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?

it doesn't depend on the type of disabiltiy - that is the hwole point. it depends on the level of care needed. that is all (well, obviously different criteria between physical/mental disabilitis, but you ge tmy point)

I don't see us as a disabled family. we are a family who gets on as best we can with out lives, and we have worked out ways to do most things, luckily for us. we do pretty much the same stuff we did before dd1's dx. sometimes we do it in a different way, sometimes we don't do it as often, sometimes we need extra help to do it.

but overall, I would say we are not a disabled family. which is pretty stupid really - dd1 is severely disabled, attends a specialised SN school, and is unlikely to ever live independently.

but we get by.

my point is that people on the inside of these situations are often to be found saying "what me? no, I'm not disabled, thanks. there are plenty of people who have it worse. no, no, don't worry, we manage fine" etc. until, of course, the shit hits the fan, and it all starts coming unravelled - whether due to increasing need, or running out of the ability to cope.

OP, how lovely for your friends if they genuinely have no extra costs due to their DDs illness and they are wealthy enough to never need the extra money. If that is the case you should suggest they save it for when she's older so that if her illness becomes worse and her costs spiral, it is there for her. The money is for her afterall.

The DM readers on this thread can piss off. I spent years working with adults with disabilities, I was a researcher on a nationwide project to gather information on people's experiences of leading their lives with their disability. The issue that came up more than any other was benefits. The forms are too complicated, people with SN/MH issues really struggle to fill them out and often don't know how/where to get help to do it. People don't know what they're entitled to because they aren't informed, people are worried about the stigma attached to receiving benefits and a million other reasons.

DLA has the lowest fraud rate, it is the hardest benefit to access, people like you just make it worse.

My son and my sister both receive DLA, I usually deal with the paperwork for my sister as she cannot do it herself and she gets really stressed when it's time for renewal. Fwiw, my sister has a job, her DLA pays for taxis there and back as she has very little sight and mild SN which means public transport isn't an option. There isn't much money left over after that for anything else she needs.

OP under the Disability Discrimination Act, it is a disability. The personal decision taken to not consider themselves on the website, disabled is different and empowering for them.

Issues such as pregnancy etc doesn't apply to everyone, it is personal, you cannot lump all disabled people together, they are individuals.

Daily, i don't consider myself disabled by my health condition, but my lifestyle has had to change and is more expensive because of it, i am not entitled to DLA, i never claimed it when i was ill enough to qualify. However i have to state it on every job application, for travel purposes, insurance etc, so it is there wether i like it or not.

The criteria for the DDA are decisions taken by the EU not just the UK, so changing the law isn't easy, anyway.

What exactly do you want to change?

I'm autistic and have fibromyaligia. I'm pretty much housebound. I have a blue badge for when I do go out and have to use a walking frame. I have a council paid home help and a council paid gardener. I see a physio twice a week plus vaious other hospital appointments. Take so many medicines, I'd rattle if you picked me up and shook me. And I haven't worked in nearly 8 years. I still find it difficult to think of myself as disabled.

"I don't have a problem with them claiming it, I probably would in their situation (we are not as well off as them!)."

Bit of the green eyled moster me thinks. Are you really jealous of them claiming money for their DD? Would you really like to be in their situation? having to monitor what food she is/isn't eating, when she is older making sure she isn't drinking alcohol, checking blood sugar levels all the time, having to inject her causing pain........really?

DLA is not a scroungers benefit, it is paid to people with a disability which stops/hinders them from doing every day things that other people their age can do.

So the people on the forum dont class themselves as disabled. Not everyone wants to be labelled as such. Doesnt mean they are not disabled by their condition.

Many Deaf people reject the label 'Disabled'. Do you think that having no hearing has no impact on their lives?

I do not understand your concerns TBH. The more you write about your 'friends' the more you seem to be admitting that actually this has a great impact on their lives.

As others have said, over and over it takes a lot more than signing a couple of forms to get DLA.

My DD got mid rate care when she had terminal cancer. That is how easy it is. When she was initally dx they only awarded it for 18 mths even though the treatment was to be for at least two years. We had to reapply at the very worst time of our lives. Do you think we would have bothered if we didnt need it?

This young girl getting DLA is not going to stop someone getting life saving cancer treatment. I find it very offensive when people appropriate cancer in order to prove some spurious point.

Why are people so obessesed with DLA? What is it about DLA that gets people so riled up? Imagining all sorts as they stare out at so-called disabled people who always seem to be 'running about' and driving 'brand new cars' and 'looking fine to me'

Says a lot about our society

I really think that suggesting that DLA should be meanstested is totally cr*p. You have to accept that some people will achieve more than others financially, and you need to leave an incentive - what's the point in earning more (and putting in the hours/ taking on the responsibility etc) if you are always going to have the top shaved off to even everyone up?

Surely the point of DLA is to avoid a disability totally eating into your income, and surely we should accept that not everybody on 65K is mortgage and debt free?

DH is HR tax payer, but I gave up a really good job to look after one of the ds several years ago - we have debts, a massive mortgage etc etc, and I don't think you should take a risk with disability that just because from the outside someone looks wealthy, they aren't struggling behind closed doors.

BTW DLA for diabetes? Absolutely.

yabu. consultants at the hospital usually have to sign the DLA forms off, the DWP demands (and gets) detailed evidence, DLA is not awarded lightly.

i do wish people weren't allowed to name change to start stirring threads

Or at least answer the questions put to them and not be so selective.

What a Twattish thread to start

Unless you've seen the forms and been through the application process YABVU. It's not something rhey just hand out to anyone.

www.guardian.co.uk/profile/ameliagentleman

YABVVVVU

The hyper-vigilance required is tiring though, the constant need to observe and be aware of the child; too pale, too quiet, too noisy, too thirsty, too distracted...
Not a financial impact, but it does prevent you from concentrating on other things properly, or having to reschedule activities that need your undivided attention.

They get it because DC requires more care than a healthy child of the same age. A lot of the things they do are routine, but it is still something that takes time and they would not need to do if DC did not have diabetes. Also if they didn't do these extra things (monitoring bloods etc) DC could die.

YABU.

As others have said, the DLA forms are enormous and take ages to fill in. The last one I did took several weeks to work through. You also need lots of evidence to back up what you write. The picture you paint of a reluctant family being badgered into sitting there for hours while a nurse fills it all in and hands it over to sign just doesn't ring true.

The only way the system needs to change is to make it easier to apply, not harder.

MrsD
^Why are people so obessesed with DLA? What is it about DLA that gets people so riled up? Imagining all sorts as they stare out at so-called disabled people who always seem to be 'running about' and driving 'brand new cars' and 'looking fine to me'

Says a lot about our society^

You summed it up I think, its because people think disabled can only mean wheelchair bound.

Well best of luck to those people that they or their families never have to face any of the numerous other disabilities that they seem to think arent really disabilities eh....

Thanks for link, aliceliddell, I've now bookmarked that.

YABVU

Perhaps, like my brother, she will be dead by 34 and not cost the country anything.

ihave

So sorry.

Should clairfy, he had type 1 and died after falling into a coma, after losing his sight.

My son has autism and we claim DLA for him, he has a special diet and needs extra therapies. I would happily pay the governnemt £200 per month if they could 'cure' him.

Get off your high horse, get some compassion and keep your nose out of other people's bloody business.

Thank you MrsDeVere.
People think that diabetes is a simple thing, that it can be easily fixed. they have no idea.

i think that is the think DLA is not a cure, it helps people to live a "normal"life, being disabled is bloody expensive