DLA - Is this a worrying sign?

[LizK]

Applied for DLA for DS (3yrs old). Think we'll only be eligible for low rate for care but hope to get that as he does need about an hours extra help. Was chatting to someone who is an assessor for DLA a few weeks back and she said she tried not to ask for secondary evidence wherever possible if the claim was clear cut. Not sure if that is a general policy or not or jsut how she works

 

Anyway got letter at the weekend informing us that they were going to contact DSs nursery for additional information so now wondering if we are less likely to successfully clain DLA. Also thinking about it not sure if info from nursery will help or not. I named them on the form as the source to contact as no-one else really understands DSs problems as well. The nursery manager filled in the paragraph on the claim form and played things up a bit so am happy they will adequately describe the extent of DSs needs. The problem is that DS doesn't need that much extra time for support at nursery (they estimated it as an extra 20-30mins max a day). Several reasons really- the structured day at nursery suits DS, a lot of the activities we have been advised to do to help speech or fine motor skills they do anyway as part of the normal nursery day eg talking games in circle time, writing in shaving foam, pencil control and they just pre-adapt some of the activities so DS can manage without needing extra help. The nursery is a very good nursery, good staff ratios and maybe in a different setting he'd require more help. The area SENCO is involved and she said the help and activites DS needs are good nursery practice anyway so they tend to do them with all the children. They do do some social skills work each day, he has a visual timetable and IEP, his keyworker is the nursery SENCO and the area team are involved too so maybe they are the areas the nursery need to focus on. If the DLA bods want to know DSs additional needs there shouldn't be a problem but if they want to know how much extra help he needs then nursery may not be representative of how things are at home.

 

Liz x

[Jericho]

When I applied for DLA for my ds1 he was 3.5yrs old and at pre-school. He didn't get any funded support or a 1:1 worker but, like your ds, he had visual timetables, did the sensory stuff by using shaving foam etc. I can't honestly remember whether the DLA contacted the pre-school or not but we still got middle-rate care allowance for him. I think they also have to take into account that your ds only spends a small part of his time at the nursery. For the rest of the day, the evenings, the nights and the weekends he is at home with you.