Supporting evidence for DLA claim for HFA DS?

[pannetone]

Have looked at the Cerebra guide which many of you have recommended and think could claim for my 14 year old DS diagnosed last year with HFA and severe anxiety disorder. Unsure who would provide supporting evidence.

DS only seen once by the developmental paediatrician and clinical psychologist who diagnosed him. Then did 12 sessions of CBT at CAMHS with a locum clinical psychologist who may now have moved on. Then referred on to a psychiatrist who has seen him once and prescribed medication and will continue to see him to review.

Would she be appropriate to ask - she doesn't know about the day to day difficulties we have with DS in any detail - partly because we've only seen her with DS present! GP only knows of DS' difficulties in a very general way - hasn't seen him often. How important is the detail of the supporting evidence?

CAMHS may still hold records. It's probably worth checking with them.

Meantime, (longshot) is he receiving any support at school or does anyone there know about his difficulties and understand them well?

Thanks ouryve - will speak to CAMHS and see what they say. DS does not receive specific support at school - beyond the subject staff being made aware of his difficulties. Seems that for the DLA form you need someone who can back up the difficulties the child has at home - not sure I've got anyone able to do this.

hiya pannetone

we got DLA for DS (AS &PDD) while he was being home educated,he wasnt under CAMHS-they had discharged him because we refused meds and he refused to have anything to do with them.

IIRC they did write to CAMHS and our input and he was awarded middle rate care and low mobility.

Jenks - who did you get to fill in that section on the DLA form called something like 'Who would you like to tell us about your child's disabilities'?
Would I possibly get lower rate mobility for DS - he usually manages familiar journeys ok - but needs lots of support and encouragement to do new journeys. And realistically he isn't as independent as his older brother was at that age. Much of this is because of his difficulties with communicating - he'd panic rather than be able to ask for help if anything unexpected happened.

im sure that i put the camhs psych down for that part but i also sent in all reports/asessments that i had.

yes it does sound like he would qualify for low rate,make sure you put what he is like at his absolute worst,eg if he struggles on journeys you would say he struggles 7 days a week cos you could be going on a journey any day and he would still have the same problem IYSWIM.

Will speak to CAMHS - I do have quite a few reports/assessments on DS, although didn't get a report following his 12 week CBT course - there obviously was some report done because DS was then referred on to the psychiatrist.

With DS and mobility issues it's more that he doesn't do unfamiliar journeys because of potential difficulties. And if it's a question of going to, say, the Post Office or the barber, he panics about making the trip (with or without myself or DH) because he can't deal with the conversations he might have to have when he gets there. So it's not only difficulties with getting places. But the overall effect is to limit how much he goes out.