Claiming DLA

[Noskcaj86]

Hi,

Ive been wanting to claim DLA for a while for my son but need help with the forms. We contacted the CAB for help, they made an appt for us but there was a long wait and when the day finally came we got told they had made a mistake and they couldnt deal with a childs dla claim there... Really use full! Anyway, i was wondering if anyone knows of any other organisations that could help me with the form?

 

Thanx

[trekster]

Your local nas branch?

[Noskcaj86]

Thanx, how do I find out where? I currently dont see or have contact with anyone from nas so no ides where :/

[ash1990]

will your local job center help you? or if you have one social work xx

[Noskcaj86]

No job centre wont help, we have social worker from disabled children's team, but ive only spoken to her once so far so not sure, i'll phone her tomorrow and ask

[Sa Skimrande]

DLA the first time around a friend helped me win a claim, and a schizophrenic that had been chewed up by the mental health system at that, he was a basket case at everything else, but he knew how to deal with claim forms !

 

But before I sent the form I scanned it onto my computer for future reference and used it again.

 

 

But CAB is a place to try, as is a quick web search entitled;

 

How to fill out a DLA form

 

to reveal loads of help and one pdf ;

 

http://www.dls.org.u...s Factsheet.pdf

 

and another from another autism website;

 

http://www.autism.or...and-carers.aspx

 

Oh and another with sproglets in mind ;

 

http://www.cafamily....a_factsheet.pdf

 

But although Google is slow and a p.i.t.a sometimes it can be your friend, type your question into the search engine and reap the rewards, for others have asked this question before judging by the sheer plethora of pages available on the subject.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And to think I have an ASD.

Edited December 20, 2012 by Sa Skimrande

[Special_talent123]

Google your local autistic society branch

[Lyndalou]

Do you have a Carer's Centre anywhere near you? They may have an advisor to help. The honest truth is that all these people have very limited time and it may be that they will advise but not help you fill all of it in. What you could do is photocopy the form (I know it is very big but this can be helpful) and then you can fill it in/tippex/rub out until you are happy with what you have written. The boxes are quite small for what you might have to say so it pays to even see how big/small your writing should be. It's best to think in 'worst case scenario' terms or focus on the more difficult days when you think about what to write. I phoned the DLA people and when my form was sent out it was backdated to the date of my call and gave a date it needed to be sent back to them by. I then looked at a section a day so I could think about only that part and not be distracted by the others, eg. if I was looking at the dressing and undressing part I was looking at it as a completely different set of self-care skills to washing. Then, when you see an advisor they should be able to help you 'tweak' or change as necessary.

 

Once it is all filled in, as Sa Skimrande says you NEED to keep a copy for you to refer to and to help when you approach other professionals or fill the form in again in the future.

[Sa Skimrande]

From my recent terror with the ESA3 form I understood of all help organisations that I know of and others I found and inquired about regarding this form I discovered every help organisation is over subscribed and waiting lists are long and time available short so I there understood we are on our own and I was too to sink or swim and hopefully I have swam regards this form as I flooded it with more information than it asked for.

 

We are suffering as a country as everything we know is breaking up.

[Special_talent123]

there was no waiting list via my autistic society they came out from the advice line to help me fill in the form

[cathcart3303]

I found the www.Cerebra.org.uk website very useful. It goes through each question on the DLA form and covers things you would not have thought about putting down.

[Noskcaj86]

Thanx everyone, Is it true they look for specific phrases when deciding if your entitled or not? or is this non sence?

[Special_talent123]

u need to write down the worst case scenarios

[Noskcaj86]

Hes unperdictable and runs across the road if not in a buggy (no danger awareness yet) , what would i put as worst case scenario for that example?? Sorry i am dyslexic and totally HATE filling in forms! It takes me forever to do them, thats partly why i want help with it.

[dekra]

Remember to emphasis the differences in care needs between your child and "another child of the same age" who is NT. I think one of the key reasons my renewal went very well this year apart from the almost 8000 word document I sent was the professional reports showing that developmentally my son was around 2 years below where he ought to be. This backed up what I was telling them about care needs and is pretty much exactly what they need to see.

 

Remember that in general terms to receive LRC (low rate care) you need to show your child has occasional requirements during the day.

 

For MRC (middle rate care) your chid has frequent care requirements during the day.

 

For HRC (high rate care) you child must have both daytime and night time care requirements.

 

For LRM (low rare mobility) Your child must need supervision when out and about in unfamiliary surroundings. I won't go into detail over High rate mobility as it's very rare for ASD children although it is possible to get it in very extreme circumstances.

 

If you feel your child has needs that an average child of the same age as them then put that in the form in detail. In my experience there is no such thing as giving too much detail. As you've already been told tell them on a worst case scenario. Or if something is variable for example my son's sleep. I wrote that an average night he work at least 3 times using average rather than saying "good". I then went on to describe "worse" and "worst" nights. I also broke down how many nights of each kind I had per week. I would definately always avoid the term "good". Never lie but don't play anything down and try your best to get professional reports backing up what you've said.

[Lyndalou]

Hes unperdictable and runs across the road if not in a buggy (no danger awareness yet) , what would i put as worst case scenario for that example?? Sorry i am dyslexic and totally HATE filling in forms! It takes me forever to do them, thats partly why i want help with it.

Your little boy is 4 isn't he? Although it states in the form that you cannot apply for mobility component under 5 yrs, I actually filled in the section about mobility although my son was only 4 at the time. I highlighted what you are saying above that the 'danger awareness' issue is a real concern while out and about (he was still prone to run towards the road if he became upset and didn't like his hand held). I went on the principle that although he wasn't eligible for the mobility component, the person dealing with the claim would likely read this and it would only provide more information about day-to-day difficulties.

 

Do you have a Dyslexia Association near you or a Dyslexia Helpline you could phone? I wonder if they could provide you with someone to help you fill the form in?

[trekster]

Just to add you need to be requiring virtually 24 hour care in order to get HRC.

i get less than that because im not considered severe enough to get HRC.

 

Examples for 24 hour care could include;

 

1, care needs the same during the day and night also lasting a few times per day or a long time (unsure the length should

say on the form).

2, seizures that are unpredicatable

3, blackouts or fainting attacks

4, in some cases severe behavioural problems entitle you to HRM and HRC. Severely autistic kids on here have been awarded the highest level of support. Adults have major problems getting higher rate for both.