DLA form question

Luciferswench

Ive been told to apply for my son who has been diagnosed with Aspergers. The forms a nightmare fullstop however i am really unclear on how to fill the minutes section at the end of the pages - is this question compulsory? Or can i just leave it blank? Begining to wish i hadnt requested the forms tbh.:(

Richard1075

The "minutes" questions are really important as they give the decision maker infomration on just how much support needs with personal care and mobility.

What you could do is keep a diary for a few days to make a note of what happens each day - then you can refer to that when you complete each section and you can give anecdotal infomration about each task.

The form is not easy to fill in especially as you need to concentrate on all of the worse things - when explaining you should not use the terms "good" or "bad" days - talk about bad days and better days.

Your form will be stamped and that is the date from which they will pay the DLA if th claim is successful - however, you do have a little while to complete the form.

Why not seek some advice from CAB or if your local council has a Benefits Advice service

One thing - don't give up - complete the claim form - it seems like an up-hill struggle now and after completing it you will feel pretty depressed as it seems such a negative document but it is a means to an end and you can congratulate yourself in completing an really rotten task!

Best of Luck!

FrazzledMumof4

Hi, I came across the same problems when I did the form for my son who also has Aspergers.

I found some very good sites for help with this. I can't put links on here as am a newbie but I found very very useful is a site called asdfriendly, if you google it then it will come up with the site. There are forums on there with other parents going through exactly this and you may get more information from there about other things you can apply for to help with your son.

From experience it was very harrowing for me to write down all the things that were happening with my son but it is worth doing. Also make sure you send copies of all diagnosis reports and your LEA Statement if you have one from the school. It makes the process a lot quicker and if they have the reports already then they don't need to write to your doctors etc.. which takes up more time.

Good luck, I currently get Middle Rate Care and Low Rate Mobility for my son, every little helps and his DLA helps to pay for shoes (he gets through a pair a month) and specialist clubs and days out for him which I would otherwise have struggled to pay for.

Hope I have helped in some way.

hoggle_2

Hi,
I found the form a nightmare also and the best piece of advice I was given was by someone on here and that was to go to CAB and they will help. We had filled out most of the form in rough form and then went through it with a fantastic lady there. Made it so much easier to complete so if you can make an appointment with them. Good luck!!

munchings-n-crunchings

I also have 2 children with Asperger's Syndrome, in receipt of different rates of DLA.

As said, the time issue is important, as without this, the Decision Maker cannot tell how much care your child needs over and above that of an average child of that age.
The worst advice I was ever given was to put it varies to the answer of these time questions. Needless to say the application failed, and I had to put right the bad advice I was given.

It may help you to keep a diary of your child's needs and behaviours.
This diary can also be used as evidence in support of your claim.
As part of my daughters renewal, I submitted her sleep diary, which showed what time she went to bed, what time she went to sleep, how many times she was up in the night and what time she got up in the morning. It's often only when you start writing things down, do you become aware of how much time you are spending on these things.

It's always good to tell your school and GP that you are putting in this application. These may be the 2 places the DWP will write to if they require additional information.
I normally write to my GP, and tell her of all the things the the children are having issues dealing with etc. This way, if the DWP write, hopefully they have all the information to hand.

You can contact the CAB for advice in filling the forms, or there is Welfare Rights, part of your county council.

Regards
Munchie

Luciferswench

I have described an average day/week etc and that it varies wether he is supervised in school or whether he is at home. So if im knocked back then clearly we are not entitled as simple as that.

starchild1972

Advice I was give was "as long as needed" as in our case the time scale could vary from a couple of mins to near an hour.
Especially when it came to toileting because as you know, depending on what the person is actually doing on the toilet depends on how long it takes. Same with bathing, every bath time is different as sometimes hair gets washed, sometimes not.
Same with number of times when it comes to toileting, unless of course you are going to count the number of times they use the toilet over a week and then take the mean or median average.

Indie_Kid

goffo wrote: »

You are supposed to describe the average day or that it varies!!!

You must not describe the worst or bad days and attempt to mislead the DWP that it is always like that.

You can describe what happens on a bad day - but make it clear that this is a bad day. You then put average and better days - again, explain what these are and how often they are.

The worst advice I was ever given was to put it varies to the answer of these time questions.

I was told not to put this. I was told that I can describe better, average and bad days too - but never put in the boxes "it varies".

munchings-n-crunchings

sh1305 wrote: »

I was told not to put this. I was told that I can describe better, average and bad days too - but never put in the boxes "it varies".

Thank you, you have clarified what I was trying to get at.
I knew what I was trying to say

Don't use the term 'It Varies' in the box where you need to put days / hours / minutes as a measure of time

Munchie