To think Katie Hopkins has officially lost the plot and special needs children do have genuine medical disorders

[Arnie123]

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/katie-hopkins/why-must-everything-be-a-medical-condition_b_3751096.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

I know she is just a gobby professional troll but this time she has gone way too far. So special needs don't exist and it is just crap parenting? Unbelievable

DLA has got nothing to do with whether you are in work. It is for things like paying for taxis TO work if you are unable to get there any other way, to get extra bedsheets if you regularly soil them, to purchase special cutlery, to get a hearing aid loop or a communication device, to get specialist cushions, to be able to buy gluten free lunches etc etc etc. and for parents to repair broken furniture from meltdowns.

It barely covers even a percentage of the costs of any of the above btw and the effort required to get it is beyond most people's boredom or effort capabilities. It is easier quite frankly if you can, to get overtime or some bar work.

It is so traumatic to claim, that despite having a moderate-severe child with ASD, when the higher rate plus carers allowance elapsed 2 years ago I have still not found the time nor energy to begin the laborious effort to reapply. If my ds can just NOT be autistic for a few days and give me the time, I'll get straight onto it. Though, as mentioned before, I might use that time instead earning substantially more.

Well we were wondering who reads her articles and shares her pov. This thread answers that. There have been a fair number of threads recently (one about fasting, I think) which demonstrate the same thing. Either these forums have been hiijacked by unpleasant DM readers/EDL etc. or MN is not what it used to be. For those who wonder why people affected by disabilities become isolated and marginalised and confined to distinct mental and physical spaces in the end, this is the reason.

As someone else says, I think she may have narcissism. So she wont care what people say, will carry on saying outrageous things, and also will carry on believing what she says too.

She turned down a part in a debate on Radio 2 about Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson because producers wanted her to defend Nigella. She wanted instead to defend Saatchi ("brilliant men do odd things").

Yawn, it is getting a bit boring now...

"Oh and they are on dla but still get called in randomly to access if they can go to work to see if their disability is improving at all."

No they don't, not for DLA - again, DLA is not an out of work benefit. Even if you doubt this because you've been told otherwise, think for a minute, how would children claim an out of work benefit?

"The rates of which children now have things like ADHD has risen drastically"

Things like? Which other developmental disorders are you lumping in there? Or do you just mean disabilities you can't see?

DLA IS NOT AN OUT OF WORK BENEFIT.

FFS where are MNHQ? Why on a thread with so much ignorant shite being spouted are thry not here and reminding the fuckwits about the campaign.

chatty, I don't know or care about who you know...they are NOT being called for a review of their DLA. DLA is awarded for a set time.....my son has a five year award and gets it because he is autistic. ...and he has ADHD too. I don't get "a free car" btw as he can walk....just in case you or anyone else has swallowed THAT particular load of bollocks.

I can work or not work but he still grts DLA....read and learn. You are confusing DLA with ESA where people DO have regular reviews.

ADHD is a crap condition for a child to live with...even worse when coupled with autism. But hey.....we must ALL be treated with suspicion.

I think that those who harbour suspicions about people having played the system and lucked out should apply for DLA and see what happens. If it's that easy to get it, why don't they get their act together and see how it goes. They can write the worst possible things about their children and even try and get prof evidence to back it up.

'ADHD is a crap condition for a child to live with...even worse when coupled with autism'

Though never as bad as when coupled also with ignorance!

I never said they got their dla reviewed! I said they are on dla when they really don't need to be and that in surprised that when they have their back to work meetings that they get told they don't need to go to work!

I never once said the meetings where about their claim for dla that is for other benefits they get

You are not even making sense now

Oh you are a doctor with access to their medical records are you?

Yawn

If thry are defrauding the system then report them...job done.

Was she ever making sense?

My friend gets DLA and ESA....she is able bodied but hasn't worked in over 10 years.

Nobody else except her closest friends and her doctors know she was regularly raped from the age of 9 by her step father and some of his drunken buddies.

Perhaps it's HER that you know eh chatty. Anyone whilo didnt know her coukd deem her a "scrounger" who could obviously be working.

They don't see the shivering wreck she becomes on an all too regular basis

Chatty do you have a child with SN ? Honestly people like you make me sick with your judgey comments . You talk so much crap . People like you really make me sick, would not even give you the time of day.

redbanks- how does that work when you cant get proffessionals to actually ASSESS your child in the first place!? no assessment-no proof.

that was/is my situation!! All that's happened is weve gone round and round in circles between school/hospital and camhs- who were no help and basically said yes we can see hes challenging, but youre managing him very well!!! now even to get an appt to see camhs apparently hes got to be suicidal, I joked, does it count if the parent is
Its a complete joke though, what children are they actually seeing because my child is what I consider extremely challenging?!? seems like in my area a child has to actually knife someone or something equally serious to get any help.
Support for those with children with SN or even suspected SN needs to be a lot better than it is now, most days I struggle to actually like my dc1 as he is so challenging, respite is like a breath of fresh air.

