Managing DLA once DC reaches 16

[NoHaudinMaWheest]

My Ds will be 16 this year. I have had a letter from DWP asking whether he is able to manage his own DLA or needs an appointee. Ds has AS and no intellectual disablity so in theory he could manage his own money. However in terms of independence and practical management he is 3-4 years behind his chronological age at least. When I asked he had no interest in managing himself and was happy for me to do it since I buy everything for him anyway. I feel I ought to be encouraging his independence but with his GCSEs and his OCD being bad at the moment he has enough stress and more could exacerbate the OCD. If I am his representative for now how easy would it be to change that as his abilities mature? Any one else experiences welcome.

My DS with AS was awarded DLA (for the first time) last year when he was 16. I applied to be his Appointee as DS would have struggled to manage the money in many ways - setting up an account, dealing with the bank either in person or on the phone, bothering to open letters from the bank etc. More importantly DS isn't able to manage that amount of money yet - the monthly sum would get spent all at once or on a current whim and DS would then regret what he had spent, and become fixated about his mistakes.(To be honest I don't think my older NT DS could have managed the money at 16 either.) We pay part of the DLA into his account each week and the rest goes into a savings account which he uses for one off purchases - which we get to approve. He has just made the decision to ditch his temperamental laptop and buy a new one - we would have opted for a repair!

DWP only made me Appointee after sending someone to meet both DS and me and check that DS would find it difficult to manage money and that he consented to me being Appointee. The DWP lady emphasised although the money would go into my account, it was DS's money! She also said that I would need to contact them once the situation changed and DS became capable of managing the money. She also told DS he could contact them to remove me as Appointee! So although I haven't had experience of giving up an Appointee role I get the impression it is quite straightforward and can be done at any time - not just when the award comes up for renewal.

Thanks pannetone. I think that our Ds sound similar re money management. My Ds probably wouldn't spend it on a whim as he tends to agonise about decisions but then he probably wouldn't use it when he really needed to. I think I will apply to be his appointee. DS won't have any objections. The question is whether he will talk to the DWP person.