Should I appeal against DLA decision or would that be shooting myself in the foot?

[OddFodd]

I applied for DLA for DS who has severe dyspraxia and have been awarded higher rate personal care (yay!) but nothing for mobility (boo).

(incidentally - they received my application on Nov 5th so they processed it very quickly)

If I appeal against the lack of mobility allowance, will they review the personal care one and possibly reduce it? Should I be grateful that I've managed to get what I have?

My son has this too and struggles to walk as well (pain and he falls over). They wouldn't allow him to have the mobility element (twice) so I gave up. It doesn't go against you so it's worth trying. It's really hard to get though He gets the medium rate personal care, which helps as I have to escort him to school (the pain, the falling over and he also falls asleep on the bus and forgets to get off/walks off without his bag). Crazy system.

DD2 has HRC and LRM for Dyspraxia so it is possible. If you appeal be certain your original claim is clear for night as well as daytime care. If you have been clear on his night time needs they are unlikely to drop it to middle rate. As HRC is day and night care but MRC is only day or night.

HRC is £80 ish pounds LRM is £21 ish MRC is £55 ish.

So if you went from HRC (£80) to MRC (£55) plus LRM (£21) you would only be loosing £4 ish a week. So even if they dropped it you wouldn't be much worse off but if they added it it would be an extra £21 a week. I would risk that for the LRM.

I made it v clear that it's night and day do assume that's why I got HR care. Hmm an extra 20 a week would be handy. I might give cerebra a call tomorrow and see what they advise.

Thanks both. So very pleased to have got hrc that I sort if feel I should be v pleased I managed to get that!

I'm pretty sure ds was awarded the medium care because he wakes in the night and falls off his bed/down the stairs etc, so needs supervising 24 hours a day.

I think they will look at the entire claim again. HR mobility is very difficult to get but if he has mobility issues then it might be worth pushing for it.

be aware the getting High rate care (as opppsed to middle rate) gives you extra tax credits (you get something extra for middle rate care but the top up for children with high rate care is higher).

I wouldn't worry about dropping to middle rate care then, wishing you a speedy decision.

? pushing for low rate mobility

Lady if your DC has significant care needing your attention day and night you should be on HRC. HRC is for support day and night. Your current rate is only for either night or day.

Night time is classed from when the whole house is asleep rather than DC bed time. So if your waking for DC I can't remember the exact timings they use but '1/2 hour a night or regular , multiple waking/care throughout the night for short periods' rings a bell.

Missed a bit

so it might be worth checking the rates out again and asking for yours to be re looked at.

Thank you, I have to fill in a renewal form. I just need to muster up the will to do it first.

My DS was awarded HRC & LRM, he has ASD. On the notes it says he was entitled to LRM because he needs someone to guide or supervise him when walking on routes that are unfamiliar.

So you need to apply that to your DS. Can they understand routes or signs? Is their short term memory affected or do they have so that they struggle with following directions? Are there any sensory issues, eg noises that makes them bolt? Do they have anxiety that can cause meltdowns or refusals to walk? Go back to the cerebra site and look at the mobility questions, if you have any reports that mention difficulty in these areas then highlight them in your reconsideration.

Also it's very difficult to get mobility for children under 5. Good luck.

good point. is he 5 yet? if he is under 5 they only award HRM. LRM is only applicable for 5+

He's nearly 8. I think it's probably because I said he doesn't get lost because actually he has a very good visual memory so can recognise places we've been before. However when I collected him from his new school early this week, he got totally lost again trying to find the school office so I think I overstated his ability to find his way. He's constantly running off too - I can't let go of his hand because he is liable to bolt randomly.

My son's 15 and been at his school since year 7 (so 4 years) and he still gets lost I hope cerebra can help you.

The assessors would consider getting lost in a fairly new environment a normal reaction and not a mobility issue. The bolting is a different matter but you would have to provide reasons why that happens, eg anxiety, SPD, behavioural etc.