Disability benefits should be cut

[benandoli]

OK so if a family has a child with a disability which results in that family having extra costs then they should have disability benefit and use the money to cover those costs. I am sure that many families in this situation should receive more. However, can someone please explain to me why a family who have a child with a disability, adhd or autism for example , where extra costs do not result , where the earning potential of the family has not changed as a result or indeed where the family never worked anyway should receive extra funds courtesy of the tax payer. Also why should parents in this situation receive a carers allowance and then work less hours as a result of the allowance rather than as a result of the caring that needs to be done? Many families are well deserving I know and they should probably get more, but many are working the system and getting their kids over diagnosed.

Brilliant Pagwatch.

Two of my four children are in receipt of DLA, one has diabetes, coeliacs and epilepsy and the other has severe speech and language problems/dyslexia and coeliacs - are they entitled to this??

Although I can get a lot of food on prescription it isn't always great so additional food is incredibly expensive; for instance, a box of gluten free rice crispies is 2.75 and a loaf of bread is almost 3 quid! It also means we cannot eat out really as it is such a problem.

So apart from the money I spend on food I also send them both to extra lessons as they are behind in school because of their conditions and actually I will probably put their DLA towards sending them the a private school with specialist dyslexia facilities - is this ok? or should I not be allowed to do this.

As other posters have mentioned, getting childcare for a child with a disability is a nightmare - people to get a bit nervous about injecting your toddler with insulin and they are not obliged to do so so even finding a school that is comfy with that can be a problem.

All I am trying to do is the absolute best for my children (I have 2 other dcs too) - you may have come across people who play the system - I actually know someone who does this and apart from trying to elicit every benefit she can also wears her childs special needs as a badge of honour... it leaves a bad taste in my mouth and I find it appalling but that said I am absolutely sure that the overwhelming majority of cases are absolutely correct or in some cases not getting the help they need.

I do take your point but honestly it is a bit of a moot point when your post could and should be seen as knocking people who really struggle to cope with their children's ailments and also having to fight like hell to get the help and support they need.

I don't want my child to be seen as more deserving or more disabled because it is a physical disability. In many respects we are lucky as it is a visable, recognisable condition. I often think about the mums on here with children with different kinds of disabilities and see that their fight is often tougher than mine. It's also easy to see children at school and think you know what it's like at home. No-one at school or even in my family can really get the night time wake-ups, the lying and constant behavioural stuff that comes with my dd's condition. I'm gutted that you are a SENCO and feel really sorry for any families relying on you to fight their corner.

Can I use this for the first time please?

Frigging joke considering I've been up 36 hours now and no end in sight.
SENCO.....LMFAO

pagwatch

you mean disability living allowance? every last penny of that money is earned by those families and I don't begrudge them any of it. it is incredibly hard living with a child with many of the conditions that mean you are entitled to claim disability allowance, emotionally as well as financially.

Sadly, the 'adhd' diagnosis is sometimes seen as a ticket to more money but I think thats pretty unusual. I do know 2 families who boast about fixing the claim but tbh their kids have crap boundaries at home and are dragged up rather than brought up anyhow so at least with the diagnosis they get more support at school. I imagine that last paragraph will get me flamed but it is true.

dam theres me thinking all we need to do was fill aform that takes 5 minutes out of our day and were awarded the extra money and wa spipe dreaming that my ds gets everything he needs from the nhs

OP, why have you posted this in 'In the news'? Is there a news article that is saying this?

My DD1 gets DLA. She attends special school, thankfully, which means that I don't have to deal with a SENCO like you. I at the thought of the poor parents at your school, who think your job is to help them, not judge them.

So what is your point?

You start off referring "a child with a disability, adhd or autism for example , where extra costs do not result, where the earning potential of the family has not changed as a result"

Then when people pointed out that, actually, ADHD and autism do result in extra costs and earning potential is normally very adversely affected, suddenly you were really talking about "over diagnosis" i.e. children who don't have any disability at all.

"People who aren't disabled shouldn't get disabled benefits" is hardly a controversial position, but I am very very far from convinced that there is a big overdiagnosis problem. On the contrary I have seen people whose children clearly have issues having to fight for a diagnosis and support.

And it's also very clearly not what you said in the first place.

FFS if you're a SENCO then its no wonder parents of DC with SN struggle to get them the support they need in school.

My DLA renewal for DD1 was 15,000 words - the length of 1.5 undergraduate dissertations. I had 26 supporting documents, and the bundle was 1.5 inches thick. I would imagine that all those HCPs wasted their time, because DD1's brain malformation is made up. I just broke into the hospital and squiggled a bit on her MRI scans before they put them on the lightbox.

