DLA

[TeaInTheGarden]

I’m thinking about applying for DLA for my son, I called for the form which arrived today.
I’m wondering if others have been successful in a similar situation?
The bit I find hard is comparing my son to other children the same age to determine whether he needs “much more” care etc. He’s my third and I’m still unsure!
So thought I’d ask here if people think these constitute extra looking after….
(He’s 5, will be 6 in early January. Diagnosed autistic, SPD, and is demand avoidant but not diagnosed PDA.)

For the care part:

• he needs an adult to fall asleep, we lay in his bed with him until he is asleep. This takes around 30 mins
• when he wakes in the night he gets in our bed. We take him to the toilet at this point as he’s in a pull up and can soak through them. Sometimes he’ll take quite a while to fall asleep, needing contact from an adult making it hard for that adult to go to sleep themselves.
• in the day he requires supervision when interacting with his brothers as he can get angry very quickly.
• in a “worst day” scenario he will need lots of adult one in one in the day to stay calm, unless he’s on the iPad.

For the mobility part:

• if having a bad day he can refuse to walk, lay on the floor, demand we carry him etc.
• if he’s a bit hyper and distracted he can run off and be quite impulsive. He doesn’t really look for cars in a car park etc. He doesn’t really stop if we just call him, we have to chase and grab him which is difficult.
• walking places as a family can be difficult as he will be very controlling about who walks where, directing parents and brothers. He may also kick his brothers randomly.
• if we’re thinking “worst day” then it can be really traumatic if he’s in a meltdown, running away form us, is near a road and we have to grab/restrain him. This makes the meltdown escalate and he will hit and kick etc.

As I said my issue is knowing how much the above constitutes as “much more” than a non disabled child. Also, these things are not every day, but worst days can be bad! It feels almost like I’m exaggerating if I fill it in based on his worst day, but I know that’s the advice..?!

Any advice on whether it’s worth applying, is it likely to be refused? Is it worth waiting till January when he’s 6, or will that not matter?

Thanks in advance!

Apply. The Cerebra guide is helpful when completing the form. By all means write what a ‘worst day’ is like, but don’t make out every day is a worst day if that isn’t the case. That would be fraud.

Laying down on the floor, refusing to walk and needing to be carried is beyond what is typical for a nearly 6 year old. As is not responding to his name/stopping when outdoors, controlling who walks where and kicking.

I suspect you mean more supervision than typical siblings require, but make sure you explain this. Some typical 5 year olds take 30 mins to settle, so by all means mention this, depending on the DM, some may not see this as more care than average. By nearly 6, many typical peers would be able to self settle if they wake in the night, but again, it somewhat depends on the DM.