Blue Badge for daughter?

sockpuppet

My little girl who is nearly three has DDH (Developmental Dysplasia of the Hips) and is due to have two operations shortly to correct this and will then be in a full plaster cast (Hip Spica) for possibly up to 17 weeks or more. I have been told to apply for DLA for her, which I will do as soon as she goes into hospital - but does anyone know if I can apply for a blue badge for parking??
She weighs 3 kg on her own and with plaster will be a lot heavier and totally unable to walk. She will also be very awkward to get in and out of the car and will need to use either a large buggy or childs wheelchair.
I have seen several different answers on the web, some saying only if she is under 2, some saying only if she is over 5 - so I am really confused!
She will need to be transported about a fair bit; hospital appointments, physio etc etc so any help with parking will be a great help. Sometimes there are parent/child spaces (if you can get in one) but quite often there isnt and there is no way that on my own I will be able to get her in/out safely in a normal parking space. Does anyone have any ideas??

onetomany

yes applay now as it can take some time also you dont need to wait for your daughter to go in hospital to applay for dla, but i do think there is some rule about under 3s hopefully someone with more knowlege will be along in a min, good luck hun x

space_rider

My daughter got high rate DLA for getting around at age 3. She already received DLA high rare for care and she was awarded the getting around componant on renewal which coincided with her 3rd birthday.

cresentmoon

Have a look on you local councils website to see if you can apply for a blue badge without having DLA.
My DD has Cerebral Palsy and at the moment is not old enough to apply for the Mobility Component of DLA, but we have a Blue Badge as our GP filled in an application for us to send to the council.

With regards to DLA, there are 2 components: Care and Mobility. If your daughter receives higher rate Care (maybe middle aswell but no sure) she will be entitled to apply for Mobility when she turns 3. If she receives lower she has to wait till 5.

HTH

Indie_Kid

cresentmoon wrote: »

With regards to DLA, there are 2 components: Care and Mobility. If your daughter receives higher rate Care (maybe middle aswell but no sure) she will be entitled to apply for Mobility when she turns 3. If she receives lower she has to wait till 5.

HTH

This is incorect:
Low rate mobility is awarded to those at the age of 5 and higher rate is awarded at the age of 3. It doesn't matter what care component (if any) the child currently receives.

cresentmoon

sh1305 wrote: »

This is incorect:
Low rate mobility is awarded to those at the age of 5 and higher rate is awarded at the age of 3. It doesn't matter what care component (if any) the child currently receives.

My apologies.....got a bit muddled. thanks for correcting.

sockpuppet

Thanks everyone. She will turn 3 at New Year so will either still be in plaster ( or still waiting for hospital dates) at that time so hopefully I will be able to get a blue badge as well as DLA for mobility as well as care (Handy as I was made redundant the day after I told my employer she needed to go into hospital (very nice of him) x

Rebekah24

Higher rate would mean automatic entitlement

Hoping you get this sorted shortly hun

Indie_Kid

I apologise if I've misunderstood your post completely:
It's not possible to get a blue badge for a temporary problem; same with dla.

Rebekah24

Can only speak from my own experience

We dont complete applications for those who have a temporary disability, this is one of the first questions. Of course there is nothing stopping a person from applying anyway.

Higher rate DLA is automatic successfull application.

sockpuppet

Hi, thanks for your replies - its all so confusing!!
I know she can get DLA for her particular situation - even though it is temporary, i think both for care and mobility once she's turned three and I think some people have managed to get a blue badge as the huge plaster cast counts as medical equipment, i think it depends on your council - i just wondered whether anyone who did get one had any tips!!!