Just out of curiosity what qualifications do you need to become a SENCO??

great post ANTagony

ANTagony - your son sounds very like mine. Luckily I am just hanging in there working 3 days a week until 3oclock. Now that I have my children in school I would have expected that I could increase my hours in my job that I spent many years of hard work establishing, but I can?t because someone has to be there every day at 3 to meet his taxi. This compromises his life and his brothers, no after school clubs, playing in the playground with their friends after school. I also have to be flexible enough to attend the constant meetings at school, the frequent exclusions and see him through what so far has meant 4 school changes in 5 years. I have stuck with an extremely unhappy and abusive marraige because I am terrified of the impact a huge change like divorce would have on him.
Oh, and my understanding was that the DLA is meant to compensate HIM, not me. I think he deserves some compensation for the lack of friendships/ school changes/ taxi trips/ isolation/ depression/ suicide attempts.
I am one of the lucky ones, I got his DLA. Not by lying, but by writing the truth, including his diagnosis documentation (aspergers), his level 5 statement, his paediatric reports. I also will lose out in the child benefit changes, my husband earns over the threshold. Why on earth should my family give up there DLA also, his diability hasn?t just impacted us, it has completely changed out ENTIRE lives.

some exaggerate dot hey?

Perhaps that's because if you don't fill in the form describing you/your child at the absolute worse they turn you down.

My mum was turned down for DLA twice before she finally got it. She has Parkinson's, by the time she first applied she couldn't change a light bulb, safely cook, had a stoop which meant when she (now rarely) stands she is literally staring at the floor, walked with a stick, had a shake so bad that she had on many occasions nearly scalded herself with hot tea and a whole host os issues.

However, Parkinsons is one of those things that some days are MUCH worse than others and some days some problems are there and others aren't. She didn't get given DLA until she filled in the entire form as if everything happened on every single day.

Did she cheat? no she didn't - it was already severely restricting her life but if you don't describe you/yourself at your absolute worst then chances are they'll say no

You've just renewed my faith in SENcos.

You seriously think that having a child with ASD doesn't have any extra costs? Or that the carer doesn't deserve that £53.90 a week?

I bet you don't even see ASD or ADHD as real disabilities.

I hope you're not the new SENCo at my DS2's school, who in her first week told someone their son is a bit backwards.

"I am ann inclusion manager in a primary school (SENCo)."

You shouldn't be.

A friend of mine has a son with ADHD, she can not work as no childminder will have him. She's tried and every CM has given up with him after a while. She could really do with working as they're not well off. So her family's potential income is greatly restricted.

i can1t be bothered reading the thread but just fuck off!!! You know nothing of what life is like as the parents of a child with special need unless you are the parents .My ds is 17 and has severe autism but i suppose in your eyes hes just pretending

If your a Senco your in the wrong job because if you worked in my ds school I would be moving him fast

I'm fortunate that most his disablites are noticeable bit some are not and peoe like you that thought I was exgeratingvl it was what stopped him getting help sooner I now have a 5 year old that's more like a 2 year old sonethings less than 2 and it's only after long fight did people start seeing what I started seeing from 8 months old

Fuck the fuck off and when you get there, fuck off again! Have you any idea how impossible hard it is to get childcare for a child with SN, no matter what the SN is? How the hell is someone meant to work if there's no-one to look after a child that needs 24 hr supervision? Leave an SN child at home alone where they could injure themselves and/or be unable to even pour themselves a drink??

I reiterate : Fuck the fuck off, and when you get there, fuck of again. Walk a mile in the shoes of an SN parent before making such sweeping 'rationalisations' and generalisations about SN dc.

Can I add that I would like to work and did work until the appointments, the lack of sleep and the stress got too much and earned a damn sight more than the fifty odd quid that is supposed to compensate me. Ds is 15 and needs childcare, funnily enough childminders around here aren't prepared to take on a six foot child particularly when it wouldn't be safe for him to be near other children.
I pity the children with SEN and their parents in your school. Not only will you not be supportive but you quietly judge them too

Loudlass - hijack - did you see my post on the other thread about benefits..........ermm that's not helpful is it there's about 3000 of them right now.

The one where we were talking about HB, and LHA.

CLick <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/photo/454/dbe/454dbe4b-6a87-4e0d-8c0d-5ff7b6ca9569&imgrefurl=uspolitics.tribe.net/photos/454dbe4b-6a87-4e0d-8c0d-5ff7b6ca9569&h=336&w=300&sz=38&tbnid=O8xn70pnbh55WM:&tbnh=238&tbnw=212&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddont%2Bfeed%2Bthe%2Btroll&zoom=1&q=dont+feed+the+troll&usg=__LfJZEfM5-VTyPrLkN9FsdMP1qk4=&sa=X&ei=REqsTLebOJDH4AaZtfzDCA&ved=0CBwQ9QEwAg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here

OMG just realised OP isn't a troll, just incredibly ignorant.

I'll nip over in a sec, MaMo.

OP - You sound suspiciously like the SenCo at my DS's primary school. Either that or you're her twin sister. Someone with views like that should not be responsible for trying to get our SN dc's the aditional help they need to access the curiculum.