Carer's Allowance - stunned

holistic_witch

It may will be in your area but in our area they diagnose them separetly and do not as yet offically put it under the ASD umbrella. I am on the local authority forum where we are in the process of maybe including. So fingers crossed.
But either way its the childs needs that are important not what the label is called, eventhough you need the label for the help you need.

Fat_Fairy

Careres allowance is a joke, really, it shouldn't be taxable and it shouldn't be counted as 'income'. I also had to give up work to become full time carer for 2 family members - ironically your outgoings often increase as you're home all day using electricity, etc, not to mention things you need to buy for the disabled/ill person(s).

meema

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the signatures so far! I bet a good number of the total are due to people on this site

I just wanted to mention, in case you didn't realise, if you tell us what number signature you are then you are losing your on-line anonymity. You can see the signature list, and it gives your full name and the town you live in. If you're worried about this you might want to edit your posts. I'll pm a copy of this message to people who've done this just so they are aware!

daska

Carer's Allowance - Stunned!

Yes, literally, when I opened my bank statement to find the first payment there: £1,134.55!

I'm guessing that it must include 3 months backdating (the maximum) and dependent adult payment but I can't get the figures to add up at all! Trust me to find out it's been paid on Easter weekend when I can't check until Tuesday!!!! Please let it all be ours!

geordie_lass_2

Lady_K wrote: »

A member of my family gets carer allowance for her 12 year old son who has adhd. She was not working so did not give up a job for this, she gets the same amount of carers allowance money as someone would for looking after a person who needs total care. I know it can be difficult having a child with adhd but the care she has to give him is nothing compared to what some people have to do that care for a person day and night.

If they do sort this out I think it there should be different levels of carers allowance tailored to the amount of care they have to give the person.

Walk a mile in the shoes of someone who cares day and night for a child with ADHD and you may change your mind. An additional difficulty is that it's very difficult to find outside caring help for such children, in my own experience there is no respite whatsoever.

seven-day-weekend

When you consider that child maintenance is not counted as income (even for a person who has remarried), then it is laughable that the pittance that is carers' allowance should be.

seven-day-weekend

Congratulations. You have successfully signed the petition:
Stop Carer Poverty.

Myself and husband!

(edited to add: ...and sent it to six other people!)

PolishBigSpender

Prudent wrote: »

I personally remain baffled by ADHD. I have many, many years of experience with children with additional needs, but have always felt the most significant factor in ADHD was home life. I have always found these children eventually respond well to firm boundaries when they realise that all their actions have consequences and all are followed through. I am not saying ADHD does not exist - but in the forty plus children I have worked with who have had a diagnosis of ADHD, I see significant improvements with firm boundaries and high expectations.

The huge problem with ADHD is that it's often used as a catch-all term to describe a wide range of behavioural problems, and I suspect many diagnoses are made without a full investigation of the child's home life. In my humble opinion, such diagnoses shouldn't be made without a full investigation into every aspect of the child's life - but unfortunately, it seems that diagnosing ADHD is an easy way out - both for the medicial practitioners and the parents.

How many times do you hear "Oh, it's not his fault, he's got ADHD" when the parents attempt to defend their child's behaviour? They don't set boundaries, they don't attempt to control the child - and they use the label freely.

There are some children who do genuinely suffer from it - however, in my experience, these are the children who are well behaved and simply find it impossible to concentrate for long periods of time. The badly behaved children are often the ones without limitations.

I also fear that the trend for using ADHD constantly will backfire. There will be a generation (already witnessed in the UK and USA!) which is incapable of work and has no concept of taking responsibility due to being labelled with ADHD at an early age and written off as a result.

It is very notable to me that many badly behaved children in public have parents who clearly do not know how to care for a child. I witnessed one 'chav' in the UK scream at her child who was displaying ADHD attributes - only to turn round and smile at the cashier. With such parents, is it any surprise that the children end up labelled and forgotten about?

Of course, one of the other problems is that middle class parents will use ADHD as a label to explain their problem child, instead of confronting their own failings as parents.

seven-day-weekend

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

T
There are some children who do genuinely suffer from it - however, in my experience, these are the children who are well behaved and simply find it impossible to concentrate for long periods of time. The badly behaved children are often the ones without limitations.

QUOTE]

Yes, I agree - I know a little girl like this - she is not naughty , just needs loads of attention from her parents to keep her 'on task'. I didn't even know she had AHDD until I was told - certainly I didn't think there was anything wrong with her behaviour, just noticed that she was a 'demanding' child in the amount of attention she needed.

However, it may manifest in different ways. I can't really judge only knowing one child with it!

lukiesgirl

starchild1972 wrote: »

I have a husband with M.E., a daughter with Epilepsy and a son with aspergers/ADHD.
My son has to have someone with him all the time during the day and when he wakes at night, my daughter needs someone with her at night and my husband needs physical care.
I have fibromyalgia.

I get carers allowance, my husband is allowed to claim carers for our daughter (as all she needs is watching. We cannot claim carers for our son as he does not yet get DLA as at 5 they deem him too young and it has been suggested by his specialist that we wait until he is 7. It is doubtful he will ever live anywhere else but with us.

I am also part-time self employed earning a huge £15 a week. Self employed because I cannot face the rigmarole of claiming income support and the humiliation the jobcentres put you through when you attend the work focused interviews. Neither do we claim housing benefit or council tax benefit, we struggle but survive.

Anyone who knows aspergers/autism/adhd knows what it is like to live with an explosive child.
Have you ever had a 4 yr old rip a door of it's hinges and try and throw it down the stairs and that child not even knowing why or recalling that they did it?

If it was down to parenting then why only 1 child out of 4?
Why are my other 3 neuro-typical?

Autistic Spectrum (which includes ADHD) kids would have been locked away many years ago as mentally !!!!!!/unstable. it happened to 2 of my male cousins who, at the ages of 47 and 52, have finally be re-diagnosed as Autistic and Aspergers with ADHD respectively. That was after years of misdiagnosis of manic depression and prescriptions of lithium!
My Uncle and Aunt were fab parents, otherwise their daughter would have been the same surely?
Going by what you say Polish, that it is bad parenting, all my kids should have problems but they don't. I find that comment extremely insulting.

Hi
I would not take any notice of Polishbigspender.I have lost count of the times that I have been upset by her comments. She has made valid points on some issues but is an avid attacker of anyone who claims for disability benefits. Put her on your ignore list and when she kicks off in future you will be blissfully unaware.
As far as ADHD is concerned I know a lady who has 3 kids & only one is affected by this terrible illness. He actually stabbed his Mum - bit beyond badly behaved wouldn't you agree.
Hugs to you I know only too well what you are going through.