Disability living allowance for over 16's with diabetes

Mandymull

Hi
have just read the thread on DLA and diabetes and i must say that i am surprised that your daughter has been able to claim DLA for diabetes. YES i appreciate that it is a condition but i do not personally see it as a disability.
I have two daughters one aged 16 and the other 14 and they ARE disabled. they have Rett syndrome, are both completely non verbal, use wheelchairs, doubly incontinent, can not read or write, epileptic, fed via gastrostomy, have scoliosis, autism and profound learning difficulties with a mental age of about 2 years old....they have a disability.
i am wondering what level of care component you are able to claim for your daughter.
it would be interesting if your daughter was awarded DLA post 16.
Perhaps i should claim for DLA , i have epilepsy but i do not see THAT as a disabilty and yes it does affect me, but is an inconveneince. I think we should all look at what we call a disability and what is a disorder or disease.
Mandy

Penny-Pincher!!

Mandymull wrote: »

Hi
have just read the thread on DLA and diabetes and i must say that i am surprised that your daughter has been able to claim DLA for diabetes. YES i appreciate that it is a condition but i do not personally see it as a disability.
I have two daughters one aged 16 and the other 14 and they ARE disabled. they have Rett syndrome, are both completely non verbal, use wheelchairs, doubly incontinent, can not read or write, epileptic, fed via gastrostomy, have scoliosis, autism and profound learning difficulties with a mental age of about 2 years old....they have a disability.
i am wondering what level of care component you are able to claim for your daughter.
it would be interesting if your daughter was awarded DLA post 16.
Perhaps i should claim for DLA , i have epilepsy but i do not see THAT as a disabilty and yes it does affect me, but is an inconveneince. I think we should all look at what we call a disability and what is a disorder or disease.
Mandy

DLA is awarded on care needs and how illnesses affect us personally and not on diagnosis.

PP
xx

Mandymull

i realise that PP but still i do think that 'some' may exaggerate how a disorder affects them to make a claim.

Rachel71

Hello Chazzy,

Sorry to hear about your problems with hypos, but I'm not sure that DLA would sort this out. Have you spoken to your diabetes clinic about the frequency of your hypos - and particularly the nighttime hypos? Perhaps a DAFNE course would be useful - or have you considered a pump? How about posting on the oldstyle board to get some good advice about eating healthily on a budget? Do you have gluten free foods on prescription (and therefore free)? DLA only tends to be awarded to adult diabetics where there are complications which have an impact on day to day living - and even then I think it's quite rare.

HTH
Rachel71

KxMx

Mandymull wrote: »

Hi
have just read the thread on DLA and diabetes and i must say that i am surprised that your daughter has been able to claim DLA for diabetes. YES i appreciate that it is a condition but i do not personally see it as a disability.
I have two daughters one aged 16 and the other 14 and they ARE disabled. they have Rett syndrome, are both completely non verbal, use wheelchairs, doubly incontinent, can not read or write, epileptic, fed via gastrostomy, have scoliosis, autism and profound learning difficulties with a mental age of about 2 years old....they have a disability.
i am wondering what level of care component you are able to claim for your daughter.
it would be interesting if your daughter was awarded DLA post 16.
Perhaps i should claim for DLA , i have epilepsy but i do not see THAT as a disabilty and yes it does affect me, but is an inconveneince. I think we should all look at what we call a disability and what is a disorder or disease.
Mandy

Yes I agree there are differences betwwen disabled and illness...however just because your daughters are disabled doesn't mean you should measure everything &everyone else against them.
There are illness' that are disabling, and you must have mild epilepsy to consider it an "inconveinence", unlike my poor friend who has half a dozen fits a day and literally cannot lead a normal life. I'd call her disabled.

SuziQ

Mandymull,my son is nowhere near as disabled as your children-he is autistic-but he was awarded high level care as his needs warrant it. I did NOT exagerate his needs-in fact I gave a range of care he needs over the course of days,as did his school-he attends a mainstream but does have help in school.

