16 now has to change to pip

[lea9387]

hi first time on here. looking for advise please. my son was diagnosed with aspergers back in 2009 has problems with social interaction and communication, sensory and anxiety. he was on dla indefinite but now hes 16 they want him to apply for pip, the problem is since he was 8 he has not seen anyone at the hospital speech and language, occupational therapy ect stopped seeing him a while after he was diagnosed so i do not know what evidence i can send with the pip form as we have no recent reports ect. has anyone else been through this and what evidence did you send. also any tips on how i can prepare him for the face to face. thank you

We used EHCP and social services assessment reports. If he doesn't have these could you get his school to write something in support. The face-to-face interview was waived because of his anxiety (this seems to be hit and miss as some people with an ASC seem to do it and some not). He did have to be visited by our GP who luckily was prepared to do a home visit as ds2 refused to go to the surgery. The first thing is to apply to be his appointee so you can handle the paperwork and phone calls.

When my daughter changed to PIP, I applied to be her appointee first of all - very straightforward. At the face to face meeting my dd didn’t say anything, I did all the talking, she just sat there looking uncomfortable and awkward. We didn’t have any paperwork either, they asked questions about her daily life etc and I explained her difficulties in full detail. When the assessor tried to explain them away/minimise, I stood my ground and firmly reinforced her difficulties. To be fair my assessor was lovely, I just feel they have to be underhand and sly due to government directives.

Good luck.

My daughter's first PIP claim has been refused (she was on DLA). I suspect I made a mistake in not being her appointee. Her DLA has paid for a private counsellor which has helped a lot with anxiety etc so she no longer self harms or has suicidal thoughts. Don't know what to do now

I really think this should not transfer to PIP until age 18. Bearing in mind a lot of children with special needs are vulnerable

Totally agree!

Just discovered sbxh who has historically done the DLA forms (only helpful thing he does), didn't include any supplementary health/medical info/evidence with the application. F@*ker.

My daughter's first PIP claim has been refused (she was on DLA)

If that claim has now finished, re-apply from scratch, with you as her appointee.

Use the free CAB guides or join Benefits and Work for their guides and they will take you through the system.
Include as much evidence as you can.

How do you apply to be an appointee?

Apply to be the appointee through the DWP, it will help back up what you are saying. Also, all that old evid with confirmed diagnosis is still relevant as it's a life long condition. Any special support they got at school is important to support ongoing difficulties. Ask your GP to confirm in a letter the diagnosis. If your GP knows your get them to be specific with the activities covered in PIP, e.g they have to have prompting or assistance to complete the activity, must have social support to engage with others and back up with facts... Remember PIP is totally different criteria to DLA. Good luck