What to do when dla claim refused due to school report?

teabag29

As title says really. The school have made it clear to me that they have written a glowing report for dla as they dont have the problems at school with dd as I have at home despite them being on the phone to me each week with different problems regarding dd (they've failed to mention any of this in the form).

Based on this info i'm expecting a refusal letter in the post next week. My question is how do I appeal this, do I ask for a statement of reasons (even though I already know what the school have said) or do I ask for a reconsideration or straight for an appeal. Also is there anyone that can help me with it (i.e. represent me). I filled the forms in myself and went into alot of detail.

Any advice appreciated

SingleSue

I gave up when it happened to me in regards to middle son......but then I was mid breakdown and couldn't cope with fighting it.

McKneff

what are you childs care/mobility needs.

teabag29

Well she has behaviour/emotional problems and learning difficulties. She was abused as a child and there is mental health in the family. She has no diagnosis yet but has scored high for conduct disorder.

She has no sense of danger and jumps out of windows, walks into roads etc. Nothing can be left around that could cause harm, windows have to be locked, food has to be locked away in the shed. She self harms, has an eating obsession which i'm concerned is turning into an eating disorder as she has started trying to vomit and feels she is fat (she is by no means fat).

She steals from everyone and anyone (every school shes been to) has recently been arrested for shop lifting and truanting. She cannot form friendships with other kids and is very dominant and violent to them.

She is also exhibiting some very disturbing behaviour. She soils herself and urinates (whent hings arent going her way) all over her clothes in wardrobe, the bed, the floor etc. She WILL NOT wash or keep clean and I have to battle every night to bath her. Her hygiene is very poor. She talks to herself alot and hears voices that arent there. She also has an imaginary friend. She sometimes cant distinguish fact from fiction (i.e. she believes that tv programmes are real despite several attempts to try an explain to her its entertainment).

Regarding her learning problems she is 12 and has a reading and maths age of 7.06. She cannot tell the time, doesnt know the months of the year, doesnt know her alphabet etc. She still plays like a child to (i.e dolls and mummys and daddys etc).

She is under camhs for assessment but 1st appt not until next month. i have also pushed and managed to get an education psychologist to work with her starting next week. She is on sen school action but school have only just acknowledged this (shes been there since september) and are giving her 4 hours help a week.

I am arranging a caff with the help of parent partnership as the school are less than useless and i believe (as do pp) she should be on school action plus atleast. The school have seen some of the above behaviours but havent mentioned them in the dla report, they have wrote about her as if she is a top student. She does have 2 sides to her character and can be very helpful and polite but it never lasts long.

She deffo needs more care and supervision than other 12 year olds. I cannot leave her alone with anything (i.e. a simple trip to the toilet will result in her getting bleach out and squirting it up the walls), she is not safe outdorrs on her own as she often runs into the road but also will behave very badly (i.e. last week she tried to push the window cleaner off the ladders and the police were involved), I have to bath her and get hit and kicked and lots of abuse but if i do not she will not bath or wash, clean her teeth or brush her hair, change her underwear etc. Night times are a real battle as I have 3 girls sharing a room and its often very late before i get them to sleep because dd will not settle and wont let them go to sleep or wakes them up then they get tired and are grumpy the next day. Theres so much i'd be here all day writing

teabag29

My most immediate concern at present is getting her to school as I have younger children to take to school which is in the opposite direction and so I cant walk dd and she really isnt safe to walk on her own. Even with me there she has walked striaght into the main road, not through bad behaviour but she just doesnt seem to understand. She has had numerous talks on road safty both at school and by myself and family but she still doesnt understand the whole traffic light thing, her memory is very bad and she thinks the red light means you can cross. Sometimes she doesnt even look at all and has been close to being ran over when I have had nobody to take her to school. the neighbours have even come to me and said they have seen her walk into the road.

The school are really unsupportive. I found out she was truanting purely by chance as she arrived hom early (she cant tell the time) and I informed the school and they checked her attendance and she'd been doing it for 2 weeks without anybody noticing and going to the local park. I dread to think what could have happened as there is a main road there but also if a dirty old man was there or something, dd is very easily lead and even though I have tried my best to educate her on strangers im sure she would get in someones car if a packet of sweets were offered.

Anyway the school said theres to many gates and they cant stop her leaving the school at lunch etc as lots of pupils go out for dinner. Then i requested her to be on report where each teacher has to sign her card so I know immediately if she hasnt been in that day...they said they could only do this for a maximum of 4 weeks.

