# DLA claim



## willow25

Hi, I am in the process of filling out a dla form for my daughter who is being assessed for autism, and am finding the whole thing very stressful, I just keep reading online that the government are trying hard to reduce awards and save money, so I'm hoping to hear about a few success stories &#128077;and any tips would be appreciated


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## Thurinius

I had no problems at all with claiming. I answered entirely honestly, didn't overplay nor underplay my son's needs.
I did have the consultant's initial report and a report from the early years team. 
We got the middle rate.

Dla is one of the most underclaimed of benefits so I seriously doubt they'll be looking for reasons to not award. :) 

But yeah I hate filling in forms.


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## Reid

My son is going for his autism assessment next month I though he would actually have to have a diagnosis to claim dla?? Am I wrong x


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## willow25

Hi Lynne, no you don't need a diagnosis, the form is based on your child needing extra support etc, have a look on the national autistic society website :thumbup:


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## Reid

No I haven't I wouldn't no where to start. My son is at a specilaist nursery for children with asd and speech delays but other than that we just get on with things at home if that makes sense. X


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## willow25

lynne1983 said:


> No I haven't I wouldn't no where to start. My son is at a specilaist nursery for children with asd and speech delays but other than that we just get on with things at home if that makes sense. X

Have a look at the cerebra website, it has an excellent guide to claiming dla x


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## Thurinius

I use my Dla to pay for a private speech therapist as the waiting lists for nhs are massively long in my area.


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## sethsmummy

we claimed for my little boy 2 years ago and were successful. we did have a tonne of reports to send off. im just starting my renewal and wont have as much to send as hes not seeing as many people now. we get high rate care.xx


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## Misstrouble19

my son gets dla.. only low rate at the moment and they only based it on the needs of me doing his personal care etc, but he does have a learning difficulty so i will send more information off when i do have it


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## mummyruston

Thurinius said:


> I use my Dla to pay for a private speech therapist as the waiting lists for nhs are massively long in my area.

My newborn has just been diagnosed as deaf and although at this stage he had no additional needs bring a newborn other than me attending hospital appts every two weeks for moulds, hearing aid cleaning etc I do think in a year or so when it's babbling / talking stages we will possibly investigate speech therapy. So this is interesting actually to think we could claim dla and pay for something like this.


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## KittyVentura

We were awarded pre diagnosis.

I had minimal supporting documents to send and instead I wrote a LOT, from the heart and sent 30 extra A4 pages of information to each part to give a really clear idea of he needs.

I didn't do a bad day. Because unless every day is a bad day, that is a fraudulent claim. Where his needs vary I gave a detailed example of a better day, an average day and a really bad day and gave an idea of how many of each day we have per day/month.

I kept comparing his needs to his peers and explaining how they differ and I think the key part was a LOT of detail as to how those needs impact us. 

You have to remember that DLA isn't awarded because they have a condition, it is awarded based of how much more help and supervision they need than a NT child the same age. Gosh I went into so much detail, even down to exactly how I have to explain things to him... At his level with a battle to get eye contact else it does go in and examples in a way of script as to how that goes. Little things like how we have to visit 4 different supermarkets to get his food because he eats only a few very specific foods that come from different bloody places. How when we go to eat out I have it ring ahead and make sure they serve something he will eat which is very specific and how it has to be delivered to the bar so I can go and check it to make sure it is perfect in his eyes else he won't eat etc. 

I gave real life examples wherever I could and quantified everything I possibly could as a measure of time. I timed things with a stop watch for about a week to get an average measure and it really surprised me how much time certain things took. 30-40 minutes each time just to dress and undress.

I had heard it was really important to make up clear how this differs to an average child so I gave examples of what Amelia can do or what friends children can do and how his needs differ from them.

I added in really personal things like the impact he has on Amelia because he is violent, how I couldn't breastfeed because his needs wouldn't allow it (I hadn't even admitted this to friends at this point) and how my back is buggered from restraining him and sitting in weird places because he needs constant supervision.

It took weeks, I was going to bed at 2-3pm for 4 weeks because of this and it was emotionally exhausting spending so much time focussing on the negatives but I think all the details really helped give a very clear and very honest picture of what our lives are like.

We were awarded quickly without them seeking further information so I think it all helped. They usually contact school and GP etc but I had sent GP letters and had his key person from preschool fill out the statement part already.

I'm not sure if any of that helps, it's all very specific to us xx


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## AP

Kitty's advice is great. Our daughter was given DLA years before diagnosis - its based on needs. 

You may find a third party would be helpful with completing the forms, we have a few charities that help in our area so i imagine there would be the same elsewhere.


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## Reid

KittyVentura said:


> We were awarded pre diagnosis.
> 
> I had minimal supporting documents to send and instead I wrote a LOT, from the heart and sent 30 extra A4 pages of information to each part to give a really clear idea of he needs.
> 
> I didn't do a bad day. Because unless every day is a bad day, that is a fraudulent claim. Where his needs vary I gave a detailed example of a better day, an average day and a really bad day and gave an idea of how many of each day we have per day/month.
> 
> I kept comparing his needs to his peers and explaining how they differ and I think the key part was a LOT of detail as to how those needs impact us.
> 
> You have to remember that DLA isn't awarded because they have a condition, it is awarded based of how much more help and supervision they need than a NT child the same age. Gosh I went into so much detail, even down to exactly how I have to explain things to him... At his level with a battle to get eye contact else it does go in and examples in a way of script as to how that goes. Little things like how we have to visit 4 different supermarkets to get his food because he eats only a few very specific foods that come from different bloody places. How when we go to eat out I have it ring ahead and make sure they serve something he will eat which is very specific and how it has to be delivered to the bar so I can go and check it to make sure it is perfect in his eyes else he won't eat etc.
> 
> I gave real life examples wherever I could and quantified everything I possibly could as a measure of time. I timed things with a stop watch for about a week to get an average measure and it really surprised me how much time certain things took. 30-40 minutes each time just to dress and undress.
> 
> I had heard it was really important to make up clear how this differs to an average child so I gave examples of what Amelia can do or what friends children can do and how his needs differ from them.
> 
> I added in really personal things like the impact he has on Amelia because he is violent, how I couldn't breastfeed because his needs wouldn't allow it (I hadn't even admitted this to friends at this point) and how my back is buggered from restraining him and sitting in weird places because he needs constant supervision.
> 
> It took weeks, I was going to bed at 2-3pm for 4 weeks because of this and it was emotionally exhausting spending so much time focussing on the negatives but I think all the details really helped give a very clear and very honest picture of what our lives are like.
> 
> We were awarded quickly without them seeking further information so I think it all helped. They usually contact school and GP etc but I had sent GP letters and had his key person from preschool fill out the statement part already.
> 
> I'm not sure if any of that helps, it's all very specific to us xx

Thanx for putting this up I for greatly appreciate it and it let's me know what things I should be putting on the forms. My son is going for the asd assessment at the end of this month so I will get the forms then. We don't have any outside support for him other than his nursery which is a specialist nursery for asd and speech delays/disorders. I find it hard to compare to others because I only have him thanx again and great you got the award so fast xx


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## Reid

I think I will ask his key worker at nursery if she could write a wee bit about the support he requires at nursery to x


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## willow25

Hi, just a quick update, I finally finished the form - way more soul destroying than I expected, but ten days later I got a letter saying they have awarded middle rate care, so I'm delighted. I can highly recommend the cerebra website :flower:


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