DLA WAITING TIMES THREAD 64

[zoeybrooks45]

Please feel free to add your scan date and whether it's a new claim/mandatory reconsideration/change of circumstances or renewal.
New claims (NC) - people are being told the wait time has increased to 25 weeks! I would say most are done before this though around the 20 week mark?
Mandatory reconsideration (MC) and Change of circumstances (COC) is around 20-25 weeks.
Renewals tend to be between 15-20 weeks.
If you disagree with the outcome of an MR you can appeal and go to court (tribunal)
Scan date is the date DLA scan your application forms on to their system, if you downloaded your application forms then this will be from when your award will be backdated from. If you called up for forms then the date on those is the date yours will be backdated from.
If successful and claiming universal credit (UC) please update them as this will entitle you to disabled child element adding extra to your award.

currently waiting patiently for an update on my coc, hoping for hrc🤞🏼 if it goes from mrc to hrc do uc also pay the difference in backpay?

SD 24/5/24
MR 04/10/24
feel like everything is a fight. Decline reasons were awful, son has joint hyper mobility and knee dislocations. Under consultant and physio. I will take to tribunal if necessary, but this whole process is so stressful, feel like I’ve been waiting for such a long time to be knocked down again.

Our renewal form was received by DLA on 19.12.24 and claim rejected by letter on 21.12.24 I don’t understand how this was looked at in such a short time frame when my daughter was previously awarded high rate and low rate mobility?

We have asked for MR and sent in further evidence as her diagnostic report for autism and adhd has just come through three weeks ago.

NC SD 12/08/24
Decline 23/12/24
MR 02/01/25

Claim is for my son with moderate to severe bilateral hearing loss. He wears hearing aids.

National Deaf Children's Society have helped me with the MR but still not feeling confident and anticipating having to go to tribunal.

Can I ask if it’s permanent hearing loss? As it’s in the DLA handbook the rate to award for hearing loss. How old is your child? My child previously had hearing loss moderate aswell.

Unsure if permanent or not. It started 3 years ago with glue ear and we were advised would likely resolve in 3 months. Audiologist now believes the hearing loss may be permanent due to defective eustachian tube or ear drum retraction complications but he still presents with glue ear as well. Waiting on an ENT referral.

We were declined with reasons given that as my son wears hearing aids he can navigate roads as safely as his peers and does not require any frequent attention throughout the day.

Does he need help to manage his hearing aid? Change the battery, put them in and take them out. When he doesn’t have them in, eg to sleep, does he require extra care like can he hear an alarm? I think they’ve been quite unfair there to be honest. Hope you can argue it with them.

Hi Teegie,
Am sorry to hear of the refusal to award dla, but good to hear that the national deaf children’s society is helping you with the mr.
Do you have any other developmental delays or educational difficulties that your son experiences. Any communication difficulties or emotional issues. I have worked with a few children with varying levels of hearing impairment and can say that it does generally have other sensory, emotional, cognitive strains on the children. Although every child is different, so apologies if that’s not the case. For example, they may get tired more easily and more often that other children, they may need scaffolding with their work and extra breaks to refocus. Some may need speech and language therapy. Can school provide details of any extra support that your son needs? Hope your mr is successful and wishing you all the best x

oh I understand we had moderate hearing loss from glue ear and hearing aids whilst awaiting surgery. We also had speech delay and behaviour difficulties which later turned out to be autism.we had teacher of the deaf, SALT and ENT consultant. We were pre school age. We were awarded MRC for two years. Hopefully your MR works on your side. X

This makes me so cross and shows total ignorance of the realities of wearing hearing aids for a child - or anyone. A fundamental flaw with hearing aids is that they amplify all sounds and take away the wearer’s ability to tell the direction a sound is coming from. Hearing aids give a ‘surround sound’ effect so a child (or adult) wearing hearing aids simply cannot tell the direction from which a vehicle is coming from - which obviously can put them at risk when trying to cross a road. This absolutely puts them at much greater danger when crossing a road compared to a child with normal hearing. So a child wearing hearing aids must use their eyes to help them cross a road, but if an oncoming vehicle is out of sight, eg around a bend or obscured by a parked car for instance, then that child wearing hearing aids is at much greater risk than a normal hearing child who can use their ears to pick up that a vehicle is coming from a certain direction and know not to step into the road at that moment. Not to mention the fatiguing and disorientating effect of standing in a busy street with the surrounded sound of traffic noises for a kid wearing hearing aids. They have no idea what they’re talking about!

Yes he does which I detailed all of on the initial application. Honestly it feels like the decision maker didn't even read anything I wrote.

Can I ask when you scan date was for your change of circumstances I’m waiting aswell

He doesn't have any developmental delays but definitely suffers from listening/concentration fatigue. We're waiting on a referral to Teacher of the Deaf to help with school. I think unfortunately because he initially presented as glue ear which is usually temporary and it was during COVID we've kind of been pushed to the bottom of the pile and forgotten about. My son also does well at school so doesn't reach the top of the pile for any extra support. Hopefully the Teacher of the Deaf will at least be able to provide him with a radio aid for school which should help loads.

When I spoke to the NDCS I said it feels like the decision maker has based their decision on their own personal opinions of what it is like to be a hearing aid user rather than the reality of our lived experience and all the science.

Yes. They assume that wearing hearing aids transforms a deaf child into a normal hearing child! They don’t realise that hearing aids, although great in the right conditions, have a lot of limitations and even bring their own problems in noisy environments. I hope you can overturn this decision made on pure ignorance and get what your child deserves. Good luck x

@Justanotherlove hi You pointed out the awards length i just got off the phone with dla and they awarded my son under vuw not smi? You were right with smi they give out longer awards. Thank you but I don’t understand why vuw, the advisor on the phone couldn’t answer my question and told me to wait for the letter that was sent out.

Has anyone had an update on their Mandatory Reconsideration with a scan date around 2/9/24? I daren't ring and ask again after last time, I could barely get my words out the advisor on the phone made me feel as though I was a pest. (It was my first time ringing too!)

Nc scan date 2nd october 2024

Just called its with a decision maker 🤞👀 my nerves are gone now!

Yes , make sure you request x

NC 10.10.24
I have just rang to see if they received the extra information I sent they have, this is such a long process.
The guy on phone said it will be with decision maker soon.
Has any October new claims got a decision yet?

My daughters nc scan date 2nd oct with decision maker i rang this morning x

Sc 02/10/24 rang this morning. Not with a dm yet and told could be any time between now and end of March before I hear a response

@Frankadoodle
@UmElise
Thank you both ❤️❤️

Same sd as mine. Hope for the best 🤞.

4/11 but I called last week as I had 2 letters one said 11 weeks and the other said 15 weeks, the lady I spoke to said there currently taking 20 weeks so I should hear something mid march 🤞🏼
hope yours doesn’t take too long x