Eldest turned down for PIP at renewal

[elliejjtiny]

We just found out today. He was getting low rate care dla from age 9 to 16, then standard rate for both parts of PIP from age 16 to 19. Now they said he scores 0 points because he has a part time job and goes to university.

He has significant amounts of support at university and i'm worried he will lose that. He loves university and he is studying his special interest.

He has autism, without any learning disabilities, diagnosed aged 9.

Does his uni support fall under DSA? That shouldn't be affected as that is based on individual study needs. I wouldn't have thought that anything at uni would be dependent on him receiving PIP.

Yes, the support at university falls under DSA. I thought he qualified for DSA because he was getting PIP but I will check the criteria. About half the help he gets is from DSA, the other half is me and his Dad. I don't think he would have managed to go to university if he'd been going 25 years ago when I went. Video calls, instant money transferring, amazon prime and no limits on the internet have been essential.

Just found out the DSA will remain thank goodness as I can use his autism diagnosis as proof that he needs it. He won't be able to get a new disabled railcard when his runs out in October but he can get a different railcard, either student or young person one, I can't remember.

Is it worth appealing the decision do you think? I feel like I let him down during the telephone assessment as I was struggling over the Christmas holidays with my younger son not sleeping and I don't think I went into enough detail, although I went into a lot of detail on the form.

DSA isn’t based on receiving PIP.

If you want to request a mandatory reconsideration, DS (or you if you are appointee) can. You should do this in writing. You can request a statement of reasons. Have you requested a copy of the assessor’s report? You can work and attend university and still receive PIP. You need to explain DS’s difficulties in relation to the activities assessed and reference your evidence for this. Challenge anything that is incorrect in the assessor’s report &/or the statement of reasons and again reference the evidence. If the MR isn’t successful DS (or you if you are appointee) can appeal if you want to.

Definitely appeal. Do you have any copies of recent reports/letters you can send which evidence DSA support.

@elliejjtiny Hi, do you mind if I ask a question? My year 13 dc has a diagnosis of ASD (and we suspect has undiagnosed adhd), and my youngest (age 12) is on the NHS pathway for both ASD and adhd. My eldest was diagnosed at around age 9, but I have never thought to apply for PIP / DLA. Do you mind me asking what are the main reasons that your dc has been receiving it? Is it just because of the diagnosis, or is it because you have extra costs involved, or is it because of specific issues / needs? Thank you - I hope you don’t mind me asking.

It's a bit of a mixture really. There are extra costs involved with his autism, some things are essential and some just make things easier. One thing that's been brilliant for all our dc is a bigger car so we can separate them on long journeys. Mostly what he needs is time and patience rather than money. Although as he has got older, things get more expensive. We had a climbing frame/swing when the dc were little that cost less than £400 and was used a lot for sensory needs/calming etc. When it collapsed we needed to replace it and for something suitable for adult sized children was hugely expensive, about £2000 I think. It's that kind of thing the dla/pip gets used for.

@BusySpinningPlates PIP is based on functional ability rather than diagnosis. You don’t get PIP just because you have a diagnosis. It isn’t based on what costs someone has, either. It is based on how you function over 10 daily living activities and 2 mobility activities.

@elliejjtiny @2x4greenbrick Thanks both. Yes, I’ve just looked at the criteria, and it is what I had sort of assumed (and why I have never applied for my dc).

@elliejjtiny It’s great that your dc is thriving at uni - and that he no longer struggles with those aspects of daily living. Keeping on top of uni work and holding down a part-time job is amazing - well done to them.