DLA refused again

Ellejmorgan

kazzah60 wrote: »

I volunteer for a childrens disability charity and have close connections to the surgical team who operate on our members

To be honest the surgeons NEVER have time to complete the forms - I know for a fact that most often they are completed by a Junior Doctor who may NEVER have met your child

this is why I ALWAYS say to our member to put the details of someone who has CLOSE contact with the child down for the DWP to contact and if possible get a medical professional to complete the section " statement from someone who knows the child well"

for example our members ask the hospital physiotherapists attached to the surgical team if they will complete that part of the form and give details of HOW the claimant is affected by their disability

I would never advise anyone to put their surgeon - if the surgeons spent their time completing DLA forms- they wouldn't have time to carry out surgery

Hamlett - could your practice nurse at your GP surgery be the point of contact for the DWP?
does your child have a statement of special educational needs?
could you put the SENCO from the school down?

someone that you can talk to about the form is always helpful
because you can ask them to contact you if there are any questions they are unsure of before completing the form

Blinding advise, also op try benefits and work website I promise you it's worthwhile, look at some of their free guides and sign up to the free emails, you won't regret it..

I wouldn't put my surgeon down on my form, I'd add my physio and doctor who know me well enough to form judgement..

Ellejmorgan

hamlett wrote: »

But we expected it...its was guaranteed to happen again...guaranteed..some people twist there backs doing the garden and have to have time off work,they know its painful.....let them have vertabraes removed,at least half fused together and metalwork screwed onto your spine,sunken chest etc..then complain about back pain..see if they can bend and twist...well just get fed up of complaining to dla

As I said he has my sympathies, however it doesn't mean others do not have the right to suffer pain too...

You may get a little further if you are focussing just on your boy and not what others do/get...
It's about everyone getting the support who needs it...

prepareathome

Why not contact those mags etc and local paper and tell them your story as well as seeing your MP. All together they might just pressure DWP to give award and leave your son on DLA

Good Luck and hugsxxx

hamlett

i wasnt focusing on others "ellejmorgan" that was just a quick example on how you can hurt your back and have pain.
Most the time i think dla look for excuses,get out free cards maybe because of government pressure...it will be even worse next year when PIPS comes into force. you watch the complaints soar.
you may say it will clear out the system of false claims,maybe it will..but most are genuine and someone will do a 20 minute check on you (atos) and who have never met you in your life ..those will determine if you get dla or not. Some are born with disabilitys,they wont change ..my other son has cerebral palsy..he wont get up one day and its gone..he was born with it. Ive seen the tests they do,ive seen the tv programme where the bloke died because he said he was fit for work..it only comes down to saving money.

hamlett

"prepareathome" i think that maybe the best option,we will see what our dispute comes to.
I think it wouldnt even have come to this if they took the right reports from the right hospital in the first place.

hamlett

just got a letter today. "we are looking at your claim again. it can take up to 11 weeks for a reply"

megc_2

hamlett, can I ask how old your son is? It is always more difficult to get DLA for a child under 18, as you need to show clearly that in addition to requiring help with daily living tasks etc, the amount of help that they need is substantially more than an average child of the same age. Therefore providing care with toilet needs for a child under 7-8 may not be considered unusual even if it arises specifically because of a disability, as many children require help with this due to not being fuly toilet trained until a surprisingly late age. But if the child was aged 14, this may be conssidered as evidence of a care need, as the average 14 year old is able to manage their toileting needs independently.
One of the things I often advise parents to do is to make a daily diary, describing exactly how, when and why they provide care for their child during the day. In your case this could be:
9am X needed help with toileting. I put him in the hoist as he is unable to mobilise independently so he cannot transfer to the toilet; I then cleaned his bottom, washed him and applied sudocrem to prevent him chafing due to being sat in one position for long periods; I then used the hoist to transfer X back to his wheelchair and sit comfortably, assisted him to wash his hands, and wheeled him back to the living room where he had been watching TV. This took 30 minutes of personal attention, and without this help X would have to sit in feaces all day as he is unable to manage this himself, unlike a similar aged child.

I would also suggest that you are not completing the forms correctly, as it is highly unusual for an individual's claim to be continuously refused as you say your son's has been so many times, especially if it is then being overturned at appeal. For anybody completing claim forms on behalf of a child, I'd always recommend going to the CAB for help or your local council welfare rights service. They will also help to represent your son at tribunals if necessary. As much as you think you are able to do this for your son yourself, the benefits system is complex and almost designed to make it difficult to succeed- you need to be able to concentrate on your sons needs and let someone with more specialist knowledge and experience fight his case with the benefits system.