DLA turn down/incorrect school report

[di30]

Hi all.

 

Did post on a board recently regarding my 12 yr old Son Daniel's claim for DLA during the 'reconsideration', I have until the Mid of May to appeal.

My MP has already sent in a further letter of support to ask them again to reconsider etc etc.

 

I did find out it was just down to the school report what the 'head of year' had done that let Daniel's claim down.

 

The dLA are aware that I will be appealing and I have informed them the school report was not up-to-date as my son has not been assessed by them since Nov 2006.

 

Where the report asks if the child takes part in P.E and GAMES he ticked YES !!! where this has been a problem of him always refusing to take part. (he did write-Daniel is Claustrophobic of the changing room environment) where did he get that from ???? he knows his probs etc due to AS !!

 

He ticked for medication NO, my son does take medication at school, ok it is an inhaler but still medication which has to be reminded to take it when required...............this should be on the med records of their database at school.

 

And supervision, he should be having this as stated at meeting in Jan 06 (oops he have put himself in it now) !!

 

And ticked he has no problems with crossing roads........yeah right, thats why i have to walk him to and from school and this is a secondary school. How would the head know ???

The main roads are outside of the main gates of where i meet him etc. Dan panics when crossing a road, quiet road or not and is easily distracted.

 

I have already informed the DLA of how shocked i am due to the report being incorrect by email after receiving the report they sent me from the school ( a copy).

 

I am hoping when this goes to appeal they can overlook this, like I have wrote in a letter to the DLA to help with the appeal all the issues and negs from the time he wakes to the time he sleeps and that is approx 2-3am 7 nights a week !

 

I have told them that my son is my responsibility 7 days and nights a week of where I support, care and continue to encourage my son, due to his distress and this goes on.............. !

Then I say the school has the responsibility of my son only at school of where he should be supervised (see notes sent.......).

Daniel may be quiet and polite at school and will not speak up for himself, if he is asked if he is ok he will say yes to your advantage and not his own.

Daniel received extra support at school with his education which has been dealt with from SENCO, the LEA and the Ed Phsyc, (again see notes sent..........)

 

I feel when they were reconsidering this, no further evidence was looked at, it had only taken the school report to let the claim down.

The letter sent from the specialists expressed all difficulties and the support and care we give Dan 24/7. and so on.

 

In the meantime, I have been in touch with the school (have not mentioned DLA) and have expressed problems not resolved with Dan, as its true, i feel he should have more help at school, when he is home he is distressed and we take the brunt of it !!

I have requested for a meeting hoping they can assess Dan as they have not kept up-to-date with this as Dan has a great deal of difficulties at school.

 

Has anyone been in the same position due to the school report failing their children on DLA ?, I would love to hear from you and your outcome, thank you so much.

[car2]

It's a disgrace isn't it???!!!!!!!! <'> My Dan's DLA was turned down also due to a very inaccurate school report. We are about 3 weeks into Dan's re-consideration at the moment and basically what I did was go through the whole school report and dispute everything they had said with valid reasons. Also I got Dan's class teacher to write a letter for me outlining the area's that Daniel needs support etc........so fingers crossed!!

 

I wish you all the best of luck with the appeal, have you had a date through yet?

caroline x

[mum22boys]

Yes we had exactly the same problem.

 

School said M had no problems at all. We called a meeting with the school, told the Head why we disagreed with her and gave her examples of why. We listed the behaviour problems she should have put down, the fact that he was a danger to himself and others etc.... We clearly asked her for a more accurate picture of M. Now we were very careful with our words, we don't like her but knew we had to get another statement from her. We explained that maybe he has shown these problems after she wrote the initail report (he hadn't but we knew we had to get another letter). She agreed to re-write it. We asked for a copy once it had been done. I then rang the DWP and told them she was sending in a up to date report. They gave me a direct number to fax the copy to which i then wrote a letter to the school telling her she had 2 days to fax the letter off. She did it and she gave us a copy. this time she had detailed his problems. I also wrote a letter to the DWP as they asked for it, detailing why i initially disagreed with the school report.

I know I have answered your posts on DLA before, and you may remember that they can still reconsider after reconsideration that is before it goes to appeal. M's was and he was finally awarded it. Good Luck.

 

P.M me if you want any more help with this.

