Disabled facilities grant eligibility

[1995SENNDMUM]

Good morning, hoping someone might be able to help me.
Spoke to NHS OT about adaptations for DS a few weeks ago and waiting a call back from the OT dealing with it but the secretaries implied his case has gone to the MDT as he has no extreme behaviours as such and that it probably wouldn't be considered for a DFG.

He's autistic, non verbal and most of his developmental scores were 2-3 years delayed when the EP said him just before he turned 4. However, I couldn't get paeds to do a LD assessment when I asked recently as they said only an EP can do the cognitive assesment and they don't have one themselves (but implied that a moderate learning disability diagnosis might be appropriate in the future).

Adaptations wise;
I d asked about changing our bath to a shower as it's going to get dangerous for us lifting and holding him in it over time as he's 20kg now at 5.
Considering a safety bed as he ll jump on his bed when he wakes in the middle of the night and has broken one doing this before.
And finally considering whether we could change his door to a stable door option as his gross motor skills are the least delayed and he ll be climbing gates soon on top of his absolute no sense of danger.

Baring in mind he doesn't have a LD diagnosis yet and he's not injured himself or others is it reasonable for them to say with his needs that he doesn't need adaptations?

It is about needs and individual circumstances rather than diagnosis. An LD diagnosis isn’t a pre-requisite. Injuries can be used as evidence to support a request but aren’t essential. You need to show the work is necessary and appropriate and reasonable and practical. What is necessary and appropriate should be considered before considering what is reasonable and practical. No-one can say for certain whether you qualify or not based on the limited information in your post.

Things such as specialist beds are often provided outwith the DFG process.

For the bathroom, they may try to assess whether support to help DS get in/out safely with support such as a grab rails &/or step &/or bath seat/transfer board. If they try to do this, you should raise the issue of caring for your back longer term.

A stable door is likely to take more convincing. If DS will climb over a gate, will he not attempt to climb a stable door?

If you haven’t already, it is worth reading the guidance here. Also this guidance.

Thank you for the comprehensive reply:)
It was actually the OT that brought up the door in the initial call I had with them, I m concerned about the gate but would try any alternatives suggested for that really.

Oh I hadn't come across options to fund a specialist bed separately, the couple of charities I came across either needed an OT assessment with a letter saying it couldn't be funded by any other means.

The bathroom is quite badly designed in general, we ve got the toilet almost touching the bath at one end so I wasn't sure they would agree that there's not an appropriate amount of space for seats or using a board, then there's the matter of keeping him safe in the bath as we do end up doing a lot of leaning to try to keep him safe with one hand at the moment with the shower head in the other.

Leaning over the bath is exactly what I meant about raising caring for your back if removing the bath is rejected and the favoured option is trying rails &/or steps &/or seats/boards. You only get one back. It is vital you care of it and I regret not taking more care. Caring takes a physical toll. A shower would be the cheaper option than a rise and fall bath.

Lots of equipment is funded outwith the DFG process. It isn’t only specialist beds. The exact process varies area to area.

I would be worried about a stable door. Many who would try to climb a gate would also try to climb a stable door.

I would definitely much prefer a shower and happily lose the option of a bath. I have conditions impacting my knees and feet and DCD already so am guaranteed to have osteoarthritis down the line at this point. so I would definitely like to avoid any back problems, I didn't think that in itself would matter in the assessment as I ve managed DS needs as best as I could so far but I will certainly bring it up when they callback to add to the argument that seating wouldn't be appropriate now.

Too often LAs only look at the immediate, but when looking at adaptations, they should also consider the future. Also, all too often, the carer’s needs are wrongly ignored.

Hello saw this and thought I would reply with what has happened thanks to OT for my daughter. Yes she is 18 but when we first applied for OT help she was 17 almost 18.
OT came out and did initial assessment. Team sent was lovely, looked at medical paperwork and also what I brought up from google to explain what my daughters conditions were and how they affected her for different tasks. Mainly that she was in danger with a bath due to orthostatic intolerance. Also took into account that it affected others in the home like myself as she couldn't have a bath without me being home and in the next room should an event occur.
They assessed our previous bathroom and within days had sent a temporary bath board whilst they filled in the paperwork with my housing provider (Local housing authority) to get a whole new bathroom with a different door (bi-fold). There was never any mention of a grant as they said based on my bathroom I was due a new one soon anyway so they were simply speeding the timeline and changing from a bathtub to a full shower with easy access, grab rails, space for a shower seat etc.
Within a few weeks I had a guy out from housing to measure and draw up plans.
Within about 3 weeks of his visit OT came back with plans for us to sign off on. They also arranged additional rails one by the toilet and an additional on the stairs for my daughters safety.
2 weeks after we signed off a start date was sent for works to commence (September 1st just as all 3 of my kids were going back to school/college). Work on the actual bathroom plus additional grab rails completed September 5th with last joiner coming September 8th to change the bathroom door.
This has helped our family so much, my daughter has her independence back for using the bathroom and my boys are happier now they can have a quick shower instead of having to run a bath.
If you are in council or housing association housing I don't know if grants actually get used of if they decide to cover the cost themselves for the adaptations to keep long standing tenants happy and comfortable.
Private landlords can and have refused to do adaptations for tenants even with OT involvement. If this is your case reach out with the OT assessment to your local housing authority for possible rehousing.
If it is your own property grants would be used but with a lot more paperwork as they would give you a list of possible companies that can do the work for the cost but plans would have to be made and confirmed between you, OT and the company doing the work before grant can be issued to cover the cost.
Also grants aren't always granted for a better term, sometimes they are refused based on income (they believe you can save and cover it yourself) or because they don't believe you need the adaptations.
I know we were extremely lucky that my daughters OT has a son with similar conditions so she understood the safety and independence needs easier. She was also able to put this across in her report getting the adaptations done in a timely manner. Others aren't so lucky. However its definitely worth trying not only for your child's current and future safety and independence but also for your own.
Knowing my daughter can use the bathroom safety and more independently has eased my mind substantially. Also knowing that we have OT assessments to back up her care needs has helped for her education and hopefully her claim for PIP is a great bonus.
If you have further questions please reach out and I will answer whatever I can.

sometimes they are refused based on income

DFGs for children cannot lawfully be refused because of parental income or capital. That is unlawful. Anyone who has that happen can challenge the decision.

Sorry I simply pointed out what my OT had said during one of the visits.
Ours recently merged multiple age groups into one bigger group and she was mentioning about a previous client no names or details given obviously but just that they had been refused help for adaptations because of income.
She didn't say what age or if that person was before or after the merge as before she only covered older adults.
Only mentioned because she was happy about how quickly we managed to get it all done.