it or not.

This makes a difference in all things, why do you think that it wouldn't?

"ThisIsANiceCage if someone were to post the DLA form in its entirety the MN servers would crash."

And I didn't even type the whole intro and guide, which are separate booklets totalling 14 pages.

this week, my 12yr old DD is 'normal' because of her DLA. shes been to town like all other kids, bought a bag of chips, sweets etc. had a look round shops, all with a friend. the reality is, her friend is nearly 3yrs younger than her, and doing things normal for the 10yr olds here. the 12/13yr olds my DD knows, will be at the cinema, or the next town looking at clothes and makeup. They will have got on the bus and will have been fine if they lost one another, not having a major panic. My girl is loving it. having the bit of independance, so that in a few yrs time, she too may be able to venture to the cinema with girls her age. I've used her DLA so that she can go to the shops, and learn how to buy stuff. so that she can treat her friend to a drink or a bag of chips

I think it is understandable to be confused.

As a society, we have a cultural understanding of 'in a wheelchair=disabled'. Even our bluebadges carry the symbol of a wheelchair.

DD1 gets HRC and HRM for DLA. She is 5.7 and goes to special school. Our whole family is affected by her disability.

I suppose a lot of it depends on the type of disability.

I have just looked at a diabetes forum, and most of the users (ie people with type 1 diabetes) do not class it as a disability.

Of course it can cause problems if not controlled etc, it is a life threatening serious illness, such as severe asthma (of which I have experience) or sickle-cell anaemia.

YABU

2shoes, can you show me where I have been nasty about my friend?

yesreally why are you so bothered, do you really begrudge a child that extra money, money that will make a difference for her.
are you a doctor? as you seem to have decided how affected she is.

yesreally sorry x posted, by pretty much saying they are commiting fraud