DWP Mobility for my Autistic son

[nicky693]

Please could someone help me. I have been appealing for high rate mobility since Dec 08. I currently get low rate mobility and high rate care.

I now have to go to an appeal tribunal. My son has Autism and ADHD to which he is on Ritalin.

My sons doctors are writing letters to take to the tribunal as they are convinced i am intitled to high rate mob as daily my sons life is in danger near roads etc. Please can i have some advise for the tribunal as i get tongue tied and to be honest all i can say has already been put on the many forms. Will the doctors letters be enough? The doctors are cross as they were not approached by the DWP but my sons school was, which doesnt make sense as in school he is in a confined space and not near roads. When on school trips he has 1 on 1.

Please can anyone advise me on what to say and can someone let me know if they were given the high rate after the tribunal.

Sorry this is a long one but the nearly a year long battle is frustrating now. Urrrrrrrr

I am in the same situation but DS is only 4 so we dont receive any mobility at all. Do you have a peadiatrician involved? Did they support your application?

Keep a diary outloining the problems you have taking him around. I am going to do one for ours which is coming up in August, talking about what happens when we do take him out. He ran away the other day- he is very fast but has no idea of roads, strangers or anything, He can not follow directions and does not come when you call his name. He managed to get quite far which absolutely terrified me. Another day I tried to walk him to the bus stop. He had to touch every fence panel on the way which slowed us down, he lost his shoe halfway and coudlnt tell me he is non verbal (I didnt notice as I was so determined we would actually make it to the bus stop), We had to go back to get it which he hates- he wont go back in the same direction and after we found it he had a complete melt down and wouldnt move. I had to half carry him home and push Ds2 in a buggy up a steep hill to go home as it was just getting rediculous. He often stops or lies on the floor if he doesnt want to go somewhere or if he feels tired.

Do you have anyone that is helping you with your appeal? There are organisations that do help CAB, Welfare rights officers, Disability groups etc.

givemesleep IIRC won this matter- find her

We're in thew same boat, DLA achieved this by acknowledging his mobility needs then downgraduing the rate of care so we don't qualify!!!!! The letter from Paed states ds3 is up 7 times a night but DLA can't seem to read that section.

I've given up for the emantime, so applaud you for carrying on (have new battles to face with regard to ds1's sn and ds3's SEN). Tis s tupid system.

Peachy they said we didnt qualify by taking all the information given and turning it on its head so- "he cant dress himself", became- "he can dress himself" etc. They are either idiots or trained to be deliberatly obtuse.

We have several paediatricians involved with my son, they each did a report outlining the problems. However they seem to have ignored these and have gone to the school to ask about my sons mobility. They couldnt ask half the questions as he isnt taken outside school and inside he cant escape due to the locked doors!! He also isnt near traffic or cars. I questioned DLA about this and asked why they hadnt gone to the paediatricians and they stated they need to go to an experienced person!!! Whos more experienced than the paediatricians that diagnosed my son and issue him with his medication. They also stated that DLA do not recognise Autism as a physical disability, they need to come around my house and see the daily challenges we face!!

I then stated that on their mobility magazine the other month they had an article about 3 children with autism who had been awarded high rate mobility and their needs were the same as my son. The lady on the phone then said 'well they obviously completed their forms better than you'. However i had the autistic society help me with my forms and they have been checked. It just seems that i have so much professional concreate evidence that they are not listening to.
thank you for the replies

hi all, my 7year old son has been diagnosed with ADHD and autism which i have been waiting for 3 years due to a 3 year assessment and would be grateful for any help in the mind field that is DLA. I was told to apply from my care worker and when i did i was refused ? so i was advised to ask them to look at it again which i did with the same result ? the person on the phone at DLA told me it was not classed as a physical nor a mental disability !! This has got me so mad and frustrated as to be told my son has ADHD and Autism was and still is heart breaking then to be told that they don`t recognise it as a disability adds to the heart break. I have been reading and checking the NAS web site and found a lot of use full information but would be grateful for as much help as i can get cheers .... nikki

Well they did ask our school which wrote a letter supporting our application and stating that they won't take ds out without 2:1 supervision. They still said no to high rate. I think they make the rules up as they go along.

