going to tribunal, should i be worried that

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DD1s consultant has only writeen in the box

"autistic Spectrum disorder,and anxieties and phobias. required supervision above and beyound that of an average 7 year old"

and that is all?

We have been up against DLA for nearly a whole year now, and dont want to lose at the last mintue.
Anything else i can do??
We have a date in april.

You should make it clear to them, that you are not claiming that your child has an IQ below 80, there is a point of law you might find useful, will try to dig it out. I wouldnt tie yourself up in points of law, but the wording is very good.

Lisa, 'she wasnt a poor sleeper when we applied but things have gone down hill a lot in last few months' they will NOT take this consideration. It is based on how she was at the time you applied.

'well they are challenging it because she does well educationally' Point of Law, might be useful.

(The Court of Appeal held that severe mental impairment of intelligence should not be defined exclusively by reference to an IQ score (Megarry v Chief Adjudication Officer 29.10.99. The case concerned an autistic child?s claim for DLA. He appealed to the Social Security Commissioners on the grounds that he should be entitled to the higher rate mobility component of the DLA on the basis of severe mental impairment) The decision maker must consider all the available evidence to decide the level of the claimants ?useful intelligence?. Guidance issued in December 1999 says that the decision maker should decide whether the claimant has the ability to solve abstract tests but is unable to apply that intelligence to ?real life? situations. After looking at all the evidence it is possible therefore for a decision maker to decide that a claimants behaviour is consistent with ?severe impairment of intelligence? despite having an IQ above 55 (DMG memo vol 10 1 /99)'

but that's the bizarre thing here - that Megarry case bit (and their excuse about Ok intelligence) is only relevant when it regards HRM and the impairment of intelligence thing. It's very odd to use it to argue against the care component

Now.

When a friend recently was refused they said if you request care at M or H rate at tribunal they assume you want M at that level also and pop out the rules for that too. She actually lost her case for that reason (her ds has AS and epilepsy, and has to have someone watch him at night every night)

I think they are trying it on for financial reasons in morecases, I ahve to say that whilt DS1 is getting worse I expect to lose his HR care at the next review in 2012 unless the eating disorder people have got some pull

I wouldnt use a point of law at all, just thought the wording was very good 'useful intelligence' 'real life situations' and also functional ability are all good words to use.

Had ds's tribunal on Monday and they asked lots of questions with regard to his academic intelligence.

I agree does seem very odd that they have stated this as a reason for not awarding previously cc.

Clarissimo, has a good point. Although you say which rate you are applying for, a tribunal have to consider whether you are eligible for ALL rates ie you could apply for middle and get higher or lower etc.

Also the tribunal will be relying heavily on what your dd's needs were at the time the original decision was made (a year ago) and not NOW and will ask lots of questions about THEN and whether her behaviour was age appropriate for i assume a 6 year old.

weirdly enough on her notes aftre the relooked, it said DD1 is a 6 year old but is 7 on .... , well i guess we will see, but im dreading it, as reports they have now are more recent, so will they refuse those? I have included my diary pages, so be intresting to see.

I had the same problem, although ds had exactly the same difficulties a year ago, all the reports were recent ones!

You just need to bear in mind that you are appealing the decision they made over a year ago.

All reports are relevant, but if they are recent this will show that your dd had that problem a month ago, not a year ago iyswim. Read through your reports and highlight anything that relates to a year ago, phrases like 'long standing problems' or referrals that your dd had a year ago to show the problem existed then too. You basically have to try and prove that the difficulties your dd has today, existed a year ago and that she hasnt just deteriorated since they made the decision a year ago.

They may well agree that your dd's needs are more severe today, than they were a year ago, but the tribunal is to decide whether the decision they reached a year ago was the correct one to make a year ago, not today.

If they award you the lower rate at the Tribunal, you can appeal on a point of law or you can leave it a month and then apply for supersession.

Good luck btw.

well i guess one good thing is the second recent report states it needs to be read in conjuction with Junes report

Sorry Lisa if i sound negative, just dont want you to make the same mistake i made on Monday, i wasnt prepared! I thought it would be obvious to them that all the recent reports showed what ds's difficulties were and that it didnt just happen overnight! I was wrong!

so what was your outcome claw?

Ds was awarded low rate on both mobility and care.

As i said i wish i would have looked for reference to the past in the reports as they were really looking for how he was when i first applied in Feb 2009, not now.

Its all about what is age appropriate. For example its age appropriate for a 5 year old to need a bit of help getting dressed. You have to show why your child needs more help than a normal child at that age.

Its not age appropriate for a 10 year old to need help getting dressed.

The younger the child, the more you have prove it. So although they might accept that at 7 years old its not appropriate, when you applied your dd was 6, so you have to prove why it is not age appropriate for a 6 year old, not a 7 year old.

I wish you the best of luck Lisa, let me know how you get on, fingers crossed.

I could dig out my appeal submission if thats any help to you, not sure if i have saved as a word doc or not, but i definitely have it on paper. You might be able to get some ideas from it?

i have someone doing the submission for me so fingers crossed. I can only do what i can do, and any help is better than no help

That is so true, you have done all that you can, really hope it goes your way