ASD and DLA appeal claims

[ANTagony]

DS1 (6) has just had his first CAHMS assessment. We've been given the next appointment in August and a school visit is scheduled for September then I understand a very thick report will be produced and circulated with all indications from GP, health visitor, Ed psyc, community Paed, SENCO and reading between lines the CAHMS psyc being he's high functioning autistic.

My head is spinning with the wealth of information I'm suddenly receiving after three years of being in the assessment process. One thing that has repeatedly come up is DLA and carers allowance. I eventually gave up my business to care for DS1 as nursery, playgroup and his previous school couldn't handle him. With a house move and a new school he's now fairly settled but the reality is proper work is not an option as out of school care is not an option and with visits to all his referrals I wouldn't fit that many days in.

I badly filled in a DLA online claim - that form is long, it was rejected but I didn't send any reports to back it up.

Does anyone have any experience of this, should I appeal and spend a bit more time doing the form with the help of citizens advise? Is it worth waiting for the next formal report?

Don't wait. Ask for a 'look again' - say that you were under stress and forgot to send reports. List the reasons you think he's entitled. Send the reports.

If they still refuse, appeal.

A look again? Is that something different to an appeal?

It is, it's how we got it - same as you, I didn't send anything in, so I requested a look again on the phone, they sent out envelopes and a letter giving a deadline, sent back reports and a covering letter and it was immediately put through.

Agree with lougle. Look Again is satndard before appeal anyway. TBH a lot of cases get rejhjected from first to there anyway: see who is willing to fight. We asked for a lok again and didn;t add to the already stacked high piles of info sent and went from no claim to HR care. Quite LOL.

you will need to send some dicuments to back it up though, they won't give without, or at least plenty of names of people to conatct.

Cerebra has an excellent guide on their website to applying, and I;ve helped a few epople claim as well as doing our own two for ASD so if you need someone to read over your stuff do contact me.

Many thanks for your replies. I guess I need more self confidence. I'll look up Cerebra. I need to get better at asking for help when we need it.

Do the form in Word, heading by heading, and send the whole lot as an attachment to the form. That way you'll have a copy saved on your computer for updating next time.

Make a dated list of all the appointments you've been to in the last year or two leading up to dx, and include any training you might have had as well. Anything that NT children wouldn't have to do, eg I included dietician, cranial osteopath, homeopath etc. Of course, all the documents relating to the assessment and dx. Pages from home/school diary if you have one. Emails from school and other parents if relevant.

And as others have said ALL the reports you've got from professionals, however unimportant you might think they are.

The Cerebra guide is excellent .

Make a reference list of everything you're enclosing so they know what they're looking at.

DLA is a cow - I've just finished the main body of mine and it's taken three months.

Good luck with the reconsideration. A large proportion of initial claims get rejected at the first stage but awards given at reconsideration. They don't really want to go to appeal because it's costly and time-consuming.