DLA Mandatory Reconsideration 2023

[Mumofboysteamginge]

Hi, I’ve been following the DLA wait times thread since I applied for my 7 year old son in October. We had the decision yesterday and it was declined 😭 I was absolutely devastated.

We applied because my son was involved in a serious RTC (we were going on holiday with our friends, he wanted to travel in their car following us, a car came round a bend missed us but hit them head on) understandably he struggles with the fact he was the only one in the car and blames us for letting him in there). He was the only one awake and conscious in the vehicle, he has chronic flashbacks, normal everyday life things (sirens, bangs, travelling, weather conditions and so on are triggers) they send him into a state of survival and all his rational thinking is gone. Nights are horrendous for him, he lives like his life is in constant threat, he fights sleep and often gets dressed in the middle of the night so he’s ready should anything bad happen. Flashbacks are more prominent through the night.

school are aware of his issues. Now he’s under CAMHS school have been asked to stop any mental health interventions as this could interrupt the trauma therapy. hes happy at school because of the structure and routine, no real unpredictability etc.

anyway I’ve done this tread for anyone going through MR and hope we can all support each other through the process!

xxx

I’ve only just seen your previous post @Mum0f4delights Call them and ask them to send you a statement of reasons. Once you get that, write a letter and counter every single point with further evidence or if you’re cheeky like me, DLA Case Law, equality act.

As much as they say diagnostic reports aren’t necessary, I think they carry some weight. The forms stupidly say they don’t want to see appointment letters but in our case they used this as another reason to decline Dd. So you need to make sure what ever you’re saying, is evidenced by a clinician or by a referral letter if you’re waiting for an appointment etc. Add everything you think will build a better picture of your child’s needs, even if they say they don’t want to see it.

@SpaceRaiders bless you!!

thankypu for replying…..that’s a great help, I did actually will put some case law in, 🤔 maybe the letter was not informative enough…..etc etc

this was the MR that was turned down too, hence I asked if you appealed the MR but then I realised you appealed the original decision. I have contacted the MP and will speak to an advisor, as I won’t give up, it seems like a really unfair system. That seems like they just want to dot i’s and cross t’s and throw out the claims and hope people give up 🤷‍♀️ x

why would people give

@SpaceRaiders

hey! Replied to your other response first!!
Yes did everything in writing, I like to leave a paper trail, I also think that if they could get away with losing all of your evidence etc it would be gone! Hence the hefty £10 nearly to send priority mail….

Absolutely, if I have to go to appeal (likely scenario now) then so be it, the only advocate for our babies are us ❤️❤️

This is sad 😢 that so many people are being rejected however unfortunately they have a huge influx of claims which is not helping!!

@Mum0f4delights It’s such a terrible system, run by staff who often don’t have a clue, which in fairness to them it isn’t completely their fault. But nonetheless you would have thought decision makers would have some clinical training or background.

Anyways onward and upwards. Please do pop back here and let us know how you get on with the appeal, I fear I’ll be doing the same!

Oh indeed, definitely not their fault and I do not hold it against them! However unfortunately they get a checklist and maybe if a certain word does not appear or timeframe etc then off that goes in the decline pile.

absolutely will be back, just waiting for the letter…….so I can get the relevant info to draft the dreaded appeal 😩🔫 lol xx

good luck, I really really hope you do not have to go through this, as it’s shockingly poop 🍀🍀🍀

Dropping myself here!

my daughter has been receiving DLA for a good few years now, I put in for a COC in April, got back to me 8th Nov saying no change, sent more supportive evidence and letter asking for MR which was recieved 17th Nov (just less than a week ago) so leaving myself here to see how people are getting on! Its such a shame that we have to fight for our children to the extent we have to ☹️

@mum0f4delights really sorry to hear u weren't awarded. I would keep fighting take it to the next stage and plz don't give up. It's really east to give in. I'm still waiting for my MR decision its only been a week though.

