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

I just wanted to update in case it helps anyone that I received all the papers for tribunal in November and after writing to the DWP to ask for some amendments to my reasons for appeal (they'd missed some off) I got a letter on the 21st December withdrawing from the tribunal and awarding HRC/HRM for 3 years!!!! Still in shock !!!

Sazale I would consider appealing. We were given very similar reasons when ds was refused renewal of higher rate mobility. We got the paperwork and it stated utterly ridiculous things like ds was making a conscious reasoned decision not to walk and therefore it wasnt mental impairment. there were also ridiculous statements such as the decision maker thought his asd wasn't that severe. ds is classically autistic, non verbal and in a specialist asd school! I got a social worker to write supporting our view that he was severely mentally impaired and also our gp wrote a similar statement. They refused the reconsideration so we appealed. When we finally went to the tribunal they backed down before we went in. The decision maker told us that we had plenty of evidence and we shouldn't have been refused.

Great news Sazale!

Glad to hear you got there in the end Cansu. I did appeal and they backed down before we even got a date.

In the papers there was advice from medical services saying her refusals to walk we're caused by a physical disability so with that alone I knew we should win.

They awarded it under virtually unable to walk.

Thanks mymatemac, it's sort of bitter sweet but it was the blue badge that I was doing it for!

Dd1, who is 11 and has severe autism just got awarded HRM for the first time - I decided to try to make a good case for it because really think she ought to have had it since she was 5.

I gave examples of where she has put herself and others in danger - ie - running in front of cars and the driver having to do an emergency stop. I made the point that most children of 11 could walk to school or to a relative's house and would know how to cross a road safely, whereas my dd cannot even set foot outside the house without physical restraint for her own safety. You have to show that the person in question has a severe mental impairment.

oops should have read the thread properly!

I've just spotted this, well done!

I'm filling one in for ds (13 yrs). He gets anxious when he's out, he's worried about being attacked and needs a lot of support. He panics when he hears loud noises and becomes upset and will say inappropriate comments to strangers which put him in danger ('You shouldn't swear, it's rude!/Don't spit on the floor, it's gross!' etc). He also can only walk a couple of meters before pain starts or he falls over (he's hypermobile, worse in his ankles). They turned him down for everything last time. Any tips?

My dd is 14 and she also has hypermobility in her legs and low tone. I explained exactly how all her difficulties impact her walking. She refuses to walk on all occasions. I explained that it's primarily caused by her ASD which is a physical disability, the pain in her legs which causes discomfort (also physical) which due to her sensory processing difficulties she is unable to tolerate slight pain. She has demand avoidance as part of ASD which also impacts her walking, lack of attention etc etc.

I pointed out how each part related to which disability/difficulty.

They still said no to high rate on application, reconsideration and after requesting appeal but I had researched case law etc and was pretty confident it would be awarded on appeal and knew that they often don't award HRM until you appeal.

I did have a statement of sen and all the reports that go with it to support what I was saying (like her pain tolerance) and they wrote to her physio who confirmed the issues with her legs.

Here's a link to the decision makers guide which I found useful

www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dmgch61.pdf

Thank you