We were initially awarded higher rate mobility at aged 5, then it was downgraded to lower rate when we had to renew ds1 claim. We did similarly to you and asked for reconsideration, turned down and then eventually went to appeal. There reasoning was that my ds was in their view making a conscious and reasoned decision not to walk etc. They did not think he was severely mentally impaired. I had a letter from GP and from social worker, stating the opposite to this. I also wrote an additional piece myself. When we got to the appeal, the DLA rep said that he had looked at paperwork and in particular letters from GP and social worker and didn't know why we had been turned down. He then said he was going to recommend that the benefit was awarded without going in front of the panel. I think the decision makers know that only a small proportion of parents actually have the will to go all the way to the tribunal and therefore they refuse on these grounds. Gather as many letters as possible stating that he is severely mentally impaired. Cerebra might be useful as they have some infor on what the criteria is. There was a post on here not long ago also on the criteria. I would really recommend that you dig your heels in and ask to go to tribunal.
Loftuslass- you have been fobbed off big time, autism is definitely covered by DLA and you should be receiving it. I would ask someone to help you appeal this decision. It might be that you have been too positive on your application, you need a strong drink by you when you fill it in because you have to be quite negative about your dc when you fill it in. If you go to the cerebra website they have a downloadable guide to filling in each section.

I can't really help right now - DD1 has just been awarded HRM on renewal, but I am waiting for reconsideration of the start date, so they could look and decide to reduce to LRM.

thank you cansu/lougle for the reply i will defo be appealing i want an explanation from the DLA rep at the tribunal as to how they dare treat children like this and how they can sleep at night .... nikki

just to add to my last post i have read somewhere that people are getting turned down due to the government trying to save money by hoping people wont appeal, crazy! it must cost a fortune for the government for these appeals to lose then have to pay DLA and all the back money + the cost of the wages of all the people involved and letters, paperwork etc then the appeal itself, now that does not make any sense at all plus the amount of people they are peeving (possible voters) madness !

I don't know that this is true, lofulass.

DD1 was receiving HRC with no mobility since 2008. Her renewal was due in December, so I sent her forms in in August. She was uprated to HRC/HRM from her renewal date. It is only that I think she should have the HRM from August that has made me ask for reconsideration.

I am biting my nails a bit waiting for the decision, though, in case they decide that she should only get LRM.

just been told by a very good friend who works for a solicitor that there is case law in that children who suffer with autistic spectrum disorder are entitled to DLA care and mobility [DOC] CDLA/3215/2001 - THE SOCIAL SECURITY COMMISSIONERSlity this is the case she sent me very interesting reading

There is lots of case law, including R/DLA 100, which cites IQ as unsuitable grounds for deciding against severe mental impairment.

This is also useful

cheers lougle just seems with so much case law how can they turn so many children and adults down, do they read there own rules ? seems not

It isn't diagnosis based, it is needs based. It is down to the claimant to demonstrate convincingly the need, and to supply evidence or give contact details for professionals who can back them up.

The SMI, Severe impairment of social interaction and Severe behavioural problems route to HRM is a quadrouple test.

You have to be able to demonstrate:

1. The claimant is entitled to HRC.
2. The claimant has severe mental impairment.
3. The claimant has severe impairment of social function
4. The claimant has severe beahvioural problems which require restraint to prevent harm or injury to self or others on a regular basis.

If the claimant cannot substantiate any one of those tests, the claim will fail as a whole, even if the other 3 conditions are extensively proven.

I know it is frustrating, but I don't think it is as easy as 'they don't read their own rules'. They can only go with what is written. They cannot presume, and they cannot award if it isn't written.

That is why forms should be filled in so very carefully, and be explicit. It is also worth remembering that the reason for some successful tribunal claims is that the panel have the opportunity to question the claimant's representative, and to expound and clarify answers, so they get to the information they need, which allows them to award, even if the written tribunal claim doesn't sufficiently evidence it. The initial decision makers can only look at the evidence given, and write to the professionals for further clarification, with very restrictive questions.

Basically, it isn't enough to say "there is case law in that children who suffer with autistic spectrum disorder are entitled to DLA care and mobility"

They aren't. Some children with ASD are entitled, others aren't. The spectrum is huge. They are only entitled if their ASD causes them to need substantially more care and attention than a typical child of their age.

Same applies to asthma - some children would be turned down. Needing a daily inhaler and occasional ventolin doesn't qualify. A child who has severe brittle asthma, with daily asthma attacks, infusions, etc., would.

Same with excema. Needing oilatum in your bath - no. Needing wet wrap bandages, cream every half-an-hour, specialist clothing, etc., yes.

