Autism

valleyboy22

Good afternoon.

Our 4 year old son has officially been diagnosed with asd. People keep telling us we are entitled to help for things but not sure to be honest if there is anything.

Can anyone give advice on where to start if so please?

Thanks 

NedS

Are you currently claiming any benefits, either for yourself/yourselves or your son (besides child benefit)?

infectedeggs

Get in touch with your Local Education Authority (LEA) and apply for a Certificate of Special Educational Need (I think this is what they used to be called). The LEA should then assess your son with a view to allocating his school with extra funding to better meet his educational needs.

marcia_

infectedeggs said:

Get in touch with your Local Education Authority (LEA) and apply for a Certificate of Special Educational Need (I think this is what they used to be called). The LEA should then assess your son with a view to allocating his school with extra funding to better meet his educational needs.

 It's now an Education Health & Care Plan 
https://www.ipsea.org.uk/pages/category/education-health-and-care-plans

elsien

You can look at a DLA claim for him but only if his ASD means that his needs are over and above that of a child of the same age. It’s not means tested and only applies to children under 16. it is not based on diagnosis but on any additional care needs he may have.
My nephew has an autism diagnosis, but he wouldn’t have qualified for DLA because of how his autism presented.

This is an autism specific page which explains how it may apply.
https://www.theautismpage.com/applying-for-dla-for-an-autistic-child/

valleyboy22

NedS said:

Are you currently claiming any benefits, either for yourself/yourselves or your son (besides child benefit)?

No we both work, but if we are entitled for anything to help we would look into it.

poppy12345

valleyboy22 said:

NedS said:

Are you currently claiming any benefits, either for yourself/yourselves or your son (besides child benefit)?

No we both work, but if we are entitled for anything to help we would look into it.

Your son being diagnosed with ASD doesn't automatically entitle you to any benefits. You can use a benefits calculator to check entitlement to Universal Credit. You will need to claim as a couple. If you have savings/capital of more than £16,000 you're excluded from claiming.

valleyboy22

poppy12345 said:

valleyboy22 said:

NedS said:

Are you currently claiming any benefits, either for yourself/yourselves or your son (besides child benefit)?

No we both work, but if we are entitled for anything to help we would look into it.

Your son being diagnosed with ASD doesn't automatically entitle you to any benefits. You can use a benefits calculator to check entitlement to Universal Credit. You will need to claim as a couple. If you have savings/capital of more than £16,000 you're excluded from claiming.

Thanks. He is non verbal and any additional help for things like private speach and language cost would of been great 

poppy12345

You can look at applying for DLA for him. Please read the link posted above by elsien. Whether there's any entitlement will depend on how his condition affects him but there's no automatic entitlement because of ASD or being non verbal.

Loza2016

My son was diagnosed at 3 1/2. We successfully claimed middle rate care. He was and still is non verbal with learning disabilities as well. Definitely worth applying, we then got lower rate mobility when he turned 5. I had to give up my job so now also claim carers allowance 

Alice_Holt

Some more info on DLA:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/disability-living-allowance/

https://contact.org.uk/help-for-families/information-advice-services/benefits-financial-help/benefits-and-tax-credits/disability-living-allowance/tips-on-completing-the-dla-form/

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/disability-living-allowance-dla