DLA for a teenager with juvenille arthritis.

lifesupandsdown

hello was hoping someone would be able to give me some advice.

After many months of pain and stiffness,swelling my 14 yr old daughter had been diagnosed with arthritis.

The joints that are affected are her hips,knees ankles toes, balls of her feet and her fingers. She is virtually constantly swollen and stiff and as its affected her hips and knees walking is extremly painful and slow. She has difficulty going up the stairs, getting dressed etc. so it really affects her everyday life.

At school they have moved her lessons to the lower floors to limit the stairs, she has a special chair in certain lessons so she can sit comfortably. she uses a laptop at school that they have provided to help reduce the swelling in her fingers. whilst at school she wears splints on her hands for the same thing.

At present her medication is 800mg ibruprofn 3 xday, tramadol 3 x day, paracetomol when required, algesal cream rubbed into affected areas amytryptyline 2 xdaily to help relax muscles. she also take a tablet to hopefully prevent the lining of her stomach.

She has been hospitalised, has regular doctors and hospital appointments and is under the care of a rheumatologist, who will more than likely change her medication as the difficulties are getting worse.

I applied for DLA for her but she has been refused. Is this normal for a 1st time applicant is it worth asking for a reconsideration. they havent requested medical information they have used the information that i sent. which was the original form, prescription list and a report from the consultant explaining what joints are affected and how she was on the day that they saw her.

hope someone can give me some advice. thank you for reading

GlasweJen

My sister also has juvenile arthritis and never qualified for DLA but once diagnosed and treatment began she did get progressively better, obviously it never goes away but the drugs can help - she ended up on one that dampened down the immune system a bit that made all the difference. Ask the DWP why she's been refused then decide from there but I'm betting they are expecting improvement.

PippaGirl_2

Whether you qualify for DLA or not is not to do with either diagnosis or medication so they are largely irrelevant.
It's all how you word the form, did you have help from an experienced advisor?
What help does she need with her personal care, when does she need the help and for how often. What would happen if she did not have this help?
What help does she need with food preparation, when does she need the help and how often. What would happen if she did not have this help?
What help does she need with mobilisation, when does she need this help and how often. What would happen if she did not have this help?
How far can she mobilise? When she does mobilise how does this affect her with regards to pain and/or breathless or of worsening her condition?
These are the important things, not diagnosis or medication.

lifesupandsdown

thank you for your replies. when she is having a bad day which is a lot of the time at the moment. her walking and movement is very slow and stiff. she is in an awful lot of pain. the swelling and pain restricts her movements.

As for personal care getting in out bath and dressed when your hands are sore and swollen is very difficult, as is getting in out bath due to pain and stiffness in her hips. washing hair and herself takes longer than it did before. Getting upstairs to the toilet is difficult so when bad she tends to stay in her room. butt with arthritis staying in one position dont help either as you become stiff after rest.

she dont prepare or cook her own meals the family help her with that . At present she seems to be in one massive flare up thats been going on for months it settles for a couple of days then starts all over again. no 2 days are the same.

flutterbyuk25

I don't know the ins and outs fully but my brother has claimed DLA for juvenile arthritis since he was 14 (he is now 28).

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