how do you make the case for higher rate mobility?

[whatthewhatthebleep]

DS has Higher rate care but low rate mobility.... ASD/ADHD and it's hard enough going by car but to even think about a bus stop, waiting, on a bus, the amount of walking in between where we might need to go, etc...just fills me with absolute dread and worry....

Has anyone been through this determination with DLA and how did you evidence and explain these circumstances so that you could have a car on the road, etc

Just got new details of thr renewal and have time to appeal on this part of claim...
any advice is much appreciated

if this is unlikely to be possible...does anyone know of any places which may help to fund/grant/loan money towards a car?...are there any funding places or charities that could help maybe?

I think it is difficult but not impossible to get HR mobility even if the person can physically walk without difficulty.

I think to have a reasonable chance you will need specialist advice. CAB and Welfare rights offices are the places to try though the availabilty of their services varies.

There used to be a good welfare rights office in Edinburgh but I am talking a very long time ago.

We used this guide to fill in the DLA forms and got HRM. Very good advice on how to fill in the form. DLA guide

thank you ...will attempt if I can

dev your link wouldn't work for me...error message I'm afraid

I've found some stuff about dla, etc on Cerebra site...good one too!

try this

Thank you dev thats what I found...I'm going to see if I can have this reviewed again

There is a section in the guidelines about Behavioural problems being eligible, I have posted it on MN many times before but not for quite a while. I'll see if I can dig it out. I know LOTS of parents who have got their ASD/AS child HR mobility, including me. Don't listen to anyone who says you can't get it but its not easy. When I originally challenged not being able to get it, I compared DS to his NT cousin who is 8 months younger than him. I pointed out that she could walk to her school at the top of the road and cross the main road at the crossing, go to Granny's house up the road from where she lived but she wasn't ALLOWED to, DS simply couldn't do those things. I think he was about 6 at the time. I will see if I can dig out that info, it is a bit old but must still apply.

thank you davros that sounds great....

Whatthe my ds gets HRM he has severe autism, the renewal forms are just in , tells me he got HRM because he has severe behavioural problems and is severely mentally impaired. Not looking forward to filling them in spent 2 hours so far, given up for now got until February so a few pages a day lol.

My DS isn't severe ASD but his anxieties and panic attacks are very bad he is also as big as me now and takes off at times, gets very overwhelmed and angry, etc...it means any trip from home is very difficult...

I'm not sure it's enough to get HRM though...wondering if it's worth asking the GP/specialist to do a letter for me about this and I can appeal with more back-up about this...
What do you think?...maybe I shouldn't bother

Hi whatthe
I have asked for a review on DD 4 1/2 for the HRM with recent dx Autism , learning disability and other issues . Sent it almost 7 weeks ago and waiting for answer . Sent a huge amount of new reports e.t.c . It's getting worse to take her anywhere and i am very close to dropping her when having to carry her while kicking off . I would say to try x

www.cerebra.org.uk/English/getinformation/publications/Documents/dla-guide-web.pdf

This helps. I am using this to help my claim.

yes, my DS can just freeze up and refuse to move, etc..gets very angry and what not...usually this is when the car is so necessary for him too....making it a hasty retreat to safety for him...or sometimes he just can't get out of the car either and then at least he will sit there and I grab what I need from the shops or whatever...

We are just completely stuck without having a car on the road and it really worries me

i havent applied for dd2 mobility rate yet, shes 5 now but not sure what to do. She has autism, sensory processing and hypo mobility. we still use her buggy and buses and trains or madness because of noise. If I apply im just so worried they will change her care rates :(

whatthewhat, dd1 only gets LRM for her anxiety and meltdowns in public. shes 9

You're part way there having HRC, whatthe, but you still need to make a crystal clear case to demonstrate that behaviours are all down to lack of understanding, so avoid language like "wants to" and anything else implying that it's a conscious behaviour.

I didn't push it with either of my boys, since they both sleep too well for too much of the year to warrant anything more than MRC. Yes, DS1 almost walked in front of a bus this week because he was overwhelmed by the wind & rain and having a thick hood on and totally unaware the bus was there and forgot to wait for my word "go" or "walk" but he still merely gets LRM because "he needs supervision in unfamiliar places". He's crossed this flaming road over 1000 times but he sleeps too well to make a case for mental incapacity!

