A guide to the DLA

Guide to the DLA for under 16s

The Disability Living Allowance is a benefit, provided to support people who incur extra expense due to a physical or mental disability. There a 2 forms, make sure you download and fill in the correct one for the age of the applicant. For most Fae children that will be the under 16s and that is the one I am focussing on.

The form is 40 pages long. I advise not completing in one go, as you will need to focus on your child at their worst, and it is a miserable task. You will need supporting statements from professionals, so as you talk to health visitors/SALT/consultants or social workers, ask if they will be prepared to offer such things. Get names and contact details.

The rate is split into 3: low; medium; and high. There is also a separate section dedicated to mobility payments, and I will tackle that separately.

If you print the form yourself, you can take your time filling it in. If you phone and ask for it to be sent to you there is a time limit to return it – 6 weeks.

Right, onto the form.

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE OF SUCCESSFULLY FILLING IN AND SUBMITTING THE SODDING THING NOTHING MORE.

There is apparently a guide booklet that the form refers to, but I have never found a copy of it.

The easy stuff. Use a BLACK pen. (Don’t ask me, that’s what it says – don’t get declined because of bureaucracy) and write in BLOCK CAPITALS (pretend you’re shouting at an internet troll throughout the whole thing)

I strongly hope that you can answer ‘no’ to question 1, despite the extra work it entails, as it means your child is expected to have a long and healthy life.

If your answer is yes, then my heart breaks for you: please email me, and we will fill the rest of the thing in together, as quickly as possible, and I hate that you are in the position to need to.

Questions 2 – 22: are reasonably straight foreword; name and nationality; has your child had any overnight stays in residentials; and if so when?

Question 23:
This is where you need the dates of any and all consultation appointments; speech therapists; autism diagnosis; ed. Psychologists; anything. If they are under any professional care write it, if you run out of room use an extra sheet, clearly stating ‘PLEASE SEE ADDITIONAL SHEET NUMBER 1’ and copy the table out and continue.

Question 24:
You may well be writing “PLEASE SEE ATTACHED LETTERS.”Clearly mark said letters as “question 24”. You will need supporting evidence to back your claim and make it go smoothly. Make sure that you keep the originals: only send copies of anything.

Question 25
Anyone and everyone who supports your child professionally e.g. health visitors, speech therapists, consultants for any conditions etc.

Questions 26 – 29: are all about your GP. You need to be registered with a GP and they should be aware of your child’s condition.

Questions 30 – 37: are about nurseries and schools
If your child is not in these settings then check “no”. If your child has any of the documents mentioned, send COPIES. (You will not get any of the paperwork back)

Question 38:
Here you can use supporting evidence from any other professional that has contact with your child. So if they are in nursery or school, and they have consistent contact with staff that would be willing to support your application, then get them to write statements. It does not have to be on the form, you can also cite letters used for q24 again. They just need to sign and date a declaration.You can print out multiple copies of page 11 if you have multiple professionals supporting your application.

Question 39: this is GDPR
You either do or do not consent to the records being shared. But if you don’t consent, then they can’t process your claim, because they can’t talk to the GPs and healthcare professionals.

So they say it’s optional consent, but if you don’t then you’ve wasted your time filling the form in.

Question 40: This is miserable. Think of your child at their worst.

Not only do you need to list any difficulty they consistently have, but also when it started and what is being done about it. Do NOT play things down.

Try to remember this section especially is about what you need THEM to know, not what YOU want to tell them. “Child runs away and I’m exhausted from chasing them” will be callously disregarded as “your problem”; whereas “Child runs away into traffic, endangering themselves and others” makes it their problem.

If your child has a tendency to jump off high objects (sensory seeker) say so. State that they need 24 hrs supervision to prevent injury or death because they act like they believe they can fly.

If you have a fae that likes to eat things they shouldn’t, like rocks (or worse, feces) the same applies.

A lot of fae do not seem to feel pain, or at least have a high tolerance, so state it – if they are non-verbal and won’t mention they broke a bone, that’s an issue.

If they run off in car parks or near roads, that too is an issue.

Continue on extra sheets if necessary, again clearly marked and redraw the table

Question 41:

Aids in this case can be anything, from PECS cards to wheel chairs; if there is a physical item needed to help your child form a specific task, list it.

Question 42:
Is their condition acute or chronic? So will it change with time?

Question 43-48: is about mobility: can your child walk; and if so how much. If your fae is like mine, it’s getting them to stop that’s the trick .

Question 49: if your Fae doesn’t need supervision outside, please tell me how!! Mine needs supervision watching television.

Questions 50-52: again pretty straightforward

Question 53:

Provide anything else you have about their movement that you think is revelant. If your child is able to move around easily and, more importantly, safely: you may be leaving this blank. If your child, however, doesn’t: you might want to emphasise key points.

Questions 54 – 70:

It’s easy to sugar coat, and to think things are not that bad. It’s only natural, and it is what gets us through as parents: we have to think like that. We don’t want to see our children as disabled and dependent. I say “we”, I am of course speaking only for myself, and I apologise if I speak out of turn, but: The idea that someone looks at my fae and sees a disabled child who will forever need allowances made for her breaks my heart. I would rather think that she will eventually learn to integrate into human society, and stop seeing other children as strange alien creatures, to be ignored or toyed with.

That said, with this question, as above, state clearly and concisely what is needed when your fae is at their worst. If you can’t remember, keep a diary for a week or so: Think of it as a rant pad; somewhere to vent your frustrations. Did you take 4 hours to settle them to sleep? Did they wake multiple times in the night? How many times did they escape the 5 point harness in the car, and have you adjusted it with a Houdini strap yet?

Can you walk your child around a supermarket? Or if you let them out the trolley, do they become too tired by aisle 3 and collapse? Or run off into the offices by the end of the grocery section?

This section is depressing: it makes you focus on all the things you don’t want to about your child, and I can appreciate how bad that makes you feel. I hated doing it, and I hate that you have to continually do it, as this form will need to filled in a number of times during their childhood. Remember that your child is more than the sum of the date and numbers you are filling in. This is not who they are, and it does not define them. My fae has the best sense of humour – she got it instead of any common sense. She also has a wicked smile and amazing ability to plan mischief, and none of that is on here. Your fae is the same.

Question 71: Autism is a developmental condition that is not often diagnosed before two years old. Take your best guess about when the difficulties started, no-one will argue with you.

Question 72: If you have other children, it may be easier for you to compare and contrast the differences in level of care needed between your fae and non-fae child. The rest of us just need to make a best guess of what is and what isn’t due to it.

I know that most non-fae children don’t have piles of cushions under the arms of every piece of furniture to catch them when they invariably launch themselves off it. Nor need a mattress on the floor, rather than a bed, because they turn it into a jungle gym. But for the rest, you may need to check the milestones against your fae’s age, to see if there are specific things that they struggle with. Apparently children who are 4 ½ should speak. Who knew?

The rest is pretty straightforward: who are you; where should they pay the money if successful; and a sheet for any extra information (bless, I think I sent a booklet with ours)

Don’t be shy; like, comment or share – it’s good to know we’re not alone with our struggles

If anyone has anything to add please comment.