Autism High Functioning

[Ls2766]

Hi All

My 6 year old son was diagnosed with Autism in February. We were very lucky and he had his diagnosis is under a year this was mainly due to our local NHS trust sending us to a private clinic due to the wait times. I’ve recently applied for DLA for him as advised by the paediatrician. My son is high functioning when it comes to school
work like reading, maths and English but struggles tremendously with social circumstances and friends and masks at school and is very literal and routine driven, He wakes up at least 2/3 times a night for sensory input from myself or if he’s had an overstimulating day he suffers from night terrors. He is also very sensory towards water and food and cleanliness. He won’t use the toilet at school. I could really go on. My question is that when I’ve been in the thread about DLA on here so many people have sent so much evidence. I have literally Applied by filling in the form and sending his Diagnosis letter. As I have no other evidence besides this letter as he only had an ADOS assessment and his autism assessment. He is on the SEN register as school now. Does anyone have any advice as I'm worried the claim will be rejected due to the lack of evidence bur I don’t have any to give? His teacher couldn’t fill in the form as she said she already have the private clinic all the info?

Does anyone have an advice or been in a similar circumstance?

thank you for reading

It is about quality of evidence rather than quantity. For some, a diagnosis letter is sufficient.

Do you have anything from school? It doesn’t have to be specifically for the DLA form. It could be minutes from a meeting with the SENCO, emails, SEN Support plans, reports… Although the teacher could still complete the form. Anything from the GP e.g. where you have discussed difficulties, sleep problems etc? The referral letter since it is less than a year old?

Agree that it is more about the quality than quantity, and to be honest, how detailed, clear and specific your own answers are. The evidence is mainly just there to back up what you say.

My own DD didn't even have a diagnosis when we were awarded DLA and I had nothing from the school. All I sent was a letter from the community paediatrician detailing our initial ASD appointment (which advised that she recommended DD be put on the ASD pathway) and an OT sensory assessment report. I however included four additional pages clearly and comprehensively setting out how much additional care DD required in answer to the questions.