Jake MNHQ have no interest in our situation over and above their campaign.

They emailed me to confirm that mn is not a safe space for people with disability or their carers. Odious comments, lies and misinformation most welcome.

HTH.

tabulahrasa I know, chatty's statements are laughable because they are wrong, not 'mumsnet' wrong (e.g. without lentils lol) but actually wrong!

why feedthe troll that is kh

she is best ignorned

Some assessments do involve a tick sheet as the clinician decides whether to refer on to other specialists or tests- for example, ds4 is due an ADOS via CAMhs alongside the genetics, 3 years worth of Paediatrics and SLT delivered in six week batches with 2 month breaks since he was 3. I filled in a few tick sheets- such as CHAT- however the actual decision is absed on an MDT comprising ADOS tester, SLT, Psych, Paediatrician, SENCO, OT, PT and ourselves.

And DLA is such a pleasant experience to apply for that despite Paed telling us to and certainly needing the money for him, applying for our elder two has quite put me off (they have it but I hate the forms).
DS1 was reviewed at a year, 2 years and now at 13 has it until he is 16.5; DS2 has it until 16, he was awarded it whn he was 5.

DH works, I have a small business but have yet to be able to actually do anything due to the appointments and supervision required (a 13 year old that cannnot be unsupervised with his siblings) so I am entitled to carers. I have post grad education, carers is under £60 a week yet still people try and tell me I financially profit from the boys needs.

Like fuck do I!

ASD can be diagnosed by a paediatrician or clinical psych, I do know of a tertiary clinic where the Ed Psych can have a dx signed off bby a Psych but I also know her CV and how many specialist opinions are obtained before the child even reaches that level of assessment.

Forget attending parenting classes, I used to run a parenting group and support for a national charity before returning to university.

When people say rates of...... are rising I am intrigued; I know NAS studies show this, but they also showewd that many PCTs don't even bother keeping such stats (well they would have to offer help then.....).

And as for appointment 6 months away- well I know ds4 hs ASD; everyone does, from my Prof at University (specialist in field of ASD) to the SENCO to the geneticist and specialist ASD SLT. Even the Paed knows it and has said it but PCT policy is that he has to have an ADOS before she can label because of the family history and risk of copied behaviour (his behaviour in fact is incredibly different from sibs but I understand the rationale). I usually say 'he has special needs, probably ASD) but on occasion I have allowed him to wear his older sibling's grown out of autism alert teeshirt, say if we are at a theme park, so people understand. He has a statement and needs the same care as other ASD children, and I don't think a shirt printed with 'Sorry but my child has acknowledged special needs which mirror ASD and require the same input, whilst sharing a genetic profile with his 2 ASD siblings, however he does not have a diagnosis but if you could kindly accept that he lying on the floor crying because of this probable-ASD I would be grateful' would be as useful ;)

Sunshiemmum. She has no source of knowledge. She quite simply talks shit.

what was the point of this campaign again? The ignorance by some posters never fails to astound. It took 6 years to get an ADHD/Autism diagnosis for dd because she has cerebral palsy and experienced paediatricians confused her meltdowns for effects of her brain damage. Its not a diagnosis given out like sweeties. But now we can manage her condition with visual time plans and no sudden changes of routine and it helps.

The point of the campaign - and the upside of depressing threads like this one - is that wilful ignorance and determined prejudice still exist.

I aways find threads like this bizarrely useful as they illustrate the level of utter thickness we have to deal with.

some further facts about DLA:

it is not awarded on diagnosis but for the actual level of incapacity with aim of compensating for actual costs

if you are paralysed or have severe developmental delay you can get DLA even if the doctors have no idea what has caused your problems (= a diagnosis)

otoh having a diagnosis won't automatically entitle you to DLA if the assessors don't think your level of incapacity is sufficiently high

this makes good sense:

there are plenty of cases where it is obvious that somebody is paralysed/in severe pain/unable to understand ordinary instructions but the doctors can't give a diagnosis because medical knowledge simply hasn't got to the stage where we know what is causing it

and otoh the fact that two people have the same diagnosis doesn't mean they have the same level of incapacity: one person might be totally unable to cope without help and another might be able to lead a fairly normal life without help- it would be silly to give money to the person who doesn't need it or to deny it to the person who did