 

mum22boys <'> <'>

[di30]

Hi and thanks to your replies,

 

 

Anybody would swear our kids are the school's responsibility full time, we are the parents and give our kids all the support and care they need.

 

Like i said on the one forum, the schools do not want to ruin their reputation !!!

 

But I won't give up and thanks to mum22boys, i will keep you informed of this and glad this worked out for you in the end, and good luck to caroline too, hope you get better luck than what I did on 'reconsideration.

Fingers crossed and keep me informed.

 

Luv Di xx

[Cat]

I would mention this to the school and I would trash it out with them. What they sent is inaccurate and you need to point this out to them.

 

Are you going for an oral appeal? It may sound scary but they tend to be more successful.

 

Cat

[Flora]

I had exactly the same thing.... bill got turned down because the school didn't fill the form in properly (left most of it blank)... Got letter turning him down on a Monday.... had letter in post and MP on the case by the same Monday afternoon....had a phone call on Friday of the same week telling me they'd awarded him high rate care and lower mobility... the guy from DWP who rang with the good news was lovely... he said the first team hadn't even read the information.. they'd gone solely by what the school had said (or rather what they hadn't said)... when I requested reconsideration a doctor had taken a look at it and said he should be getting it.

 

Flora

[di30]

I would mention this to the school and I would trash it out with them. What they sent is inaccurate and you need to point this out to them.

 

Are you going for an oral appeal? It may sound scary but they tend to be more successful.

 

Cat

 

Hi and thanks.

 

I have only just started to fill in the form, i was hoping i could have a representative to help me out with the appeal, I haven't exactly stated what appeal i want yet.

For a oral appeal do I have to take Dan with me ?

 

Thanks.

Di x

[di30]

I had exactly the same thing.... bill got turned down because the school didn't fill the form in properly (left most of it blank)... Got letter turning him down on a Monday.... had letter in post and MP on the case by the same Monday afternoon....had a phone call on Friday of the same week telling me they'd awarded him high rate care and lower mobility... the guy from DWP who rang with the good news was lovely... he said the first team hadn't even read the information.. they'd gone solely by what the school had said (or rather what they hadn't said)... when I requested reconsideration a doctor had taken a look at it and said he should be getting it.

 

Flora

Hi and thanks.

 

I don't believe all the evidence i sent that was mostly for than against for the dla was actually looked at. (not even on reconsideration) !! (only the school report it had taken) everything else by the seems of it was disregarded !

 

When we received the letter to say the decision had not been changed whilst reconsideration, I felt it was too quick this decision was made, as all the evidence i sent including from my MP, further child specialist reports, an attachment support evidence from NAS arrived after requesting for a reconsideration and wasn't with them 2 minutes so so !!

 

When I received the school copy report the from dla I emailed the DLA dept immediately to explain how incorrect the school report was, and explained everything !!

I had an email back from the dla, and this is without sending in the appeal forms/letters etc to inform me this message was being sent on for investigation on the section dealing with Daniel's claim and that they received a further letter from my MP, this was last week !!

 

I do know i have until the mid of May.

 

If awarded will they backdate it to the date when it was first applied which was in December 2006 ?

 

Thank you once again.

Di xx

[mum22boys]

If successful, yes you will get it backdated to when you first applied.

 

M's took 8 months to be awarded and he was back paid for the whole 8 months, as was my carers allowence.

 

mum22boys

[pumpkinpie]

On the dla form you can say no to the dla contacting school if you feel they would not be helpful - its your right.

 

Have you thought about writing a letter about how the class teacher / senco are filling in these forms incorrectly. its a steep learning curve for schools as mainstream schools are having to cope with more dieverse needs than before and more forms.

If people dont complian and let the school/ governors kow they wont realise this is a training issue,

[di30]

Hi and thank you all again for your replies and help.

 

Lets hope this will be 3rd time lucky for my son !

 

When i filled in the claim forms in the beginning i assumed I had to do this (add the school), and just thought the school would be helpful due to Dan's circumstances and needs, but i thought wrong.

 

I have requested a meeting with the school as Dan is still finding it hard to cope, but they knew of this before !

 

I am waiting for the copy of a report from the education psychologist who had spoken to Dan almost 2 weeks ago due to again his struggling and difficulties, I will send a copy of that off too to DLA, this should point out some issues of Dan's needs........hopefully.

 

Keep you all posted and many thanks for all your help and support.

Di xx