AIBU to just want to shout “ other disabilities exist “

[winterplease21]

it seems that everywhere at the moment including newspapers, forums , government are trying to cause debates surrounding the cost of disability to our country. This could be welfare costs, educations costs etc etc

every single one of theee debates turns in to only about those with ADHD and Autism.

the constant comments “ everyone wants a disabled child, they are all teaching eachother to get diagnosis’s “
I don’t have an opinion on this but don’t people realise that not all EHCP granted are for adhd / autism and as quoted the 1 in 10 secondary school children on disability benefits are not all autism and ADHD and there is a lot of other reasons why children may need extra funding at school and disability benefits.

every disability debate I’ve seen just turns on to those with her are nuerodivergent.
im not saying they they are not important but to those harping on how there is too many disabled people like sorry we can’t exactly reverse a brain injury, heart disease and organ failure 😩

Yes but these parents think it will!! The school supports them to train their kids then they go away on holidays etc and come back in nappies! These are NOT struggling parents there is a difference

You don’t know that!

It won’t be cut from those with clear issues though. It’s the grey autistic spectrum/ADHD areas that will be looked at.

Our local primary now has almost 30% of students with SEND. Or does it? That’s the question.

Many of those kids will be having focused catch up interventions such as phonics and maths without any diagnosis of anything.

I do!! These parents OPENLY talk about it and ask said teacher friends to put in the DLA forms about their difficulties…. Said teacher friends put in exactly what they see in class which is usually (not always) healthy happy engaged children!!
stop looking for a fight when you KNOW FINE these people exist

I absolutely do not, any more than you do. Your “teacher friends” are being highly unprofessional to discuss details of SEND children with you. I don’t know any teachers who would do that .

You’re correct that many have no formal diagnoses, but a lot are ‘suspected’ XYZ, and ‘need’ and receive far more than catch up phonics classes! It puts huge pressure on school resources.

My guess is that the percentage of people with other disabilities is pretty constant so ASD and ADHD get a lot of flak for bucking that trend.

There’s always a “trendy” disability to beat with a stick. Before neurodiversity we had BPD as well as “bad backs” apparently being the gateway to cheating the system.

There are influencers on social media who advise on the topic of cheating the system. People like this help give the impression that fraud is rising and it’s easy to do. (Not my opinion btw) People who fall for that need to consider who benefits from this dead cat on the table situation. It’s like this meme but disabled people being used as the excuse why public spending is out of control.

This does happen but it doesn't mean the child will get an award every day on the DLA Facebook group I'm on I see people putting in claims for very tenuous reasons and then complaining when they get nowhere with it .

People always say it won't be cut from those of us with genuine issues. I know blind people who've had their pip taken away and they've had to appeal it

I had to get mine looked at again. I was one of the "lucky" ones who got an award after getting it looked at again

I'm due to be assessed again soon. Dreading it

Comfortfoodcafe - My second child gets DLA for type one diabetes which a very expensive disease to mantain

Why is it expensive - CGMs, syinges, needles, insuling BM sticks are all on prescription and free - all checks are free and food should just be healthy variety with less refined sugars and carbs.

If yout think having glucose tablets to hand is expensive then there is someting seriously wrong - sorry DLA for type 1 diabetes is mad.

It doesn’t matter what they try, it matters what they are awarded. The DWP has confirmed where is little to no fraud in disability benefits. This is largely the case because it is VERY difficult to get disability benefits.

Your second “friend” sounds a lot like my sister (other than the ridiculous notion of being proud to their disability)

She is 53. She has run her own business for decades, it is very successful, she is sociable, articulate etc etc. You would never know that her personal life and mental health at times are a dumpster fire. She has been in counselling to try to find her way, spent £££ on life coaching etc but still she couldn’t work out what the fuck was going on. Her son clearly has ADHD and has been receiving support for it since he was in school. Finally the penny dropped for her and she realised she was also living with many of the same issue as her son. She had a private assessment and lo and behold, she now has an ADHD diagnosis. She is trialling medication which is actually making a huge difference to her life.

Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. I’m sure you don’t expect people to tell you every single problem they face in their life?

How do parents of a child who has no diagnosed condition (nothing wrong with them) and clear alternative explanations for behaviour issues effect the claims of parents with children with diagnosed conditions with clear functional issues or awaiting diagnosis with clear functional issues for disability benefits? DWP would dismiss the claim outright. No delay. Reclaim and submit evidence.

You do realise that parents with diagnoses and reams of evidence have to go to tribunal to get justice but you seem to believe that somehow DC with no diagnosis but bad parents are getting benefits and ‘free’ cars because of acne!

Do you think that is true or bullshit?

Maybe mumsnet should have a new campaign to show how women have advocated for their disabled children’s rights at school, with the LA, tribunal, judicial review etc.

Even if it was true that “loads of people want a disabled child”, there would be a systemic issue behind it that needed looking into.

Interventions are allocated to need. You don’t need a diagnosis or to be waiting for a diagnosis to have an SEN need and many don’t.

Just because they don't have a diagnosis doesn't mean there's nothing wrong with them

There's a lot of evidence that I have another diagnosis but no one who has seen me can give my diagnosis a name. They can just tell me what it isn't

I've been told I may never get a diagnosis. My needs are just as valid

DS2 was on the diagnostic pathway from age 3 when he was referred to SLCN team. It took many years before he ASD and ADHD diagnoses. But DWP had reports from EP, SALT, OT, school, ADHD specialist nurse etc before official diagnosis.

I have two dc one aged 30 ( ASD) and one aged 20 ( ASD &ADHD) and i am embarrassed to tell people of their diagnosis because i know exactly what they are thinking! When dc 30 was diagnosed age 10 i had never heard of ASD and there was one other child in his whole school with the diagnosis. Now days it seems like every other child has been diagnosed with either ASD or ADHD. I don’t doubt there are many very genuine cases but i also don’t doubt that there are some very badly parented children whose parents know exactly what to say. Also I have actually heard parents at my younger childs school telling others exactly what you need to tell the school/ Doctors/DWP word for word!

No, I agree with you. The difficulty is resourcing. Without a diagnosis and an EHCP, there’s no funding for the interventions.
That is a major problem.

Dla goes of extra care above and beyond a child of a similar age ,I wouldn't expect a very young child to be able to manage their diabetes themselves and even older children might need support
My son was diagnosed at 16 but he's able to manage it himself and wouldn't be eligible for PIP.

They clog up the system and waste everyone's time ,honestly I have seen loads of people on the DLA Facebook group I'm on. Putting in claims for the most ridiculous of things ,they don't get anywhere with their claims but the claims still have to be assessed.

x2boys - so we pay parents to look after their children. They needed a little more attention but not huge amounts.
Most children are on pumps now adays - setting it up takes 10 -15 mins max every 5-7 days.
If on injections - most children are taught to inject themselves by age 7 and checking they have the correct dose is a few seconds.
CGM on your phone - really

This is the govt compensating people for a no fault diagnosis -and we wonder why this country is broke.