filling in the DLA form and i have a question

[thriftychic]

im on the bit which asks has child had tests to help diagnose or treat illnesses/ disabilities.

i have a mountain of letters here , dating back to when he was about 2 or 3 , hes now 13 . they are about his low immune system which has now improved and isnt much problem , there is stuff about his de-sensitization which went on for 3 years for severe hayfever . he still has hayfever but not as bad .

do i include everything , or just recent stuff . how far back do i go ?

i got the DLA form after an aspergers diagnosis , so not sure if its just this i focus on ?

Put everything in which shows he needs extra care over and above that which a "healthy" NT 13 year old requires daily :)

Prioritise with primary dx first with others following showing how each impacts on the other and show how holisically this has a disabling effect on your child.

thanks this is blardy tricky !

not sure who could do a statement either . i think the psych who diagnosed might be best but we dont see him again for 6 weeks

can you phone and ask him?

i could try but hes not hes always so busy

Definitely worth a try, they will be used to providing such statements

bugger , ive another question , sorry..

my main problem with ds2 is his extreme violent aggressive meltdowns , when obviously he wont cooperate , go to school and is violent to me. they dont happen everyday but once started can go on and off for say a week. i have just ticked that the help he needs is 'the same most of the time'

should i be answering these questions as would be the case during these meltdowns .

for example , when hes calm which he has been all this week , he got out of bed and ready for school fine. last week when he was distressed about something he refused school 2 days, wouldnt get up and truanted another .

it asks does he need prompting to wake up , get up etc and for how long each day.

dont know how to answer !

Yes, they say you should describe a worst day, so work out how long you spend on one of those days and put that down.

ok thankyou i think as hes so good some weeks like this one i feel like a fraud !

You need to put down that he needs more care than a child without these behaviours and that you would be unable to get him to school/hospital etc without the use of a car, without your being there 1-1, and that this help if for his own wellbeing and safety. They will ask you to quantifiy this so place how many minutes/hours this takes, taking everything into consideration and how many days. State any supporting medical or educational evidence you have to back this up, state what the situation would be like if you weren't providing this support.
The form is tricky as you find it asks you the same question in many different formats. Please get some help filling this out so that you get all that you are entitled to.

have you seen the cerebra DLA guide, it is really helpful (I used this and got HRC and HRM for my DD who has autism)

..... also think of how you would be feeling if this were one of those bad weeks, and fill the form in with this in mind, it may spur you on a little if things get tough. Its awful to keep going over in writing the disabilites and problems your own child faces - I was very upset when I did ours, its horrible. Chocolate and wine help!

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

thanks