Physically Disabled Student accommodation help
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Polio_Dad
Posts: 5 Forumite
My 19 yr old son is severely physically disabled as a result of contracting polio from his first vaccine at 9 weeks old.
He is very bright and has been accepted at university to do a BA.
He needs to have 24 hr care and we are being told by the university and social services that we will have to pay for 2 rooms, one for my son and one for the carer. Please can someone advise who should be paying for the second room. We have been told the rules have just changed and therefore the local authority will not pay and neither will the university.
He has applied for a DSA but have been told that the DSA no longer covers this cost.
We have also applied for housing benefit from the local authority to the University but have not heard from them at all.
Sure this is discrimination if, due to his disability, we have to fund 2 rooms.
Any help or guidance will be appreciated.
He is very bright and has been accepted at university to do a BA.
He needs to have 24 hr care and we are being told by the university and social services that we will have to pay for 2 rooms, one for my son and one for the carer. Please can someone advise who should be paying for the second room. We have been told the rules have just changed and therefore the local authority will not pay and neither will the university.
He has applied for a DSA but have been told that the DSA no longer covers this cost.
We have also applied for housing benefit from the local authority to the University but have not heard from them at all.
Sure this is discrimination if, due to his disability, we have to fund 2 rooms.
Any help or guidance will be appreciated.
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Comments
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Does he receive no disability related benefits to cover this cost? DLA or PIP surely?
Does his disability not grant him additional student loans or grants?
No it's not discrimination. It's a cost associated with his disability.0 -
It's not what disabled students allowance is for, that specifically excludes costs that would exist if you were not a student, such as personal care0
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He does get DLA on the higher level but a lot of this is used for motability.
After is fight with social services they will cover the cost of the night care but not the cost of the room for the carer. If he was not disabled the cost would be tuition fees (funded by student loan) and accommodation. As he is disabled there is the cost of student fees (funded by student loan) his room, and additional room, carer/PA in the day (funded by the university) and night carer (funded by LA) DSA no longer covers the additional room which is over £ 5000 per year. This cannot be funded by the student loan either.0 -
Is there any chance of a grant from a charity?0
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He does get DLA on the higher level but a lot of this is used for motability.
After is fight with social services they will cover the cost of the night care but not the cost of the room for the carer. If he was not disabled the cost would be tuition fees (funded by student loan) and accommodation. As he is disabled there is the cost of student fees (funded by student loan) his room, and additional room, carer/PA in the day (funded by the university) and night carer (funded by LA) DSA no longer covers the additional room which is over £ 5000 per year. This cannot be funded by the student loan either.
What does his care DLA (if he receives it, which would surprise me if he didn't) cover? If you choose to use it (all?) for the motobility car that is your choice. It's not paid just for his Mobility, it's there for care too. You choose how to allocate it. You can't allocate the care component to the car and then complain there's nothing left.
The uni is paying for the day care, the LA is paying for the night care. Sorry but it sounds like the room needs to be paid for by yourself, either through his care DLA or from your own pocket.
He would have care needs at home which are currently being met. I understand this may be a room on your house and helped by yourself so incurring no extra cost, but this isn't the same at uni.0 -
My 19 yr old son is severely physically disabled as a result of contracting polio from his first vaccine at 9 weeks old.
Was there no vaccine damage compensation paid into trust for him?
If so, could part of the trust fund be used?0 -
Is there not a local university that he could attend as a day student ?0
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I appreciate all your advice. The challenge I have is that my son is physically disabled as a direct result of me following government advice and having him vaccinated. I watched as the nurse administered the drops following confirmation from a doctor that this was perfectly safe to do. We have to live with that. I have now spent 19 years having to beg, borrow and fight to give him the best chance of making a meaningful contribution to society and not to be just another disabled person living off the state.
He did get a vaccine damage payment 16 years ago. That has long gone on caring for him and providing him with disability needs that the government would not fund. All we ever hear is that there is no money for care. There is money for an election and for government advisers and subsidised bars and restaurants in parliament and billions for the banks.
Imaging if there was no polio vaccine. What would the government's care costs be.
Imagine if this was you following your vaccine. Vaccines are give to protect society from awful diseases but surely there is a moral duty to support those you pay a high price to protect others.
As parents we want him to be the best and I cannot afford £ 10 000 a year in accommodation costs for university. Surely society owes it to him and should help him achieve his goals.
I will get off my soap box now.
My question is who is legally bound to cover these costs? It used to be social services, then it was DSA. Now no one can tell me who this was transferred to.0 -
We live in North Devon. I seems that no disable person has ever gone to university from North Devon as none of the local services know what to do or how this should work. He has been accepted at Falmouth university which is 2.5 hours away. The course he wants to study is not available at Exeter University.0
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I appreciate all your advice. The challenge I have is that my son is physically disabled as a direct result of me following government advice and having him vaccinated. I watched as the nurse administered the drops following confirmation from a doctor that this was perfectly safe to do. We have to live with that. I have now spent 19 years having to beg, borrow and fight to give him the best chance of making a meaningful contribution to society and not to be just another disabled person living off the state.
He did get a vaccine damage payment 16 years ago. That has long gone on caring for him and providing him with disability needs that the government would not fund. All we ever hear is that there is no money for care. There is money for an election and for government advisers and subsidised bars and restaurants in parliament and billions for the banks.
Imaging if there was no polio vaccine. What would the government's care costs be.
Imagine if this was you following your vaccine. Vaccines are give to protect society from awful diseases but surely there is a moral duty to support those you pay a high price to protect others.
As parents we want him to be the best and I cannot afford £ 10 000 a year in accommodation costs for university. Surely society owes it to him and should help him achieve his goals.
I will get off my soap box now.
My question is who is legally bound to cover these costs? It used to be social services, then it was DSA. Now no one can tell me who this was transferred to.
I couldn't agree more. Was it a lifetime award? If not, could you go back and see if his new circumstances mean any additional payment is due?
What course is he doing? Maybe the professional body for the industry would be able to help?
Failing that, I would approach my MP and ask the question.0
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