DLA telephone tribunal

[Anon778833]

I have my daughters DLA tribunal coming up next week on Monday and it will be over the phone.

The DWP ignored my requests for them to wait for me to send evidence of her difficulties and just sent me a rejection letter.

I have therefore sent our most recent report To the tribunal which diagnoses Autism and also makes reference to her other difficulties (inattentive ADHD and motor coordination disorder).

She’s 11 years old and still can’t do her buttons up or tie her shoelaces. Will the tribunal accept that this is the case because I tell them?

The reports mainly talk about her communication difficulties and that she has the triad.

I’m just wondering what to expect?

Bump

Anyone?

Hi, not being able to do up buttons or shoelaces is very unlikely at 11 to get a DLA award. Their needs have to significantly more impact on their lives compared to their peer age group.

A useful guide is the Cerebra DLA booklet and the nasen.org.uk paper (published 2016) "Girls and Autism: Flying Under the Spectrum". Not questioning you but those were the resources DD1's SENCO forwarded to me many years ago, now going through the joy that is the PIP claim.

By the way, if you've got a diagnosis letter after starting the claim, it may change how it goes.

@DishwasherRequireda I don’t think so. The diagnosis is somewhat irrelevant. It’s the needs that are relevant and the DWP has in their defence, accepted her dx in the section entitled ‘facts of the case’

You think a child who can’t dress or wash themselves at 11 does not have needs that significantly impact them, really? Can I just ask how you know this? Are you a legal bod because my other child had a DLA award and those things were important then.

In terms of written information, most of the report focuses on her autism and how it affects her - there is a very long list of needs and if says she has a complex profile. I didn’t realise this sort of thing is more important but certainly she’s a very long way from NT. and she’s also 2 years behind academically.

The hearing was actually adjourned because I had sent the information and it had not been received so the tribunal wanted to give me a chance to make sure all the information had been read.

@SugarbabyMilly I'm the PP, not a legal bod but a parent who has been through similar needs and the DLA process to get those needs recognised and approved so was trying to help. All the best.

@LaKaomayes I understand this but it’s confusing because different people seem to say different things. IVe been through this several times with another child so I’m sure I did fill the forms in correctly. But I’m the past I’ve always heard it said that diagnosis doesn’t make any difference - it’s the needs. I had assumed, perhaps incorrectly that my daughters self help skills are what they would mainly look at. I do have a list of her noted ASC specific problems - there are a lot. Strangely, the DWP have said in their defence argument that they accept Ste has all these conditions but not that her neees are more than other 11 year olds.

In any case, the tribunal was adjourned because the panel felt that it would help our case to get dd’s medical records.

The key is things that she cannot do that would be typical for peers to be able to do, so it's all the things, including not being able to dress herself, that you have to help with that you would not need to if she was developing typically.

I would focus on how these things impact in practical terms, eg not able to toilet independently as cannot sort her own clothes, difficulties changing for PE, getting uniform on etc.

It's not enough to just say it's a problem, you need to spell out how it impacts.

Good luck.