@Mum0f4delights Im so sorry for the response you had, can i ask you how long did it take for the MR the timeline? As mine has been 2 weeks nit heard anything thanks

Hi everyone, I managed to get through this morning. Said they had received the evidence I had sent in and will let me know when a decision has been made. No time frame though! It’s been 2 weeks, 2 days. I just want this over with now 🤣

I spoke to someone this morning to make sure they received it, I did send it signed for but wanted to make sure it’s on her files, she said it was received and a 4 week wait

Hey everyone was about 3.5 weeks in total from receiving forms to getting decline/answer.

got the letter to say it was being looked at that must be the day they give it to the DM, no texts etc…..Hope that helps

I’ve just seen a back payment hit my account. I’m assuming they looked at all 40 pages of the Autism/ADHD report and awarded Dd2 with middle rate care! Now to tackle Dd1’s DLA and the small matter of an EHCP!

Good Luck everyone!

@SpaceRaiders congrats on getting your award, so glad to hear they changed their decision! It gives me hope! How long was your wait?

Good luck with DD1’s dla and ehcp, I hope the journey goes more smoothly than this experience.

@SpaceRaiders that’s amazing news well done 👍👏
good luck with the EHCP 🤞

The original MR was a little under four weeks. Then when I challenged that, it took another 2.5 weeks. Fingers crossed for you all!

Anyone heard anything about their MR. I did mine on 15/11 so 2 weeks almost...but not heard anything

17th here so nothing yet, they said upto 4 weeks to me

@Mummymummy22 @Rebeccachloe I did our MR on the 07/11, not heard anything yet but going to try and ring first thing in the morning for an update. I’ll let you know how I get on.

@ARH36 Yes plz do keep us updated...if you haven't heard in 3 weeks...then the rest of us definitely won't hear till week 4....I were told upto 4 weeks for a decision but were hoping will be done sooner

Hi everyone I'm really struggling with evidence for the servere imparment of intelligence part what evidence is best ? X

Hi evidence will be reports of his/diagnosis etc autistic. I have document i hope this helps

Sorry you can't see i try copy and paste it...

What is severe mental impairment of intelligence?

1. An IQ of 55 or less is generally accepted as a “severe impairment of

intelligence”. However, for children and young people, the individual’s IQ is likely to be only a minor factor in assessing whether the individual has a severe impairment of intelligence. An IQ score alone is likely to give a misleading impression, because an IQ test is designed to be as independent of social context as possible. An individual with a reduced IQ will likely have had a referral to a paediatrician or other specialist. Case managers must be careful not to refuse an application because an individual has not been referred to a specialist, as there may be reasons for this.

1. Children and young people with a severe impairment of intelligence are likely

to receive any of the following: • specialised schooling and supervision of all activities • intensive support service provided by support workers • Intensive 1:1 support in a mainstream school/nursery.

1. To understand whether the individual has a ‘severe impairment of intelligence’

the case manager should consider: • supporting information

advice via a clinical case discussion, if necessary
in addition to the application or review form.
10. The case manager should consider the individual’s ‘useful intelligence’ e.g.
their degree of judgment in relation to everyday living. This will include whether the
individual:
• has an understanding of the impact of their behaviour
• can understand the risk of danger or hazards
• has met key milestones in their development
• is educated in a specialist school
• has no awareness of where they are or of what time it is
• experiences short and long-term memory difficulties.
This list is not exhaustive.
11. Case managers should not consider any factor in isolation. It is also important
to consider the child or young person’s age. This is particularly true for very young
children. They may show any one of the above behaviours because of their age
rather than because of a disability

@Mummymummy22 I finally managed to get through this morning, ours is not with a DM yet and gave me a 4-6 week timeframe. Hope this helps!

@Specialchild2019 thank you im going to try and challenge under smi and vuw fingers crossed only thing with vuw flow chart it says physical disability does asd fall in to that category as ino people have been sucsessful with autism under vuw x