Disabled facilities grant is it worth applying?

mylifemyrules

Hi, 
My 3 year old is non verbal and is suspected as having ASD. He currently has to share a bedroom with his 1 year old brother but it's not working out. My son wakes up frequently and gets frustrated with his brother so could really do with a larger bedroom to himself with a separate sensory space. Is it worth applying for a dfg? We own our home. 

elsien

What adaptations are you looking for to be able to do this?

mylifemyrules

We have a garage that we hope to convert for him 

elsien

As far as I understand it, parental income isn't taken into account for adaptations for children but you would need to have an assessment first before any of that is considered. Have you had anyone involved as yet to give recommendations? I'd suggest contacting your local council about their processes and what they require would be your best starting point. Because he is so young, you might hit the barrier that they will say his needs are not much different to a child of his age who does not have a disability. 

mylifemyrules

Thank you. I'll contact them and see what they say. 

Albermarle

We did something similar for a child not much older. In this case was a garage > downstairs bathroom and a change to the kitchen layout, so it was more wheelchair friendly. At the same time ( as it made sense) the builders did other things that were not directly related. It was a long time ago, so rules may have changed and maybe different for different councils. Also council funding is tighter than it used to be. Anyway as far as I remember, the council paid a third, gave us a low interest loan for a third and we paid a third.

Savvy_Sue

elsien said:

As far as I understand it, parental income isn't taken into account for adaptations for children but you would need to have an assessment first before any of that is considered. Have you had anyone involved as yet to give recommendations? I'd suggest contacting your local council about their processes and what they require would be your best starting point. Because he is so young, you might hit the barrier that they will say his needs are not much different to a child of his age who does not have a disability. 

mylifemyrules said:

Thank you. I'll contact them and see what they say. 

I think that's very sensible. Another thing to consider, as he is so young, is how best you can 'future-proof' what you do now, and that may be difficult pre-formal diagnosis, and not simple even post-diagnosis. 

I realise that you may be completely over-stretched as it is, but what you don't want to do is go all-out for his needs as a three-year-old, and then find that at six his needs have radically changed. So I would also consider whether a move to a 3-bed house would be a better option, and / or whether there's any prospect of splitting either of the current bedrooms, and / or whether there's any possibility of re-configuring the current rooms downstairs. You mention creating a sensory space, and I don't know much about that kind of thing, but I wonder if they're best created in a bedroom, or separately? 

And I'd also have some concerns about having a very young child with additional needs sleeping on a different floor to you. I wondered about suggesting a loft conversion to create a bedroom for you, but then that thought about needing to get to the child in a hurry intervened. I think I'd be less worried about converting the garage into YOUR bedroom, simply because you're less likely to fall UP the stairs if you have to rush up them than if you are rushing DOWN! 

But get the advice and keep thinking ... 

Albermarle

You mention creating a sensory space, and I don't know much about that kind of thing, but I wonder if they're best created in a bedroom, or separately? And I'd also have some concerns about having a very young child with additional needs sleeping on a different floor to you. I wondered about suggesting a loft conversion to create a bedroom for you, but then that thought about needing to get to the child in a hurry intervened

In a normal house, probably not practical to devote a whole room to a sensory space, and putting some things in the bedroom makes more sense. You can buy light projectors that make a good show (when it is dark !) for £100 or less.

Also not always practical to sleep on the same floor of the house, but probably being two floors apart is not a good idea. Baby monitors are pretty sophisticated  nowadays and can visually and well as audibly monitor what is going on. 

Savvy_Sue

Albermarle said:

You mention creating a sensory space, and I don't know much about that kind of thing, but I wonder if they're best created in a bedroom, or separately? And I'd also have some concerns about having a very young child with additional needs sleeping on a different floor to you. I wondered about suggesting a loft conversion to create a bedroom for you, but then that thought about needing to get to the child in a hurry intervened

In a normal house, probably not practical to devote a whole room to a sensory space, and putting some things in the bedroom makes more sense. You can buy light projectors that make a good show (when it is dark !) for £100 or less.

Also not always practical to sleep on the same floor of the house, but probably being two floors apart is not a good idea. Baby monitors are pretty sophisticated  nowadays and can visually and well as audibly monitor what is going on. 

Oh I get that. And having read your earlier post (converting garage space and doing wheelchair friendly stuff) I realise that sometimes the options are limited. 

mylifemyrules

Thanks everyone. Well If we did convert the garage it would be a good space for him to have in the future as he'd have a large bedroom. The reason I say a separate sensory space or a bedroom big enough to make a separate section is so that he doesn't become too over stimulated there would also be a WC. We can't move house he wouldn't be able to cope and we are in such a nice area. I  sleep downstairs in the lounge anyway just because I prefer sleeping downstairs