Asthma and DLA

[SandySand]

Has anyone managed to claim DLA benefit for child with Asthma and Allergies?

My daughter is 10 and has very bad asthma. She also allergies, severe hay fever etc

She needs monitoring most of the time. At night it seems to get worse so I'm having to sleep next to her as I'm so worried about her asthma attacks.

How has anyone completed the DLA forms for Asthma and what points do I have to raise?

How often does she have actual attacks? How often is she hospitalised? Any icu admissions? Is she on nebulisers and steroids as standard treatment? Does she have a consultant?

Has attacks weekly, sometimes twice weekly. Has a consultant and treatment plan.
Has been in hospital twice with it.
When she does sport she has to use her in haler every 5/10 minutes.

With regards to asthma she gets triggered daily- eyes puffed, throat closing up.
Mixture of piriteze and inhaler as treatment.

@SandySand

Has attacks weekly, sometimes twice weekly. Has a consultant and treatment plan. Has been in hospital twice with it. When she does sport she has to use her in haler every 5/10 minutes.

With regards to asthma she gets triggered daily- eyes puffed, throat closing up.
Mixture of piriteze and inhaler as treatment.

*allergies

Ill be honest and say that you can obviously apply, but this doesn't sound sufficiently life changing nor severe,if has only been hospitalised twice.
The bar is high, and at 10,she would be expected, if no special needs, to manage much of health condition herself, in the way she does when playing sport.

I don't say that flippantly, I'm a chronic brittle asthmatic. So I fully get the issues. I'm regularly at step 5 and never below step 4. It sounds as though your daughter is around step 2.

Have the allergies been fully investigated?

If she is having attcks that often is it being managed properly?

I doubt you would get DLA for it though.

We got it, the asthma nurse suggested it and the hospital family support people filled out the form with me.

DS was really very unwell - he was in HDU 8 times in one year, in and out of hospital so often his school attendance was about 40%. He couldn't walk far because he was short of breath, so, I did a lot of carrying an 8 year old on my shoulders. It was a god send at the time, and I had no idea we would be eligible.

Happy to say that he is now a hairy 15 year old and absolutely fine.

It sounds like your DD needs some tweaking to her medication - DS life changed once he was on fexafenadine and monteleukast (he had some experimental injections, which are now approved for children too, but, the antihistamine medications made a big difference to his daily symptoms) She shouldn't be needing her blue inhaler as often as that when she exercises.

Good luck

It’s about the additional care you need to provide for her compared to a child her age. At her age, unless there are learning disabilities, they would expect her to administer her own medication, so then it comes down to what you need to do that’s over and above what another child needs. That’s not to say you don’t have to give more care, you may well do - but that’s what they are looking for, and evidence of it.