Disability living allowance for over 16's with diabetes

N9eav

This is a bit specific, but We have been in receipt of disability living allowance for our daughter who suffers from diabetes. The extar cash is a great help to buy the extra more expensive sugar free foods etc.
She will soon be 16 and we have to re-claim. The forms are different as they focus more on her abilities and disabilities rather than the need of parents to care for her, and we are wondering if she is still able to receive it?

MonkeyGirl

As long as you fill the forms out yes she should still be entitled to it but with DLA you never know as it can be very hit and miss. What I will say though and I'll probably get told off for it is if you fill the forms out on worse case scenerios. Eg: She has just changed tablets and hasn't got used to them yet so it is affecting her and she is shaky so therefore not is unsafe to use a kettle. That kinda of thing and try and see your gp before hand just to say that you have another form to fill out and will he / she back you up on things, also let them know of any problems that maybe are becoming more frequent like pains in the feet for instances and once you have told gp pt them no the form.That way if the DLA decide to contact the gp they can say what is what.

Hope that is of some help to you.

MonkeyGirl

Fran

N9eav,

I would advise you to get help filling in the forms with your nearest Citizens Advice Bureau or other welfare benefits help advisors. They are filling these forms in all the time and can advise on how successful your claim might be.

margaretclare

Fran wrote:

N9eav,I would advise you to get help filling in the forms with your nearest Citizens Advice Bureau or other welfare benefits help advisors. They are filling these forms in all the time and can advise on how successful your claim might be.

Some CABx do this. Not all. Ours refers people to the local Association of Voluntary Services for under-65s, the Advocacy for Older People for over 65s. Ours doesn't do debt advice either - there's a Money Advice Centre in the Civic Centre.

Aunty Margaret

Fran

Yes that's the problem with CABx, that each one is managed individually so it depends on the style of the manager and how much funding he/she has managed to get too what facilities are available at the different CABx. I'm surprised to hear that they don't do DLA forms or debt even though there is an alternative because debt and benefits are two of the main areas of advice for CABx!

margaretclare

Hi Fran

I was told we just did not have the time to spend filling in lengthy and complicated forms for people. There's also DIAL in the town so there are people who do this. For AA forms, the Advocacy for Older People have volunteers who will go out to people in their own homes.

Given that all CABx run mainly on part-time volunteers with a few paid staff, it's surprising what they ARE expected to do!

Aunty Margaret

foxhaven

Surely you are not in receipt of a disability benefit for your daughter just because she's a diabetic. That leads me on to ask if she's T1 or T2 and what age was she diagnosed. Is she physically or mentally disabled as well as being a diabetic? T1 diabetics do not need special sugar free foods and can virtually eat anything as long as sufficient insulin is injected to compensate. If your daughter was diagnosed at a very early age then she's most likely a T1. How did you manage to get the claim forms for a DB filled in in the first place and why can't a 16 year old do it for herself because the questionaire is quite straightforward. I would be interested to receive your response.

Fran

foxhaven wrote:

How did you manage to get the claim forms for a DB filled in in the first place and why can't a 16 year old do it for herself because the questionaire is quite straightforward. I would be interested to receive your response.

Disaability Living Allowance forms are not straightforward and a lot of older people struggle with them let alone a 16 year old! I have experience helping people fill them in. This is why Citizens Advice Bureaux and other Welfare Benefits advice centres have to spend time helping people fill them in. The forms appear to ask the same questions again and again and this is confusing. People don't realise they have to fill in this repeat information each time it applies. That is only one way it's difficult. It is hard to know for how long each day you might need care or how far you can actually walk without experiencing severe discomfort.

filigree_2

As I recall the main criteria is that your daughter needs something extra in her life that a healthy youngster wouldn't need. I don't have much knowledge of diabetes but I'll suggest what worked for us (son with epilepsy):

• Needs to make regular trips to clinic to see dietician or diabetes nurse. Time needed for travel, cost of bus fares etc.
• Travel time/costs of visiting pharmacy for medications (ie I had to travel to hospital once a month to collect medicine not available from Boots)
• Time spent - injections, sampling blood, keeping a food diary etc. Even if it only adds up to 30 minutes a day, put it down! I had to keep a seizure diary, I put that on our application form.
• Do you pay for special equipment not available on the NHS? I know insulin is free but do you pay out of your pocket for something that makes life easier?
• Does your daughter have bad spells, hypo attacks etc and how much help does she need to take meds to get back to normal?
• My MIL is diabetic and she goes to a monthly support group, and has regular visits to the chiropodist and sees the optician more often than usual. If any of that applies to your daughter, put it in the form.
• Is there anything she needs but doesn't get? My son was on the waiting list for Occupational Health for nearly a year but I still put it on the claim form - he needed OH even if he wasn't getting any at that precise moment.
• Don't leave out any unrelated health problems. I put down my son's asthma which is the least of his problems, but it does form an important part of the bigger picture.

Most important of all, get your daughter to contribute as much as possible, especially completing that page where you describe "in your own words" how your illness affects you.

Good luck, I sympathise with the chore of filling out these blessed forms every few years!

bethscott1970

I might make myself unpopular here but if diabetes is properly controlled then is it really something you can get DLA for? I understand that a child can get it because they need CARE from someone else to either test blood and inject insulin or to supervise the child doing it, but does an adult requie help from someone else to do this? I spent years fighting for DLA for myself (I have MS) and my eldest son (who is autistic) but we have never considered my husband (who is type 1 diabetic) entitled to DLA. Am I alone is thinking that the benefit was introduced to give disabled people the money required to obtain the care required to live a "normal" life and to pay the extra costs involved in not being able to walk/use public transport the same as everyone else?

As a 16 year old the requirements are slightly different from a childs application. Previously you would have to prove that she required more help than her peers, the criteria for an adult is different and involves things such as being able to cook a meal.

margaretclare

Hi beth

I've been wondering the same thing myself. Diabetes is a condition that affects one's life requiring regular blood-testing, injecting insulin, being careful not to go too long between meals because of risk of going 'hypo', having to carry glucose tablets everywhere. Eye tests annually, not wearing tight socks, those kind of things. Having said all that, very many people out there are living normal lives, earning a living, bringing up families, playing sports etc with just this added dimension to their lives. Sir Steve Redgrave of course is a high-profile example, there are many more, as highlighted regularly in 'Balance', the magazine of Diabetes UK, which is an organisation that every diabetic person and their nearest and dearest should belong to. I'm sure Sir Steve wouldn't consider himself disabled and in need of DLA!

Aunty Margaret