The doctor wrote to the school saying he wanted an education psychologist report doing asap but they refused and wrote back saying they have other children with higher educational needs than my dd and her problems are more emotional so she needs camhs. They are very unsupportive I feel.

rogerblack

teabag29 wrote: »

Based on this info i'm expecting a refusal letter in the post next week. My question is how do I appeal this, do I ask for a statement of reasons

I would recommend you send a (recorded) letter now and follow up with a phone call , outlining your conversation with the school, and a factual list of incidents they've contacted you about to the best of your knowledge, as it contradicts the report you've been told about, as additional material for the decision maker to consider with regards to the claim.

Then once you've received the refusal (if) - ring up and confirm in (recorded) letter that you want a statement of reasons.
If nothing else, this also adds 2 weeks after the SOR to your time before you need to decide on an appeal.
I would also recommend a read of the (extensive) documentation for decision makers at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/specialist-guides/decision-makers-guide/

dealchaser

Has your daughter been seen by CAMHS yet. My son has a lot of the same behaviours, not as extreme but he is only 9. Just last week he nearly got ran over because he did not hear or see the car coming. The car was so loud it sounded like a V8 engine coming along, how he did not hear or see it I do not know. My son was diagnosed with ASD and was also seen by an Occupational Therapist. The OT put him through a lengthy assessment and found that he has a number of sensory issues which I can now see contribute to his problems greatly. His auditory memory is virtually non-existent and his sensory thresholds are very very high. The OT has given us all sorts of advice regarding his sensory issues and this has made it easier for us and the school to understand why he does certain things.
Perhaps ask you GP for a referral to an Occupational Therapist to see if your daughter has these sensory issues. If she does they will be able to help you.

teabag29

Thanks. No not seen by camhs yet, there are 12 people before her on the waiting list so they said she should be seen next month. Education psychologist (who is very experienced and used to work for camhs and a fully qualified teacher) will start work with dd within the next 2 weeks even though the school refused to refer her ( i rang them directly and explained and they were very helpful and agreed she would benefit from them). She has seen a child psychologist before who said possible adhd but too young to diagnose as she was only 3 and shes seen a family therapist thats all. I will get onto my doctor on monda and see what he says, thanks

when_will_it_end

Hi teabag I can empathise with you
Do you have evidence of most situations you have out lined above?
I think the best thing you can do like I did is keep a diary of day to day events when she does something serious that involves the police add the evidence to that page if you have to visit the hospital add the evidence of that to

If she self harms add if it was minor or major

Once the ball starts rolling with chams and other people you can ask for evidence from them
Add all appointment letters

I was refused and did all of the above I had pages and pages of documented events which the most serious ones were backed up with evidence
I submitted this to the panel before my tribrunal
The initial descison makers said no but because I was able to provide a years worth of evidence my dd was awarded MRC and LRM
It does all boil down to having to provide proof

Good luck

Tehya

rogerblack wrote: »

I would recommend you send a (recorded) letter now and follow up with a phone call , outlining your conversation with the school, and a factual list of incidents they've contacted you about to the best of your knowledge, as it contradicts the report you've been told about, as additional material for the decision maker to consider with regards to the claim.


Then once you've received the refusal (if) - ring up and confirm in (recorded) letter that you want a statement of reasons.
If nothing else, this also adds 2 weeks after the SOR to your time before you need to decide on an appeal.
I would also recommend a read of the (extensive) documentation for decision makers at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/specialist-guides/decision-makers-guide/

This is really good solid advice and I really can't add much to it. Some of the events you mention i.e the police involved with the window cleaner do you have any evidence from these incidents if you do you may wish to add those to your evidence as rogerblack mentions above.

You also mention the behaviour of your daughter in school and say that you get called about this; my advice would be to log every incident they call or write about. Also if these events at school are being seen as bad enough to call you about then the school should be keeping a log of these themselves, it may be worth your while to ask for access to your child's files, this can include computer records too. They will have 15 school days to respond. If you want copies of any information you feel may help you the school have the right to charge for this but if you just look (I beleive you can take photos of documents) then no charge can be made.

Good luck with everything, your daughter is lucky to have you to fight her corner for her.

daska

(If you don't already) start keeping a detailed diary of her behaviour at home and at school. It will help you to challenge the school's report if it causes problems.

And see if you can get an incident number for when the police came out about the windowcleaner (and any other incidents)