Scoliosis and type 1 diabetes

mum_of_lewis

Hi there,

As some of you may be aware my son lewis has scoliosis, 62 degree curve. We applied for dla but got refused.Our doctor told us to appeal which we have done.
On thursday Lewis was admitted to hospital with type 1 diabetes. The diabetic team said we are now eligible for dla. I have rung them to add this information on.Forgot to add Lewis is 8 and wears a back brace 23hrs a day.

Does anyone else get dla for having type 1 diabetes?

We arenow praying that this will be successful as our lives have changed dramatically.

Any information would be greatfully recieved.

Thankyou kindly,
Janette xx

nannytone_2

it's quite likely that he will be eligable for the care componant at least.
diabetic adults struggle to get any DLA, but children are different. you would be having to test his blood sugar, give him insulin and be careful with his diet.
good luck.

GlasweJen

First, diabetes is not an automatic entitlement to any benefits.

What the nurse meant is that because Lewis will need help administering his drugs and you'll need to help him with regard to diet and make sure he's not going into a coma and stuff he will have additional care needs which can entitle him to DLA. What she has neglected to mention is that Lewis will need to have the condition (plus care needs) for 3 months before he can get DLA for it.

The original DLA claim for the scoliosis will not look at the diabetes until this 3 months has passed. What you can do is either wait for the tribunal to sit and, after he is awarded and the 3 months are up you can call up and change his circumstances (which can trigger a whole new application). Or you wait 3 months and lodge a whole new DLA form with everything on it and go from there.

It really depends on how close to the appeal you are and how confident you are that you'll win it. If he is predicted to get middle care or more then the diabetes wont change anything anyway (well it will change how much you need to do for him but it wont change his award).

ETA I'd get whoever was handling his appeal to sit down and talk you through the options before deciding on what to do.

mum_of_lewis

Thanks so much for your quick replys.My head is buzzing with all this new information .

I am stressed to the max! his blood sugars are 23.9 so we are monitoring him closely.

Thanks Again
Janette xx

GlasweJen

good luck with stabilising him, diabetes care in this country is really good and you'll have access to a diabetes nurse to help with any bumps along the way. Once he's well managed it will all fall into routine and you'll get more confident with management as you get more practice.

Just thought i'd mention that diabetic chocolate is vile, stick to savoury treats until he's well controlled as the diabetic stuff is pants, definitely not 8 year old friendly!

sunnyone

mum_of_lewis wrote: »

Hi there,

As some of you may be aware my son lewis has scoliosis, 62 degree curve. We applied for dla but got refused.Our doctor told us to appeal which we have done.
On thursday Lewis was admitted to hospital with type 1 diabetes. The diabetic team said we are now eligible for dla. I have rung them to add this information on.Forgot to add Lewis is 8 and wears a back brace 23hrs a day.

Does anyone else get dla for having type 1 diabetes?

We arenow praying that this will be successful as our lives have changed dramatically.

Any information would be greatfully recieved.

Thankyou kindly,
Janette xx

This op sounds really wrong and I hope its just the stress of the situation making it so, as jen has said this new diagnosis has no baring on the DLA appeal at all but it will help with a new claim if the appeal fails or only offers minimal DLA care.

I hope your lads ok

GlasweJen

A lot of health professionals have opinions on benefits that they know very little about. It happened a lot at CAB where I'd get someone in saying "but my dr said he can get benefits for having x,y or z" and you'd have to sit down and explain that really he'd only get the benefits if he needed a lot more care than someone the same age as him.