DS2 has almost tripped me up several times (he has in the past, but I've grown wise to his movements) and made constant attempts to run into the road. I am in agony with my already arthritic elbow because of this behaviour but, despite the fact that 5am is a pretty normal waking time for him, he sleeps too well, so like DS1, MRC limits him to LRM.

(And don't get me started on the fact that it's more than twice as hard with two or more. There's no space on the forms for, well actually, if it was just this boy I could do almost anything with him without a paid carer/special transport arrangements, but he has this brother with needs just as severe as his but they're really really different so never mind being too hard to deal with together, alone, they can't do the same things as each other.... )

I requested a review in April hoping to increase to Hrm/hrc. It was turned down so I've asked for it to be looked at again. There's some good case law stuff around and I've also since had all DD's reports from statutory assessment and her statement with I've sent pointing out which bits support which part of the criteria like a child with a normal IQ can be classed as having a severe impairment of intellegence if they have no awareness of danger and an inabity to calculate risk. Since DD's statement has provision for input to help her develop an age appropriate awareness of danger and calculate risk I said she met this part of the criteria. I did this for each of criteria pointing out which report/page supported it.

Some case law here
www.autism.org.uk/living-with-autism/benefits-and-community-care/disability-living-allowance/dla-high-rate-mobility-for-children-with-asd/dla-high-rate-mobility-routes-to-qualifying/severe-mental-impairment.aspx

I've said that she qualifies on the grounds of SMI and also temporary paralysis as dd refuses to walk in every occasion we leave the house. Don't know if we'll get anything but she does meet the criteria for hrc/Hrm on paper. Good luck

Good luck sazale how long ago did you send it ?

I returned the supersession form at the end of May. At the end of June they wrote to camhs and physio. The camhs worker was off sick so they waited but never got a reply. Got the letter saying same rate middle August and I requested reconsideration beginning September. Been told it could take up to 11 more weeks. Dd is 13 and the size of a grown adult so very difficult with her now. She started her transition to special school this week. We currently get mrc/lrm for her but could really do with a blue badge. She's unable to go anywhere alone and I'm unable to go out without a 2nd adult when I'm with her and my 5 year old so it's very difficult. She will just suddenly stop and refuse to walk and it can happen anywhere, has been in the middle of a major road!

I don't know....
Others here are dealing with similar issues and more than I am...it's really that ASD and associated issues are just not clearly defined within the DLA system. It needs more knowledge within the system to address these conditions appropriately.

Ouryve I'm sure you should be applying for HRM and would get it for both your DC's.

Not so sure about us now. Maybe I'll just leave it. I'd be devastated if the whole thing was re-visited and we lost HRC....not sure it's worth the risk now and tbh I'm needing a break from jumping through hoops of fire for a while.

I got the refusal to change rates today. I rang to request the written statement of reasons and the woman told me that my dd does not need supervision at night so no hrc. I said that in the school report for SA I enclosed it states that she is never left unsupervised and has no age appropriate sence of danger or ability to calculate risk so therefore if she needs it in the day why would she not need the same level of support at night? She then said its not coz she doesn't need it it's just because she doesn't wake enough for it as to get hrc you have to be up all night with them or at least every 30 mins!

With regards to the Hrm and the refusals to walk it has been decided that it is a conscious decision. With regards to SMI she doesn't qualify as cognitively normal and no behaviour issues. They haven't taken in to account her functional ability which is very low which is why she is now in special school or the info about challenging behaviour due to demand avoidance and how on her IBP one of the strategies is to lead/guide her to a place of safety and how her behaviour is extreme (she has to be restrained just to brush her hair)!

Gonna wait for written statement and then register appeal although the woman said I've already done that the same day they sent me the letter!

I'm sorry your DLA hasn't come back as you hoped for.
I think your appeal is the best route...with maybe your own report giving regular examples of how difficult things are.....it's not cognitive, self driven 'naughtiness' and making conscious decisions..(makes me spit nails that it even dares to suggest this!!)...it's an overwhelming inability to manage within certain environments due to sensory issues, which trigger anxiety, panic, shutting down/refusal, running, aggression, etc...it's totally different....of course this presents as behavioural issues...your child is oblivious to cause and effect, has a limited sense of danger to self or others and is unable to communicate needs easily...leaving your DC a very vulnerable person who needs constant supervision and monitoring.
During the night is different...there has to be sleep issues, this has to be wakeful, or disturbed sleep, etc regularly, bed wetting, wandering, etc
Can you appeal again?...I'm not sure what you would have to do next tbh....don't know why you have has to wait so long either for this 1st appeal.