What do people actually expect DLA to be spent on??

[Whoknowshey]

This comes off a thread I read recently where a poster was being criticised for spending DLA on a fridge .

Im curious as to what people think DLA / PIP should be spent on ? Due to various circumstances I am aware of what people spend it on and I also have a child in receipt PIP so I know how theirs gets spent . Some differs to how my child’s is spent. Some I agree with , some I don’t but the fact is it’s for the individuals needs and that varies massively. Especially with non physical disabilities it would be hard to spend it on things directly related to their needs but there are many ways in which it affects their lives that it can help with .

Some I have came across;

• theme park passes- the child cannot do what others can , going out with friends etc . The passes give the opportunity to enjoy childhood safely.
• Toys/ things for hyperfocuses - a hyper focus is a form of regulation . To some it may look like an obsession with a character but it’s actually a way for the individual to regulate.
• Towards the family income because parents cannot work.
• Furniture - lots can get destroyed due to the individuals issues.
• Save it towards the child’s future . The child may not ever be able to get a job and adult social care is appalling .

I think all those things are justified . But I have seen comments against that.

My child has PIP as a young adult. They have a part of the money as theirs to do with what they wish ( which can be wasted hence why they do not have it all and I am their appointee - but also they have no way of having extra money as cannot work nor claim any benefits , have to stay in education to hold on to that EHCP and to help with their life skills etc ) A part goes into the house because I care for them financially as though they are a child - yet usually parents do not have to do this with an adult child. They know exactly what they are paying for with this - rent, shopping etc, social groups. It doesn’t really touch what I spend on them as the majority actually goes on a mobility car , because they have to be taken to most places . This way they are paying bills etc as they see it - an itemised of what they pay - because I know if they go in to supported living it will be eaten up by that and I don’t want them to get used to just having all that money, I think the way I do it is justified as it is for their needs ( food aversions so more expensive shop , get through clothes very quickly due to sensory issues , hyper focuses , social groups specific to their needs ) .

A bit fed up of seeing people attacked because someone doesn’t deem what they spend as “ for their needs “ yet those needs are so vast .

Interested on thoughts.

Definitely not a 'claiming mindset' compared to other well-off western European countries.

Not at all? Do you think our public services are lavishly funded? Can’t you connect the two?

I try to put away half in an account for big purchases my daughter may need (EP assesment, SALT, tutoring) then the other half goes into the general pot. I don't specifically account for it but I spend more than that half (about £250 on things such as food (sensory eater) and extra curriculars that I'm keen for her to do due to the benefit to her condition.

I try to put away half in an account for big purchases my daughter may need (EP assesment, SALT, tutoring) then the other half goes into the general pot. I don't specifically account for it but I spend more than that half (about £250 on things such as food (sensory eater) and extra curriculars that I'm keen for her to do due to the benefit to her condition.

But it’s not there to open doors. It’s there to cover the additional costs of being disabled.

Sometimes parents need it to open doors.

My DD cannot access hydrotherapy, her specialist physiotherapy or the extra carers without having a DLA award. All of those things are paid for, having the DLA doesn't get her them for free, but you cannot access the services without DLA.

I find it fascinating that people who claim they have a disability themselves, or a child with a disability, can be so judgemental of others and know so little.

I don't blame disabled people for public services not being lavishly funded! What kind of person would?

If anything, they may need less PIP if the public services were better.

Yep DLA is proof of a disability - you need it to access lots of things

I would always have said yes, definitely, but I've been criticised, and told that with autistic people we should celebrate difference.

Is that pregabalin?

I think my view of "needs" is very different to yours op.

Theme park passes are not a "need". Lots of children in less well off families can't go to theme parks.

Lots of the examples given on here like heating a home, or buying better food, we deny every single day to poorer families. Why does having neurodiversity or a mental health problem entitle you to a better standard of living than we think is acceptable for millions of people?

No - its not a race to the bottom. But at the moment a disproportionate level of financial support is flowing in the form of benefits to people with neurodiversity & mental health conditions. The pot is finite and how much we spend on that is taking away from what we can spend on other things that as a society we desperately need.

Why would they suffer? All bar one or two posters so far have admitted they don’t even need the money and it goes ‘in the general pot’.

Right, so there is no problem then.

