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baranigirl

why oh why is it always refused on the same thing

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Have had another refusal for DLA and it's the same points which confuses me as it is the points he is claiming for...

 

unable to plan a meal - I have told them umteen times he cannot plan a meal for himself

 

does not have panic attacks or anxiety - this is a daily occurance and they have been told!

 

not a risk of harming himself - sat on a roof contemplating jumping is not harming then? He tells me daily he may as well not be here, what else can I tell them?

 

If they refused on points I have not brought up as in he can walk etc then I get it, but to be refused on the 3 points we have made in the claim makes no sense to me

 

Please help, I am happy to drop the claim, but I don't understand this!

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I'm sorry - I'm not sure of the history of this but the first step is to phone and ask for an explanation - why are they disputing what you've put on the form?

 

The second is to ask for a review of the decision - another decision maker will look at the claim and see what they think.

 

The third is to appeal, but before you do that you may wish to ask for all the evidence they have used in reaching their decision. It might be that someone has contradicted what you said (eg: GP/Dr)

 

HTH

 

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Have you had help filling in the forms? What is clear to you might not be so clear to another person? When I've redone Ls his respite carer and teacher both read and added bits to make sure we had it all in there.

 

Lynne

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i keep ringing and telling them the same thing over and over, not had help with anything to date, but got details now for peeps who can help, third review this was, but they still say the same as tho they don't read the replies / letters and reject it as soon as they see his name

 

bit stressed about it lol

 

have asked repeatedly for the gp report which they still haven't sent, not that there can be much in it as dp never visits!

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Hi

Sorry it was refused again :wallbash:

The thing is unless he has actually been to the doctor to express his frustrations and how he feels when he is low,then its hard to back up what you are saying. It is at the best of times difficult applying for DLA,esp for adults,so if he is not willing to acknowledge his problems,like depression than it makes it a huge challenge for you.

 

Has he never been to the GP's for depression,or sleeping trouble anything that seems a little insignificant may still help.What about a family member,like his mum/dad, there is a place on the form where you can put family members and then they can write a letter backing you up.

 

Maybe give it a few months and then start from scratch.

Edited by justine1

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Hi baranigirl -

 

I've got to say I can fully understand why DLA are having problems understanding this. I don't know how the adult DLA form works, but with the child's form they need confirmation of the information you provide from a professional - the GP for example, or if he is seeing one the psychiatrist. If it's the same with the adult form, who have you named (have you named anyone?) and what have they confirmed? Like your own application they will have to detail why he is disabled, what are the causes and 'symptoms' of that disablement and how does it effect (disable) his life in comparison to other people.

 

To the points you've raised in this post:

 

Unable to plan a meal: Why? At what point in his life did he become disabled to the point of not being able to plan a meal, and what evidence have you offered other than the assertion that he can't? If this is a new factor in his disability, what has happened to disable him in this way - what has changed? If he has always been unable to plan a meal what historical records are there of that, what are the reasons for it and why hasn't it been an issue that requires disability benefits to overcome it in the past?

 

Does not have panic attacks or anxiety: What evidence have you or professionals offered to back this up? I haven't looked back over all your posts but the last time i saw it mentioned he was working full time and had a long employment record/history, so how did he manage these attacks in the past and what is different now? How are the effects of his anxiety disabling, and how does his anxiety differ from the anxiety of other depressed/anxious people. Has he been diagnosed with clinical depression and what meds does he take to control this?

 

Not at risk of harming himself: I'm not quite sure what this means. Anybody is capable of harming themselves, and sitting on a roof contemplating suicide isn't a sign of disability. I don't think (but don't know, so forgive me if i'm wrong) that DLA is paid to prevent people from commiting suicide, so my own interpretation of this would be 'he is not at any greater risk of harming himself unintentionally than anyone else - i.e. he does not have a physical disability effecting motorcontrol/balance, hearing, eyesight, etc or a learning disability affecting his ability to interpret usual signs of danger. It could be argued that, if he has a dx of depression, there is an emotional/mental illness affecting his judgement, but you would have to offer evidence of that and explain why that implied disability rather than 'illness' etc. If he was considered at high risk wouldn't he be sectioned? You may also be asked why or how DLA benefits will negate this problem, because apart from paying someone(s) to act as 24hr suicide watch guard(s) (which i think would be illegal imrisonment unless endorsed by a medical professional which would probably equate to sectioning again) there's nothing practical you can do to stop someone who wants to commit suicide from doing so.

 

 

Really sorry, but i don't see any way any of those things (or all of them together) are indicative of someone with a long term disability(?) They may, while he is being treated for depression, be indicative of entitlement to incapacity benefit, but again you'd need professional/medical evidence of the degree of incapacity.

 

Of course, DLA isn't only about physical difficulties, and historically it has always been difficult to explain how non-physical disabilities (i.e. autism) 'qualify', but the newer forms and guidelines do explain it better.

 

Hope that's helpful

 

L&P

 

BD :D

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I don't think (but don't know, so forgive me if I'm wrong) that DLA is paid to prevent people from committing suicide ... If he was considered at high risk wouldn't he be sectioned? You may also be asked why or how DLA benefits will negate this problem, because apart from paying someone(s) to act as 24hr suicide watch guard(s) (which i think would be illegal imprisonment unless endorsed by a medical professional which would probably equate to sectioning again) there's nothing practical you can do to stop someone who wants to commit suicide from doing so.

