DLA for asthma and recurring croup

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Anyone with experience of claiming for DLA when the amount of care needed varies week to week?
I applied for DLA for ds2 about a year ago and was turned down. He has asthma and recurrent croup. After a terrible few months with him I am ready to face the form filling again. What I never really got the hang of was the 'average week'. We've never had an 'average week'. Some weeks he's totally well, some weeks we're up a few nights, sometimes he is in hospital. Since Sept he has been treated in A&E 4 times - that will amount to about 8 weeks of being up with him several times at night and caring for him a lot during the day. How do you descrbe that as an average week? Do you just average out the good and bad times to get a figure for number nights up, extra time spent giving medication etc etc? Also for 3 months over the summer we are lucky enough for him to enjoy good health. It was because he was not constantly ill that I was turned down before - but I couldn't follow the logic that if he had been ill for 3 days out of 7 in a week he'd qualify, but not if he is ill solidly for 3 weeks, then well for a few weeks.

hi my grandson has this buh his heart is the wrong way around also so unsure if he will get it or not. I think it would be worth applying though I really would.

Get some help from a professional Health Visitor, GP, or you could try citizens' advice.

My son gets if for autism. Am not sure about asthma.

Good luck......it's a mine field!!

my son has asthma and we are also going thru the process of diagnosis for ASD would it be worth me applying for DLA

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Can you really get DLA for asthma? My son has asthma.

I always thought it had to be very severe asthma for it to be a possibility?

It was mentioned to me for DS but tbh I just laughed it off, he is 17 months and has bad asthma (5 admissions ranging from 2 to 11 days) but never thought it to be bad enough to consider anything like that.

Just imagine you are writing me a list of instructions on how to look after your child for a week! you would surely write down the worst case scenario, just to be on the safe side and to cover all eventualities. Thats how I fill in DS DLA form. Unfortunately DS will always get high rate

asthma is not seen to be a disibility i doubt you would get it

I would not think it would be awarded for asthma alone and croup is a viral infection...my son suffers from croup and needs nebs for it, he also has asthma and the 2 are not connected. There is a huge amount of the population that suffer from asthma it would be impossible to pay DLA to all these people!
I'm not saying don't go for it just don't get your hopes up! I'm all for getting what you're entitled to.

Yes you can get DLA for asthma if the child has serve and or brittle asthma. For those that don't understand not everyone that has asthma leads a lovely life and does not need help. As someone that has a child with serve brittle asthma I am all to well aware of the care and mobility problems that come with having this rare form of asthma. My daughter is on 3 different inhalers at the maximum does a child can have. as well as long term antibiotics plus she is now on oral steroids every other week on top of the inhaled for she already takes plus a million and one other different meds for life threatening allergies. I would like for a min that people that don't understand to shove a pillow over your mouth and see how hard it is to breath now walk around with that pillow over your mouth and see how far you get. Although I do have to state that its not easy at all to get and you often have to fight all the way but you can get it. each time my daughters renewal comes up they refuse it her and I have to fight to get it back but once they get all the reports in they soon realize she is not an average asthmatic.
I should also point out my daughter never ever has a week that she is perfectly well, last year she missed 40% of her education. and she is on average sent home from school at least once a week.
also my daughter never goes to A&E because she has direct access to the childrens unit. Often to get DLA for asthma you must suffer so bad that you nearly die.

Just so you know I have asthma but I would not dream of trying to claim DLA for it as its nothing like my dd's brittle asthma.

If your child has had 'normal' health for a couple of weeks they will turn you down - DLA is for permenant disability, so having a few months - well if he was already recieving DLA you would have to inform them and make a new claim when he was ill again.

Asthma varies hugely.

My friend and poster on here has high rate dla for her brittle asthma, she can't walk far at all and is very ill. So yes asthma can be a disability.

I too have brittle asthma but not quite as bad as my friends. I have neb at home and regular hosp admissions. When ill I cant count past 2 even when sitting, and am breathless even when not moving at all.Even taking off my cardi leaves me struggling as if I have run 10k