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blue badge form

4 replies

elliejjtiny · 20/01/2012 11:47

DH has lost ds2's blue badge. I know it's in the house somewhere but could be anywhere so after a week I phoned the blue badge administration people and asked for a replacement. They said they will send me a form. So today it came and I'm not sure about some of the questions. He's 3y 9m and has hypotonia and hypermobility. He doesn't get HRM but I'm wondering if he is entitled to it. Can't quite face the huge long form when it's likely that he wont get it so I'll try when he is 5 as the care component runs out then anyway and hopefully he will get LRM at least.

He can walk from the house to the car in the drive, sometimes he trips over the crack in the pavement and falls over, sometimes not. He can't quite walk to the end of the garden, by 3/4 of the way he will have fallen several times so he will give up and crawl instead or ask to be carried. They want to know how far in meters he can walk (I have no idea without following him with a tape measure) and how many times he has fallen over in the last year (no idea, he falls over more than 10 times a day usually, depending on what he is doing but a year ago he wasn't walking at all). He walks quite well on a deserted completely flat surface although his gait is awkward but trips over cracks in pavement, his own feet, falls over when someone brushes past him. He also gets very tired so can't walk far. He can't get out of the car by himself and he is a dead weight when you try to lift him (feels heavier than my 5 year old although I know he isn't) so it's handy to have the wider space to open the door fully and have the buggy next to the car so the carrying is minimal. I'm wondering whether to attatch a description of his needs to the form an leave it blank or try and guess.

OP posts:
TheNinjaGooseIsOnAMission · 20/01/2012 12:06

If his badge still had plenty of time to run on it then I'd give them a ring and check they've sent you the right form, you're asking for a replacement badge not wanting to reapply. They should already have all that info from when you applied originally?

TheNinjaGooseIsOnAMission · 20/01/2012 12:07

oh and give dh a kick Grin

starfishmummy · 20/01/2012 12:09

For blue badge purposes I think you could guestimate how far down the garden he can get before he falls - shortest distance obviously and tell them that is how far he walks without problems or roughly how far it is from house to car. I would tell them that he falls over in excess of ten times a day when he is walking, and that he falls over on smooth, even surfaces. If the falls are bad and could cause further complications to his condition then tell them that falling over is harmful because...

In our ares, if there is no mobility allowance they will normally write to the doctors for a report ao make sure your doctor is up to speed on what the situation is as well.

elliejjtiny · 25/01/2012 12:27

Thanks everyone. The form had "lost badge" on the front so definately the right one. In the end I asked the landlord how long the drive was (30 yards) and then got ds2 to walk down it. He got about half way down before he fell over so put 15 yards on the form. DH's punishment was to get ds2 in the photo booth and the photo taken before he fell off the stool Grin. All posted now so hopefully it comes back approved soon. Not having the badge makes me realise how much we rely on it and I've had a few scary moments when he has fallen over in the middle of a (thankfully very quiet) road while we were crossing because DH couldn't get the car close enough to the school without the badge.

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