DLA for child - none financial benefits.

mummyroysof3

I guess it could vary by what council it is but from my experience and knowledge it is not a case of no help without a statement.

My advice still stands at speaking to head first and maybe the special needs coordinator. If they refuse to help then IMO the school are rubbish and want reporting to ofstead

Morglin

Good idea, as I said, my experience was very limited, so it could be that the OP's school will help without statementing.

Lin

Indie_Kid

Wouldn't they be breaking the Equalities Act by refusing to help?

mumps

cattermole wrote: »

I don't think money is the issue here really is it?

Paying for a private tutor isn't going to get the correct work sent home? Or enable specific lessons to be caught up on? I'm sure if it was Princedom would pay for it anyway.

My daughter is a teacher, sometimes she gets an e mail from the SENCO asking if anyone is interested in tutoring for a child at the school so she could get some tutoring from someone at the school who knows what they are doing.

If the OP is reading I just wondered how old your daughter is, I haven't read all the thread yet so you might have said, if so sorry.

Just wanted to add that my daughter wouldn't think twice about sending out appropriate work to help the child, I lose count of the number of times she gives up frees or lunch hours or stays late to help kids who need a bit of one to one.

Do they still have education welfare officers? Might be old hat now but if they still exist they might be worth speaking to.

cattermole

Your daughter sounds lovely Mumps you must be very proud.

Talking to a friend today who is a little more up to speed than me on SEN as she is a Governor in a special school and has a child in the school.

Mainstream schools now have what they call "nominal SEN" budgets or are starting to.

They get a budget regardless of the number of SEN children they might have in the school. (Presumably it is based on the overall numbers in the school though?!)

I guess it must be difficult even for Teachers to know all the changes that are going on these days in SEN.

Apparently according to my friend, even for Statemented Children the school will be expected to take some funds from their "nominal" budget towards the cost of the Statemented Child's needs.

The Government is also pushing ahead with a Bill that is trying to integrate Education, Social Care and Health but my friend things it will probably dilute provision further and is all very wishy washy. Statements are to be scrapped in it and given another name (which escapes me at the moment!)

So all in all very stretched resources for SEN children.

SingleSue

tinkledom wrote: »

My comments were centred around the fact that parents seem to cheer when their little one is recorded as 'unable to cope in a mainstream system'. .

It made me determined to prove them wrong....not once but twice!

Op - even statemented children can have difficulties having their needs covered...been doing battle with the school since September 2012 for their inability to follow youngest's statement. Statemented for 25 hours one to one per week, he is lucky if he actually receives 5 per week.

LEA are now aware and are not happy.

To your problem, in my eyes, although your child's grades may be higher than others at the moment, the more time she has to miss at school, the more her education will suffer and that to me, is an educational need the school need to work with you on before the child gets badly behind in her work.

Could never understand why things have to be left until there is a crisis, makes sense to me to head it off before it gets that far.

GobbledyGook

The main reason, and this is in my experience only not a rule or anything before anyone jumps on me, that statemented children often get more help is they have parents who know how to shout, demand and yell to get the help their child needs. Often they've had to go through that to get the statement in the first place.

It shouldn't be 'them that shouts the loudest' but with smaller and smaller budgets sometimes it is.

In the OP's case I would claim DLA, especially if the child is likely to get the high rate. It's all about weapons in the armoury to go to the school with. It might not be something that has any automatic triggers, but every little thing adds another piece to the jigsaw.

Also, although perhaps not needed at the moment, DLA can open other doors. For example a holiday club I know of where it is busy to the point children can only go for 1 week of summer allocated any leftover extra spaces to the children most in need (or parents most in need of a break) and DLA is one of their factors, especially high rate.

It can be useful for opening doors. That is why, I assume, people as wealthy as David Cameron still claimed it for children. There are non financial benefits.

GobbledyGook

Oh and the fact that your child's grades are high is not a reason not to give her help. She should be getting help to attain her potential, if that potential is higher than average then she should still be getting help to hit that.

Sadly that kind of help is much harder to get, but it's something she should be entitled too.

rogerblack

pipkin71 wrote: »

That doesn't make any difference.

If it is used for disabled purposes, you sign a VAT exemption form. I'm surprised the RNIB didn't inform you of this.

The item needs to be specifically adapted for the disabled.
Just being used by a disabled person is _NOT_ enough.

However - this would need to be sorted out by the RNIB at invoice time.
It can't (usually) be done afterwards.

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageImport_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000184&propertyType=document

4.5 Other equipment and appliances “designed solely” for use by a disabled person

4.5.1 General
You can zero rate the supply to an eligible customer as detailed in paragraph 3.1 of any other equipment and appliances that have been designed solely for use by disabled people.
It is not sufficient for zero-rating that the equipment or appliance is merely destined or intended for use by a disabled person, or is mainly purchased by disabled persons. For example, general purpose equipment such as most computer hardware, ordinary or orthopaedic beds, orthopaedic or reclining chairs may benefit a disabled person, but are designed for general use or for use by disabled and able bodied people alike. Such products are not eligible for relief.

It would seem (if the product in question is JAWS) - that this would meet the above criteria.


But it's regrettably not as simple as anything used by the disabled due to their disability is zero-rated.

Mojisola

rogerblack wrote: »

The item needs to be specifically adapted for the disabled.

Just being used by a disabled person is _NOT_ enough.

How does that work with items like shoes?

You can buy shoes without paying the VAT if you need that particular kind of shoe because of health problems - arthritis, oedema, etc.

The exact same shoes can be bought by overweight people who need the extra width but they have to pay the VAT.