can i get financial help?

[bambi06]

my ds has asd and had been turned down by DLA and i hadnt got the fight to challenge them but weve since had more assessments which meant weve had to go privately for OT as the waiting list was too long and now on top of this weve been told he needs intensive psych otherapy(sp)at least two to three times a week and again the waiting list is 18 mths so we will have to go privately again!!this is so unfair! anyway i was hoping to go back to work p/t in sept/jan after my dd went to school but i cant go back to work now, as he will need therapy for at least two years , and he needs it NOW ASAP they say, as he has severe anxieties which have to be dealt with asap in order for them not to have a huge effect when he grows up. the problem is how can i go back to work now but we need the money for the fees , can i get any help from anyone for this , am i entitled to carers allowance? should i reapply for the dla saying ive got updated assessments which prove we need financial help? can anyone advise me what to do as this is getting stressful for us now ,not only him

bambio - will try and reply properly to this later but I would re-apply for DLA with the new evidence. If you can bare to. I think you can only get carers allowance if you get DLA.

I think that you can only get carers allowance when your ds had been awarded DLA at either middle or higher rate. Also with the DLA I believe that they don't take into account the financial burden but more with how much extra time and care he needs compared to a child his own age. I hope I'm wrong for your sake but thats what I was led to believe.

Have you still got time to appeal? I do know its a real headache but I only got awarded DLA once I appealed. Good luck.

thanks everyone will keep watching for any moe advice and maybe contact cab

macwoozy - I think you are right. DLA is awarded on how much extra care your child needs not financial loss. However, bambio if you have new evidence agree it might be worth appealing. Did you have anyone help you with your forms? Might be worth seeing if there is anything you could include that you didn't before. There are a couple of threads on here with really good advice so I would search the archives. One in particular for Chocol8 when she appealed (her ds has ADHD/ASD I think).

Other thoughts - is your dh working? Does he claim child tax credit? That might help if you don't get it already.

could you go back to work part-time? If you work for 16 hours a week or more you are also entitled to child tax credit and, depending on your income, maybe working tax credit too. This is how we have managed it. I work 2 days a week so that I qualify but still have a lot of time to help dd.

Hope you manage to get something sorted.

If you have new evidence and/or the situation has changed you don't need to appeal, you can ask DLA to "look again". I think that's what you should do as a start. Then you could get carer's allowance, it all adds up! Even if you can start on medium DLA, getting into the system is important.