DLA does cover mental health difficulties and self-harm and suicidal ideation come within this. No, someone at 'high-risk' wouldn't necessarily be sectioned. The aim is to provide support within the community and with familiar people wherever possible. Support may be indirect, for instance befriending may lead to the individual feeling less isolated which may in term reduce their self-harming and suicidal ideation. Further, such thoughts and behaviours will usually have some cause/trigger and support may help to ameliorate these, so lessening the resultant mental health difficulties.

 

There are things that can be done to stop someone who 'wants' to commit suicide from doing so. If there wasn't, there wouldn't be the plethora of websites, agencies and services dedicated to crisis support and intervention. Additionally, the individual concerned may not know what they want or be unable to make a rationalised decision.

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I think the difficulty you are having is probably down to a lack of medical evidence to back up the claims you are making on the form.

 

The GP is not likely to be able to back up what you are saying if your husband does not discuss his claim with the GP. The GP may be completely unaware of your husband's difficulties.

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those points were all on my first refusal form. its all down to evidence. unless you have some medical evidence that those situations are so, they will ignore whatever you say and say they do not believe it. i haven't had my renewal back yet so i dont know if my increased evidence has helped but i didn't get anywhere before because i couldn't prove that i had certain problems at home. since we dont live with professionals the only way to get the evidence is to explain the situation to a doctor and ask them to write a report.

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thank you all that is very helpful and explains stuff so much better

 

He has never claimed DLA before as we never knew we could, I assumed it was only for people who have physical disabilities like my ex BIL who lost a leg in an accident iyswim

 

DP never goes to the GP I have been with him 10 years nearly and I can count on one hand the number of visits he has made in that period, he just plain refuses to make an appointment and when he does he believes he has something terminal as in a chest infection must be lung cancer cos the GP sent him for a routine chest X-ray

 

He has never been able to plan a meal, before we lived together he lived with his sister who did the housework, paid the bills and made his meals and before that it was with his Dad who was retired early from ill health (back injury) and did the above for his son. He would live off of Take aways or microwave meals if I didn't do the shopping and prepare meals. This I have told the DLA people

 

With regard to his panic attacks, he has seen 3 psychologists so far and is booked to see a fourth in a couple of weeks, tbh he has just had to get along and muddle through with his anxieties and panicking until recently and I assumed it was just part of him and ignored it I have learned a lot about him in the past 18 months and I am guilty of not helping him, but he never explained to me what the problem was, so things never got talked about as he didn't understand it either, it's so hard to explain by typing stuff.

 

I have no idea what the GP wrote on his report as DP refused to go and discuss his claim with the GP, I have asked DWP for a copy of the report numerous times, but they have failed to forward it.

 

Justine, he never sees the GP about his sleep patterns, I have argued with him LOADS about them as he never seems to get into a routine with them and often cat naps in the day which IMO wrecks his nights sleep, but he won't or can't see where I am coming from, even when he was on shifts I put together a sleeping routine for him and when he followed it he was pretty good with sleep, the moment he didn't follow it he would be awful all over again, up and down during the day or night etc. As an insomniac myself I do understand the importance of a good sleeping routine to encourage the brain to switch off at a similar time each day

 

As I have said time and time again, if he doesn't qualify thats fine, I just cannot make head nor tail of the reasons behind it and some of your explanations have helped understand the processes. I have someone to help with getting the correct information now and will put in a final review and acceot the decision from that as final

 

Thank you all for your help it really makes a difference to things much appreciated

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Then I think you need to sit down with your DP and explain all that to him. If he really cannot plan a meal (maybe the organisation of it etc), then maybe he cannot see the connection between needing to go to the GP for the GP to confirm what he is saying in his DLA application? It is all about predicting outcomes and understanding the need to give information. Some people on the spectrum do have trouble knowing what other people know and what they need to be told. This is especially the case with children (and all young children), that they expect their parents to know everything they have experienced even if they are not with their parents for the whole day.

 

But I also wanted to add that you may have had an unhelpful report from someone. As the application does ask for anyone they can contact, then list the people your husband has seen and who can confirm what you are saying.

 

But some things do have to be taken on word. When I completed the form for my son I said he had to be supervised all the time as he had no sense of danger or road sense or awareness of his surroundings. He would run off and hide and not come out. He would follow total strangers as if he knew them. I don't suppose they could have found anyone to confirm all that stuff. Maybe they just deduced it was a good possibility from his diagnoses.

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thanks Sally, that does sound like DP, he 'forgets' to tell me stuff and is then really agitated when I don't know about it and he is convinced he has told me, yes I do forget some things, but not that many, he struggles to recall stuff I tell him, but I guess that could be information overload as I do tend to spout at him cos our paths are constantly crossing we rarely sit down to talk things through effectively. With planning a meal, yes it is the organisation and timing of it all, he can do a stir fry, but thats just chucking it all in one pan, nothing to it, but thats pretty much all he can cope with!

 

He really couldn't see why I asked him to see his GP about the claim but now it has been refused and we have got some confusion over his latest referal he has booked an appointment with his GP and asked me to attend with him, fingers crossed we can cover that all in one appointment!

 

I will also speak to his mum and see if she can recall more stuff about his childhood, I know he had an irrational fear of wheels to the point of obsession if that is possible?

 

My SIL has had her claim for DLA refused as well and my nephew is bouncing off the walls unless he is drugged up with his ADHD, she says she thinks the school wrote and said he was fine, but then he is always dosed up when in school so causes no bother.

 

Do understand they don't want to be paying it out willy nilly, which is why I will drop the claim if they feel his needs aren't great enough, but it's getting the correct information across I am struggling with I guess

Edited by baranigirl

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Hey Baranigirl,

 

Sorry the claim was refused again, sounds like you have got some fabby advice from the people on here!

 

Good luck at the gp.

 

xxxx

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