Needs, not diagnosis.

cheers again lougle its all so complicated to me time to see a solicitor as they are sending my appeal forms out next week .... nikki

My mum tried this a few times with my brother. He is autistic and is poor in social situations. He is obsessed with emergency vehicles and despite being safe around roads most of the time if he hears a siren he will run to see where it is coming from.

If he is next to a road he will run into it without a seconds thought.
When you watch him it is very obvious that he has absolutly no control over this. He has been knocked down once and had several near missess. He is 24 now and still does it not restrained.When we're out with him and hear a siren we all grab his arm to stop him.

He cannot use public transport as he is unable to cope with the social aspect of it. We tried it once when he was about 17, getting him on the bus at my mums house and then following it to my Nans where he was supposed to get off.

He didn't get off where he should have and we had to follow the bus another 10 miles before he got off the bus. When we asked why he didn't get off he eventually told us it was because two boys had got on and he didn't want to go past them. I don't think the boys even spoke to him!.

Anyway despite being unsafe by roads, and unable to use public transport 9even in a taxi he cant say where he wants to go, nor deal with money/change etc) he didn't ualify as he didn't have a physical disability.

My mum used to get so upset as she has two friends both with ms, one who could drive and one who couldn't who both got cars on diasability, despite being able to use pblic transport etc.

I'm not saying people with ms shouldn't be entitled but it seemd so unfair that they had the capacity to be able to go where they wanted, even with their illness's. Yet my brother could go nowhere without 100% dependance on family and didn't qualify.

With hindsight, she should have appealed and kept fighting but I think sometimes there are only so many fights you can take on before it wears you down. Maybe we should challenge it again.

Godd luck op and well done you for challenging them.

ASD is a physical disability, Willmum, the DWP Decision Makers Guide makes that very clear.

I know that in the DWP decision makers guide as i have been told ASD is recognised as a physical disability and ADHD is recognised so why are so many people turned down to go to appeal and win plus when i rang and was told there decision 1st time (refused) then when i asked them to look at it again (refused again) the person on the phone said they must not recognise ASD nor ADHD as a phsicle disability (got it on tape as i always inform them that i am recording the conversation for future reference and my training purposes)as my son waited 3 years for diagnosis and was under a care worker and the main project who all sent reports in with my DLA claim form that he has ASD and ADHD and on medication for the latter i don`t think they take much notice of there own guides as to ASD and ADHD

No, no loftuslass that is a really important point. ADHD is not recognised as a physical condition, and any claim that relies on the SMI and SI of Social Function and HRC and behaviour route will fail if the only condition that is substantiated is ADHD.

"61359 It is not possible with the current state of medical knowledge to attribute the condition attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (commonly known as ADHD) to a state of arrested development or incomplete physical development of the brain within the meaning of the regulation. 1 reg 12(5)

61360 In cases involving attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the DM should make sure that the person has no other disability which could satisfy the severely mentally impaired test. Difficult cases should be referred to Medical Services for advice."

To be successful you have to show that the SMI arises from "a state of arrested or incomplete physical development of the brain..."

Although the guidance may change when the results from the recent research on ADHD filters through, the current guidance is that ADHD alone cannot satisfy the regulations.

So, although you can claim that the ADHD excacerbates the difficulties your DS has, any claim that he is SMI, etc. must rest on his ASD dx, not his ADHD, even if it his ADHD that causes him more problems. Do you see?

decision makers guide

lougle cheers - my point is that my son has ASD + ADHD and between the 2 diagnosis he meets the criteria and certainly qualifies on the fact that ASD is a physical disability, the fact that the form was filled in with everything that how his ASD affects him sent in accompanied by his diagnosis from his psychiatrist and letters from doctors regarding his medication also letters from his care worker as to his daily needs (in detail as she has been working with him for 3 years and helped with his diagnosis)and school all of which i read and agreed with his care needs, he also is on Methylphenidate for his ADHD and with all this they still refused my claim for DLA, it does feel like they have not used there guide and i wont be the first or the last to say this but i will not be fobbed off defo going to appeal .... nikki

I think you should go to appeal, definitely, but just one point. Care needs are, well, care needs. Mobility needs are separate from care needs. The DM can't take the care needs to commute mobility needs, it is prohibited. So unless the mobility sections clearly establish the mobility needs, the claim may fail. There is no passporting from one to the other.