Benefits for a child with 10% vision

Gaffy

I have a friend who has a 20 month old child which was born with only 10% vision. She works part time and the husband full time, they haven't claimed for any benefits up to now but would like to know if there are indeed any benefits she could apply for. She has stated that when at home she has to keep a constant eye on the child as he keeps bumping into things, is it possible for her to claim some sort of carer's allowance? Also, because the child has difficulty getting up the back steps into the house can she apply to have a ramp or something fitted.

Thanks in advance.

EmmaHerts

This would be a good place to go to for help as even if the child is not able to get benefits, there could be grants, funds, or other such help available via charity.

National Blind Children's Society
http://www.nbcs.org.uk/contactus

pmlindyloo

This is a difficult one because of the age of the child.

You are looking basically at Disability Living Allowance.

There are 2 parts to it - one is awarded for care needs and one for mobility needs.

You can not apply for the mobility part until the child is 3 years old (higher rate)

So she could apply for the care part. The eligibility criteria states that the child would need more care attention than a child of the same age.

I hope that someone will come along who has experience of applying for DLA for such a young child.

If she does apply for DLA then she may need help with completing the forms from CAB or a welfare and benefits advisor.

To be eligible for Carer's Allowance the child would have to be receiving DLA at the middle/higher rate. Also, the carer would be able to work but cannot earn more than (I think) £100 per week.

As for any other benefits then I suggest she puts her details into the benefit checker on www.turn2us.org.uk to find out what she may be entitled to.

jackyann

all good advice and places to look above.
The issue about getting DLA for a child is that they need *significantly more* care than the average child of that age. It is very rare to get it under 2, and not common under 3.
although it was designed to help parents of children with cerebral damage, I have found the cerebra.org notes on filling the form very helpful. It is very helpful to get professional advice - either from the specialist nurse / teacher who the family sees, or the health visiting team (not doctors on the whole, whose experience of day-to-day care of the child is limited). It is not helpful to say "my friend leaves her 2 year old in a room without supervision, so I should be able to". It may be relevant to say "I have to spend .......amount of time ensuring that my child has the appropriate visual stimulation to encourage his development".

Gaffy

Thank you all for your advice and links, very helpful indeed.