DLA - feeling weird about applying

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DD1 was diagnosed with ASC last August, age 4. Recent assessment for her EHCP form at school puts her development (now almost 5) largely in the 22-36 month range, some in 8-20 months. We have been encouraged by Autism services and a relative who has an adult child with SN to apply for DLA.

After printing the form off over 3 months ago, after much prodding from DH I've now filled it in, but I feel really weird about it.

Does anyone else apply for/receive DLA for a child with ASC?

Yes. I receive DLA for my DS who is 9 and has HFA. We use it to pay for play therapy.

I hated doing the form, it’s really upsetting. You’ve done wellyo put it all in paper, and I’d recommend you send it off. The payments are there for you to use to help your DC.

Tons of people!

Ds was awarded high rate care at 2.5 before he went on to be diagnosed with autism aged 4. You don’t need a diagnosis at all to claim dla, it’s about how much care a child needs compared to their peers.

If you haven’t already please google the “cerebra dla guide” and use this to check you’ve filled in the form correctly - there are tons of pointers there about what they look for.

Thank you for replying. I've not heard of that guide I'll take a look.

Is there guidance on what you can use DLA for?

You can use dla for whatever you like as long as it benefits the child- that means you can also include it in the general household income for bills, mortgage payments, etc etc. Anything really!

Don’t forget you can also claim carers allowance and extra tax credits too if you qualify. You might want to google those too for more information- if you get tax credits you get an extra disability element if you get dla.

@Fairylea would I be able to use it to subsidise a car? I'm learning to drive but we'd probably not be able to afford for me to have a car at the moment if/when I pass. It would make life a lot easier as I can't go anywhere on foot except 2 exact routes (school and my DMs house) but she will go places in a car.

As the pp says, you can use it for whatever you want, whatever makes life easier for your disabled child and therefore for you.

Please do it OP.

I felt exactly the same.

I rung today and it was granted. We can afford to take our DS out more now to places he’d love like the zoo.. (he is obsessed with animals)

I think everyone feels like it at some point tbh. But there’s no need.

Please do it! Our payments just go into our general household pot, we don’t allocate it to something for DS but we do spend extra on him eg 1:1 swim classes, therapy so it helps. Also the letter is really useful for evidence of disability so you can get disabled entry to places - again that felt weird but showing a letter avoids anyone feeling embarrassed about asking etc and we rarely last as long as other people at places so it helps not make things a waste of time and money!

you can use DLA as you want. Ours is part of our general income - having a disabled child mean usually a huge drop or a complete loss off income bar CA so I image that DLA is used by most families to pay the bills rather than for specific child related activities/equipment.

Nobody will ever as you how you spend it!

and definitely check out the cerebra guide for the DLA application. There is a certain way to fill it in. And if you get refused, go for MC and appeal if needed. Pretty standard esp with first applications to be turned down.

Please do apply

Ds is 5, he's just emerging in the 22-36 months range for most, he is 16-26 months for self help skills.

He's about 2.5 yrs delayed overall.

He has autism as well as the development delay, he has received high rate dla since 2.10 yrs and has just had it renewed until his 12th birthday and now has mobility too.

We also receive carers allowance and the disability element of tax credits.

It is so helpful. It helps us run our car and so many other things! My dh works full time but I gave up my part time job when things got too much with ds and had we not had the extra income this wouldn't of been possible.

@danni0509 how do you find claiming CA affects tax credits? I’ve heard claiming CA can off set the increase in tax credits as they deem it as taxable income.

My son is 11 and has an ASD diagnosis and will be assessed for ADHD shortly.

I haven't applied for DLA as I didn't think I would be successful. He can dress himself, do his breakfast and walk to school independently etc.

However I pay for trampoline lessons to help strengthen his core and coordination-he is hypermobile- and a tutor to help with his maths once a week -he struggles because he finds it difficult to process and concentrate-. Would they consider this kind of input for DLA?

bgd
for DLA, diagnosis is actually not relevant. it just looks at extra care needs. to qualify, you child needs to have care needs (help with person care but also constant supervision etc) over and above that of a 'typical' child of the same age. Going on a trampoline to strengthen muscle probably won't qualify but if he has an asd dx then he probably needs a lot more help/promoting/supervision with day to day activities compared to other children of his age.

Google for cerebra guide. It talks you through all the questions and gives you points to consider. often, we are so used to doing extra things for our children that this help becomes second nature and we don't think about it as extra care.

Definitely yes I felt weird.

On renewal recently at 6 she was given HRC/LRM for 6 yrs... and I still haven’t told anyone as I find it hard to accept.

Thanks buttertoff. There is probably a lot I do for him which has become second nature, however I don't have to help him with care needs and he can be left unsupervised so I guess we wouldn't be eligible.

have a look at the cerebra guide. does he have an EHCP/lots of extra help at school too?

He has ALNCO support in school and goes to a couple of weekly support sessions. I don't think we have EHCP in Wales.

Felt really weird, but needs must. Pays for private therapy and general stuff.

have started our application today - not expecting more than the lowest amount, but spurred on by others and a recent seizure, has prompted me to do it.

It definitely felt weird for me and i found the form filling quite stressful, but the cerebra guide is excellent. I keep a copy of the reward letter in my bag and we use it for free carer entry into museums, theme parks, days out etc.

DLA query (Scotland) - does a Wellbeing Assessment and Plan as drafted by the school equate to one of the plans mentioned in Q19 (IEP, or co-ordinated support plan as they say the Scotttish one is.)?

I have four children with ASD, I have DLA for two of them and thinking of applying for a third. I also fill out DLA form for families with children with disabilities as part of my job. We have hundreds of families who apply. I use ours to replace the things that regularly get broken, pay for sensory tools and subsidise my pay as I can only work part time with my four because I need to be there before and after school and in the holidays, there isn't child care for older children. Apply, be honest and fight if and when they refuse, remember they are refusing/downgrading a lot of people who are eligible to save money. The last few years we've had a huge increase in the amount of people needs to ask for MR and go to appeal. Good Luck.

If you're not entitled they'll say no... if you are entitled they'll probably say no to start with anyway so you have nothing to lose.

We got turned down, refused MR because, and I quote, "DD2 is a well behaved little girl" - apparently I applied for the star of the week award instead or something - and my mental strength wasn't high enough to take it further to tribunal.

If nowt else you're keeping a claims decision maker in continued employment!

Just as an update - thank you for everyone's replies - she has been awarded middle rate care and lower rate mobility.

That’s a start but I would still ask for more they always start low.Indidnt apply for years but I’m glad I did and have also convinced lots of families to claim infact most didn’t even know about it.