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Eulalia!!!

7 replies

mrsforgetful · 06/01/2004 22:01

Been less active on MN lately....and wondered how your DLA is progressing? (thought it would save me searching the posts!!!!)

OP posts:
Eulalia · 07/01/2004 16:42

Thanks Mrs F. I hardly seem to get time these days due to two demanding children. dd particularly becomign more demanding....

Anyway.... what a coincidence - I got the DLA award today !!! Yipeee!!!!!!!!

Am a bit confused though as I've not received a letter yet. I just checked the bank and I have a credit from them but have no idea as to what period of time this amount covers. Do you or anyone else know? Do they give you the backdated bit first or alltogether. I've tried phoning but can;t get through. Just really impatient - I know I'll get the letter soon enough.

Going to open a bottle of Cava with DH later.

HOpe you are well Mrs F - will try to catch up with everyone soon

mrsforgetful · 08/01/2004 01:23

YIPPEEDIPPYDOO!!! I am so pleased for you .... I think what they do is pay the backdated ammount 1st -and then it depends on whether you had requested it weekly/fortnightly/4weekly... when you get the next bit- my backdated bit was on the 5th dec- then 1st normal payment was on 30 dec- It's also worth appying for the carer's allowance- i think you have to 'care' 35+ hours a week and DLA has to be min of MID rate ...and the form is not one of these where you have to prove and justify WHY you deserve it...It is just a matter of name/address etc and declaring you are the main carer.If you don't have a job or you earn less than £70 per week (i think) but if like me you 'earn' too much (i am on incapacity benefit- but this still counts) you get what they call an 'underlying' entitlement- which means if you ever stop working then you don't have to fill all the forms in agin to get it- this or the DLA itself then somehow 'triggered' the tax office to 'automatically' ammend our tax details to show a disabled child and this meant they increased what they pay us as child tax cred by £130 a month!!!(but i have to say i assume this related to our income...which isn't great!!! I don't want to raise your hopes etc...it may vary person to person) I was soooo shocked when one day i got out of the blue a cheque for £700!!! This was something to do with how they calculate and spread the rest over the rest of the financial year....i didn't dare spend any till i got a letter!!! Getting DLA for ds1 and then the increase to the tax award (which was a BONUS) has made such a difference to how we feel when he accidently destroys another toy/book/headphones(they are his 'favourite' to spin...along with still chewing playstation controllers!)...I look at the DLA as in part taking the pressure off him ...as before we had to be soooo careful when he was around ...it's not that 'he breaks it- we buy it' he still has to go without sometimes when we think he was 'deliberate' in his destruction- but mainly we see it as his Asperger's and therefore the DLA REALLY helps!!(also with 'obsessive/Sensory/special Interests' DLA is a life saver because you are better able to be able to go to visit places they like/buy things they 'need' and in the case of clothes i recently was 'able' to buy 7 pairs of the same pyjamas so that he can definitely have the same'comfy' ones every night! And then there's food....we would avoid eating out before as it cost too much to have plates of food left untouched - now we 'see it differently' welet him choose once a month where to go for a 'treat' and if he wants us all to have icecreams and the other 2 leave theirs and he picks all the 'bits' off the pizza etc....it 'just doesn't matter' I HOPE NOONE READING THIS IS APPALLED BY WHAT I AM SAYING....it's just B4 DLA we it was so hard to keep calm when we were on such a low income when he broke his socks/school uniforms/diddn't eat meals etc

OP posts:
coppertop · 08/01/2004 08:26

Can anyone tell me if I could apply for DLA for ds1 without a written diagnosis? Despite telling us that ds1 has AS, the Paed is being cautious and won't put anything in writing until after the full assessment. At the moment all she has written is "DS1 is showing difficulties with social interaction, communication and some rigidity of behaviour and need for routines. He requires a detailed CDU assessment with regard to the possibility of an autistic spectrum disorder."

mrsforgetful · 08/01/2004 10:15

My feeling when i read the form was that yes you can apply....all it goes on about all the way through is 'can the child do things that other children the same age can do'.....try looking at this from a website (link included)- it REALLY helped me and i have WICKEDWATERWITCH to thank as it was her link to it originally that actually brought me to mumsnet!!!

I chose the 'mental' health one as it is very relevent to my asperger's experiences...however they also have reference to physical health too...

Disability living allowance two minute mental health test for children

taken from bhas
barton hill advice service

Step 1
Look through this list of some (but not all) of the activities that are relevant to DLA:

walking outdoors in unfamiliar places
staying safe when left alone
learning new skills
playing
waking up, getting up and going to bed
washing, bathing and showering
dressing and undressing
going to the toilet
communicating with other people
eating and drinking
taking medication or using medical equipment
sleeping in bed at night
moving about indoors
social and leisure activities

Step 2
Choose one of the activities above that your child has difficulties with.

For example, your child may have difficulties with walking outdoors in unfamiliar places because they do not clearly understand the danger from traffic; dressing and undressing because they forget what they are doing, get distracted or put clothes on back to front or in the wrong order; going to the toilet because they tend to hold in urine and faeces until they are extremely uncomfortable or sleeping because they have nightmares or sleepwalk.

Step 3
With your chosen activity in mind answer the following true or false questions If your child's condition is a variable one, so the answer is sometimes True and sometimes False then the answer is True. (We explain how to deal with fluctuating conditions in our downloadable guide).

My child can do it:

but only more slowly than other children of the same age True or False?
but only with more help than other children of the same age True or False?
but not as safely as other children of the same age True or False?
but only by following a rigid routine True or False?
but they need more encouragement than other children of the same age True or False?
but they need a closer eye kept on them than other children of the same age True or False?
or: my child can't do it, but other children of the same age can True or False?

Step 4
If you haven't answered True to any of the questions, try the test again with another activity from the list and so on, until you've found a statement that is true or decided that there aren't any.

Step 5
If the answer is True to any of those questions in relation to any activity then your child may be entitled to DLA. Whether they are actually eligible for Disability Living Allowance, and at what rate, will depend on how many activities they have problems with and which ones they are. Download a copy of the children's mental health guide for details of how to make a claim.

This is the www. bit you need....

www.bhas.org.uk/dla_guide.htm

OP posts:
Eulalia · 08/01/2004 22:33

coppertop - my feelings are that we got the DLA award much easier because we had an 'official' diagnosis. some of the form asks for a statement from medical specialists. If there is any doubt it may make them award you a lower rate so might be best to hang on till you get the diagnosis. However if your appointmetn is too far off you can still claim but you may need to claim again or at least tell them of the changes of circumstances when you get a diagnosis.... also I think you can claim and then tell them you may have further info pending... whatever you feel comfortalbe with. I do know that if there is doubt they can send a doctor to examine your child. Seems to be that the more clear cut it is the easier it is for htem to make the award.

coppertop · 08/01/2004 22:43

I'm hoping that the full assessment will be sometime soon (now don't all laugh at once! )
We were told that it would be "after Christmas" and that we woud have plenty of time to think about statementing (yes, I thought it was funny too!). If it saves filling in the forms twice I might leave it for now.

I'll save those guidelines you posted Mrsf. They were really useful.

Davros · 08/01/2004 23:08

Eulalia's right, it could be worth getting it started now as it might then be backdated to NOW, woo hoo!

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