I am very grateful he is not worse than he is,but I did have to give up my career at one point to care for him as he couldn't settle in any sort of daycare.

I feel is is harsh to judge other recipients of DLA because they do not match the (admittedly) very high criteria of care your children recieve.I was also surprised to read a child affected by diabetes would get DLA but individual cases are judged on their merits and having filled out these forms recently I personally wouldn't have known how to 'cheat' the forms to get my son awarded.

countrymusicfan

First of all, I know Steve Redgrave manages with his diabetes fine, but not all diabetics are so perfectly controlled. There are a lot of problems that go with diabetes, so please don't critize this lady. My brother can't feel anything in his fingers, and my son is in and out of the hospital all because of diabetes.

Seconly to the mother, can you list the penject as an aid on your DLA form? I will try and do that with my son's. Mention the people you see about her diabetes. You could also mention hypos keep here from walking on her own. Do you need to watch her for hypos mention it. What about reminding her to eat carbos because she needs to balance her insulin. What about seeing the nurse at the hospital being listed as help with your care needs. She is a danger to herself because of her medication. Speak to an expert in these forms. We have one in the council in Inverness, check your city or whatever and see if there is an expert in the council, or at the CAB or speak to a carers group or a diabetes group. But do get an expert to look at your form.

jennymadmum

Hi,

I just wanted to re-emphazise a couple of the earlier posts who directed you to your local CAB office. I am a volunteer in CAS (citizens advice scotland) and we've had many people through our doors in exactly the same situation as you. In fact, I had one only yesterday. I was surprsied to hear from another volunteer that their branch does not do DLA forms etc and if that's typical of the system down south then I would recommend that you give them a phone to check first (or email as some branches do an email enquiry service now). Ccertainly yes, DLA forms take ages and if you had a load of clients and very few rooms it can be a bit of a pain but we are here to help, no matter how long it takes or what your enquiry is. If we can help you with it, we will and if not, then we should give you the details of someone better placed to help.

DLA is awarded on HOW the condition affects you and NOT the condition itself. As has been said, there are many people with diabetes who live a relatively normal life and would never consider themselves to have any form of disability; good for them. On the flip side, there are others who really struggle with it and the symptoms of their meds and they need the extra assisitance that the DLA can provide..

Please don't anyone judge until you've walked a day in the other person's shoes. You are not there 24/7 so you cannot possibly know how this conditions affects this woman or her daughter.. This is unfortunately where society has gone so wrong now. There is such an emphasis placed on the 'fraudsters' nowadays that people are too quick to pass judgement.

I really hope you get some help hun and if need be, please contact your CAB office. Like I said earlier, we're here to help no matter how long it takes....

N9eav

Mandymull wrote: »

Hi
i am surprised that your daughter has been able to claim DLA for diabetes. YES i appreciate that it is a condition but i do not personally see it as a disability.
Try getting a driving licence or car insurance. Ignore the treatment for a day or so and your dead. It can be quite restrictive



it would be interesting if your daughter was awarded DLA post 16.
Perhaps i should claim for DLA Mandy

No she was not able to claim it past 16.

shortbread

AS newly diagnosed T2 diabetic.............I really feel for the way SOME people suffer from this illness. I am struggling to become comfortable with my medication and its side effects and hopefully it will settle in at some point.


What saddens me is how some people are so quick to become judge and Juror making assumptions about people who come here for some empathy and compassion as well as direction in what should be done next about their issue.

I see way too often how some people project lots of anger or resentment onto posters, perhaps people need to consider why someone posts a question here.

Do we really think they come here to be judged, condemned and made to feel like a criminal???

As far as I'm concerned, everyone is different and unless you know the person or have spent a day in their life it is extremely harsh to criticise or pass judgment on someone who is simply trying to find answers to a question.

We need to realise that compassion goes a long way !!!