Dla Rejected for Son

atlantis187

Just got the dreaded rejection letter for the dla claim we made for our son back in June.
Some of the resons they have stated in the rejection letter seem fairly standard reply.
It says u are not elligable as you do not care for your son more than 1 hour a day. on the form we put down he needs care for around 3 hours a day. (I dont even think they have read the form properly).

By the way my son is nearly 5 he suffers from speech and learning development needs.

What can we do about this? feel totally despressed and angry as we spent an awfull amount of time filling the form in and putting on there as much as we could.

Please advise.

Thanks

dori2o

atlantis187 wrote: »

Just got the dreaded rejection letter for the dla claim we made for our son back in June.
Some of the resons they have stated in the rejection letter seem fairly standard reply.
It says u are not elligable as you do not care for your son more than 1 hour a day. on the form we put down he needs care for around 3 hours a day. (I dont even think they have read the form properly).

By the way my son is nearly 5 he suffers from speech and learning development needs.

What can we do about this? feel totally despressed and angry as we spent an awfull amount of time filling the form in and putting on there as much as we could.

Please advise.

Thanks

Get together as much 'evidence' as you can muster, GP's reports, social worker reports (if you have one), school reports, letters from school about behaviour/learning problems etc etc.

If possible get an appointment with your local CAB and take everything with you.

You need to inform the DWP you are going to ask for a reconsideration and also request a full statement of reasons. This gives you 28 days to submit the appeal.

If possible try and get hold of the decision makers guide for DLA (Google is your friend), this will give you an idea of the descriptors they look at when deciding whether to award DLA and may help you to word your appeal submission in a way that would help them understand better the issues you face caring for your son.

atlantis187

I have tried googling but cannot find exactly what im supposed to be looking for re. decision makers guide.

Too be honest we had all the information possible that we sent with the original form. Dont know what to add extra. They did write to my sons nursery but I dont know what they wrote back.
My sons gp has had no dealings with his speech problems and he has being seeing a speech therapist who also filled in her bit on the form with exactly what he suffers from.

Dont know what to do next?

rogerblack

atlantis187 wrote: »

I have tried googling but cannot find exactly what im supposed to be looking for re. decision makers guide.

Too be honest we had all the information possible that we sent with the original form. Dont know what to add extra. They did write to my sons nursery but I dont know what they wrote back.
My sons gp has had no dealings with his speech problems and he has being seeing a speech therapist who also filled in her bit on the form with exactly what he suffers from.

Dont know what to do next?

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dmgch61.pdf specifically.
You need to first request a statement of reasons - this can be done over the phone, which will go into what evidence was used, and also request copies of all this evidence.

jackieb

Just incase you couldn't find your original thread.

I thought I was having deja vu all over again!

marleyboy

OP put in an appeal first and foremost. Be sure to include a detailed list of all his therapists.

Our Son is on DLA, concerning his developmental problems, speech and deafness. He has recently been diagnosed for Autism and we included a full list of all his specialists, Key notes and needs. Of course there are more factors involved for our Son, but they are more likely to look into his needs via his specialists, doctors and therapists than your own assessments.

Good luck OP.

kingfisherblue

OP, if you answer the questions I asked in your original thread, we may be able to help you more.

atlantis187

kingfisherblue wrote: »

OP, if you answer the questions I asked in your original thread, we may be able to help you more.

What question was that mate?

kingfisherblue

Copied and pasted from original thread:

OP, does your child have speech therapy? Do you spend time each day carrying out speech therapy exercises with him? How long each day?

What learning delays does he have? Can he dress himself at all, bearing in mind most 5 year olds could have trouble with buttons, zips and laces?

Does he have any toileting needs? Many five year olds still need someone to wipe them when soiled, but few soil their pants regularly, so again, compared to a child of the same age, what are his needs?

Does your son use any equipment or take any medications regularly?

Does he have any difficulty with washing or brushing his teeth, again beariung in mind that most five year olds would need some help and supervision?

DLA for children can be difficult to get, but you need to be clear what needs your child has above and beyond those of another child of the same age. In this day and age, many children have some form of speech delay. It is on the increase, and I read somewhere that up to 40% of children have some delay.

'Learning development needs' - what do you mean by this? Do you mean personal care needs, or do you mean that your son is finding it difficult to learn his lessons at school? Or something else? Does your son see a paediatrician?

If you can be clearer about his needs, perhaps we can be more specific in our answers. I assume you mean that you spend 3 hours a day dealing with your son's additional needs - what are you doing in those three hours?

DLA for children doesn't require any additional evidence, although obviously this can be helpful. However, they will often contact the school or a medical professional for further details.