Yet another benefit bashing thread. I was a disability outreach worker for over twenty years. Child DLA, PIP and AA are paid as cash benefits in recognition of how much extra it costs to live as a disabled person. There is no prescribed way to spend it and most people add it into their general household income because that’s where the extra cost inevitably lies.

The notion that it’s to be spent exclusively on disability related things just underlines the fact that people who have no experience of disability have no idea of the costs involved, and are really not qualified to comment.

Disability is universal, so that’s why disability benefits are universal. If you were to means test it where would you put the threshold ? Why is it fair to support some and expect others to drain their bank accounts before they are supported ?

And I am disabled btw - in a way that most people look at me in public and go ‘disabled’

Well im certainly not celebrating the fact that he will never live an independent life.

I once taught a child who turned out to have ADHD and was affected very severely. Both his parents worked full time. His grandma looked after him before and after school as he was unable to manage with breakfast and after-school clubs due to being highly dysregulated. His older sister did go to these clubs. His grandma really struggled to manage him. When his higher tier DLA was awarded, this enabled both parents to reduce their working hours so one parent was able to bring him to school, the other to collect him at the end of the day. The result was a child who was now mostly ready to come into school in a calm state every day, and parents who were able to facilitate activities after school to support him when dysreguated. In addition, grandma was able to spend some quality 1:1 time with his older sister after school, something she was missing out on due to her brother’s high needs.
This child was much more settled, and I would argue that this is precisely the sort of thing DLA should be used for.
I suppose other more cynical people might think it was just an excuse for parents to not work full time and that they were lazy.

" buying better food, we deny every single day to poorer families."

Free school meals. And they should actually be healthy, which I suppose they are not.

I'll add to the above that I had to resign from
my job and essentially end my career because my child couldn't cope with wrap around care and it took her an hour to an hour and 40 minutes to get into school in the morning! Her reduced anxiety from me not working was worth it but bitter sweet.

Ds had DLA and now PIP. As his appointee I spend it on whatever I see fit. No one else's business.

I just don’t see what it has to do with anyone else what a person spends their money on. 🤷🏼‍♀️
In my house 5 of us recieve PIP of varying rates, the money is spent on all kinds of things, travel for my children to go to college/work, we have a Motability car in my name, we have mobility aids like a power wheelchair and crutches, some goes on facilitating a social life (mainly tickets to gigs and the theatre) , some goes on the food shop, some goes on the mortgage. Some at the moment is paying for a family holiday, I don’t give a shiny shit if other people don’t approve of that, in the last 2 years We’ve had a seriously rough time and I nearly died, so if I want to spend some of my PIP on a cottage by the sea for 2 weeks which is accessible for me, and safe for my boys to have fun I will.

He was picked up anytime between 730 and 840 . Then he was returned home any time between 340 and 440.

This is the same for me. DD's transport collects between 7.20 and 8.45. It returns between 330 qnd 455 depending on which route it does (very dependent on which children are in and if she's sharing transport).

Her attendance last year was 39% due to 6 operations and a stint in ICU.

There's no employer that will work with that.

that’s just helping them achieve a normality that they probably would have had without the disability

I don't think people claiming PIP/DLA should see their spending scrutinised but statements like the above grates on me.

There always seems to be such as assumption that if a sahm' child wasn't disabled, she would definitely be working so it's OK to use benefits as income replacement. It's never suggested that such mums might actually choose to be a sahm even if her child wasn't disabled and they would have to find a way to make due on her partner's income only.

Same with having a car, somehow we are led to believe that if their child wasn't disabled, they wouldn't have a need for a car and therefore do without.

There is no such thing as 'normality' for non disabled families. More and more families struggle and certainly can't afford what seems to be labeled as normal. And yes, some families with disabled children will have a much better lifestyle than families who are not entitled to any benefits.

We need to stop marginalising disabled vs non disabled families. Of course no parents would wish their children to be disabled to be able to claim benefits and enjoy a good income without working but at the same time, we need to stop assuming families who rely on benefits would be able to enjoy the same or a better income if none of them or their children were disabled.

Hi, I remember you from other threads, usually talking good sense. Yes, safer than smoking but not safe, and trouble is many people who have never smoked now vape.

It isn’t about having a better standard of living than non-disabled people. Scope’s latest disability price tag research shows disabled households need an extra £1,095 each month on average to have the same standard of living as non-disabled households.