PLease help me someone,advice needed with DLA p.l.e.a.s.e

parisjordana

Help me please,Only a quick background,my son is on DLA middlerate and has been for 9 years he was originaly diagnosed with ADHD which I always knew he didnt have,he was never sociable,always hated crowds and unusual places,hes extremely obbsessive with things and very opposional,he doesnt read facial expressions or tones,angry or stressed etc....he has 1 or 2 friends,he sits in his room watching films over and over again.....he wears the same clothes over and over again so we have to wash and dry them over night,he cant fill in forms he cant do lots of things we take for granted in life.....he loves routine,he is hyperactive though and jumps around and squeals strangely at times if not doing what he loves and thats watching or talking about his films...he still plays with toys but they are characters off the films he watches(heros) and he is nearly 18.....he does go to college and his tutors are aware of his needs and Im not saying he copes but he gets by.....the list could go on and on about him but I wont bore you all,we do have other children so life is hard,we have never had a break from him and yes there have been times in the last 18 years I could have done with the odd weekend or so but nevermind....hes my son so I care for him....well me and his dad...I couldnt do it alone...the other children tolerate his oddities....anyway hes always had middle rate DLA and I filled the two yearly form in June as I always have done and this morning I recieve the letter stating hes entitled to zero....Im so upset,I feel worthless and useless.....he is a lot worse now than ever before his behavior and his ways and needs are more apparent now than ever before,he has a few more appointments to go but his doctor says hes more high funcioning autismn than asperger spectrum disorder......hes always been dealt with as ADHD I knew he never was as Iv been with children with ADHD and read up enough info to know he hasnt had that....for 11 years hes been treated as that...Please advise me someone who has more expertise in this field....I cannot belive they have awarded him nothing its as if they are saying he has nothing wrong with him....Im a mixture of panic,fear,anger,upset at the mo and dont know where to turn,Iv cried and cried since the letter arriving...I cannot belive it....._pale_

Pete268

Hi,

First of all sorry to hear of your predicament.

You have a couple of choices now, you can ask the DLA Office to reconsider his claim (less than 10% of claims are changed at that stage though) or you can ask for an appeal. (A reconsideration is carried out as part of the appeal process anyway).

To appeal you need to ring the DLA unit on 0845 7123456 and ask for a GL24 Appeal Form or you can download one from here:
http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/stellent/groups/jcp/documents/websitecontent/dev_012310.pdf

The form must be returned within one month of the date of the letter you have received today.

You could probably do with some face to face advice from a welfare rights adviser. Either contact your local CAB or use the database here to find a local welfare benefits adviser:
http://www.clsdirect.org.uk/en/directory/directorysearch.jsp

Regards

Pete

FROSTYFRECKLE

Hi Parisjordana,

I am bumping your thread until someone in the know comes along. Calling DMG24, Healy etc where are you? I am sorry I cannot give advice but you are in the right place for help. Also have you thought about posting on the families board, as a lot of mums with children who have autism/aspergers are on that board.

PS Sorry Pete, you must type faster than me. When I posted no one had replied. Oops. Just caught up with this thread, lucky DMG24!!!!

healy

FROSTYFRECKLE wrote: »

Hi Parisjordana,

I am bumping your thread until someone in the know comes along. Calling DMG24, Healy etc where are you? I am sorry I cannot give advice but you are in the right place for help. Also have you thought about posting on the families board, as a lot of mums with children who have autism/aspergers are on that board.

Hello, I am here but Pete seems to have covered everything very well. As he says it is best to have face to face advice.

sad_dog_lady

ok, adhd is on the autistic spectrum, but it is a school age disorder.... i mean that to get the diagniosis school and home have to both agree he is adhd

now at a certain point it stops, has a benefits adviser come out to do an assesment... they do this at 16
if not, it needs to be looked into, one of my sons has the same diagnosis and yet gets low rate mobility and middle care, he is at college, i will hapily answer what questions i can via pm, dont worry, i know it seems the end of the world but it will all get sorted.

sad_dog_lady

also , perhaps a private consultation with a specialist costs upto about 400.00 but dla dont argue with it

[Deleted User]

just to add that you obviously must appeal this,you have 4 weeks in which to do so BUT if you contact them and ask for a statement of reasons you have 6 weeks,time in which you can get advice,including possibly written evidence from gps etc who know your son and his problems,also make sure you go for an oral hearing and not a written one,the chances of a positive outcome are far higher
AS for not having had a break,when youve sorted out the dla try and find out if your local authority runs any help for carers,many do,and they can often help with respite care and/or a holiday for you and your family to give you a break.
I know for a fact that if you need more help all you have to do is ask on hereand we`ll all try and help where possible

Pink_Eyes

You say he's at college - is there anyone there that gives him extra support who can give them some evidence?

parisjordana

aawww thank you all,you all seem like such a caring bunch of people,to update you I rang the DLA to ask what to do and she advised I ask for it to be looked into again as they hadnt even consulted his doctor,they need to do this because shes fully trained and specialises in this area(shes a child psychologist)and she can explain in doctors terms,she said only last week hes far more disableing than she first thought,I demanded the DLA consult her before their next decision is made if I go along that evenue,,she said my second choice was to go to appeal but advised me the 1st option is the best,do you think I should do this...?

parisjordana

Pink_Eyes wrote: »

You say he's at college - is there anyone there that gives him extra support who can give them some evidence?

Hes only just started college on monday so very early days to know him and his ways realy but thanks for the thought....

[Deleted User]

parisjordana wrote: »

aawww thank you all,you all seem like such a caring bunch of people,to update you I rang the DLA to ask what to do and she advised I ask for it to be looked into again as they hadnt even consulted his doctor,they need to do this because shes fully trained and specialises in this area(shes a child psychologist)and she can explain in doctors terms,she said only last week hes far more disableing than she first thought,I demanded the DLA consult her before their next decision is made if I go along that evenue,,she said my second choice was to go to appeal but advised me the 1st option is the best,do you think I should do this...?

If you go for appeal they will as a matter of course look at it again(what they call a revision),these revisions rarely lead to a different outcome,however by going for an appeal you can as suggested gather all the evidence and support possible,especially if your gp is helpful
just a thought on the application did you give your gps details as the person to contact?