Dla taken away?

[Goohaa86]

Hi

Just after some advice , my son is almost 7 and was diagnosed with autism at aged 2. Currently he recieves high rate care ( he has always recieved this ) and low rate mobility ( awarded at his second award when he was 4/5. We are due to reapply in 2015 I know it's a way ahead but I'd like to be prepared. This money pays for activities , equipment etc which makes his life easier and I won't like the extra we recieve in tax credits helps our general living , I'm not ashamed of this it all benefits my son and I can not work due to his condition and the type of childcare I'd need I can only work certain hours and I have tried and tried to find work but I've had no luck ( it's very specific what I need ) so I am going to start a degree in order to secure a better future ..... I've gone on , anyway I'm just trying to work out if he is likely to get re awarded so I can plan ahead .... I'm so used to doing what I do that I only realise how much it is when I see a non autistic child of his age!

He attends a special needs school and is statemented , he has improved a lot in terms of speech and his work at school is great . He has meltdowns , he's very obsessive about things, he does not understand danger - I've seen him run and hug strangers, sit on their laps , although he knows to wait at lights if he saw something in the road or other side , or if other people crossed etc I've no doubt that he would run out! He puts things in his mouth , he does not wash his hands after the toilet unless prompted ( except at school ) and does not wipe his bottom ( he doesn't go for no2 in school ) if left alone on the toilet I have found him to wipe it on the wall , he struggles with "normal" activities for eg he goes to a kids club with his sister and because he didn't get a certificate when he got one the week before he had a complete meltdown for about 3 hours. I hate saying these things as I feel like I'm criticising him , he's a lovely kind boy and one of the 3 most able in his class ..... This makes me really happy sometimes and I see more hope for his future but then I think well if he had improved so much they would change his statement or recommend mainstream school but they never do.

Anyway I've gone off topic, I don't like to get too deep as i will end up having a good cry!! So my question what is the likelihood he wouldn't be re awarded dla has this happened to anyone ?

On the information you have given, it is unlikely that he will lose his award.

Whether he would still get high rate care depends on how he sleeps at night.

Hmm on the whole he's ok , it takes a good while to settle him and we have to do EXACT routine , if he stays asleep it's great however if he wakes he can't be alone he is not safe I have to supervise him to the toilet and I have to stay awake in case he goes downstairs as he can't get up alone but then what 7 year old can get up and be left unsupervised? If he wakes up enough to get up in the night then it can take a long time to settle but if he only stirs and notices the lamp is on he will go back to sleep xx

what 7 year old can get up and be left unsupervised?

I think you under estimate how much you do for DS. It becomes routine. You need to look at how much care an NT child needs to provide some perspective.

At that age NT children I know could be left unsupervised in the morning. They tend to be capable of making their own breakfast (cereal or toast), making a cup of tea, running and taking a bath, playing unsupervised, crossing at a pedestrian crossing, there's lots we do for our kids that other parents don't have to think about. It becomes normal to do all these things which doesn't help when filling in DLA forms

I can see no reason why his DLA would be cut. Might it help at the time to get a report from his teacher telling exactly how much help DS needs at school.