went to a tribunal hearing, cl suffers from severe headaches which leads to short term memory problems. At hearing they suggested to cl that he could use his mobile phone to remind him to take his medication and the Sat Nav in his car when he drives across his local town to a place he does not go to regulary. have received the Sof Reasons which has this included in it.
He forgets to collect his d/ter from school,plus forgetting to get food etc, take his medication etc this is confirmed in an EMP report. felt sure we were going to get LR mob and poss LR care but stumped me whent they came up with the Sat nav and mobile phone as a memory prop.any ideas.

...Ahh, but what happens if you forget how to programme your sat nav - or get to where you are going and forget how to get home again - besides which, if one has a severe headache then one would not be driving as one's concentration levels would be very poor.

I would also suggest that any severe headache that is associated with short term memory loss indicates a more serious medical problem than indicated by the tribunal's apparent off hand way of getting around the problems as it perceives them......

It should also be remebered that guidance or supervision for the purpose of LR Mob is to take advantage of the faculty of walking and not about getting from A to B in a car.

couple of weeks ago a blind client called me to ask whether he was jeopardising his DLA low mobility if he bought a handheld sat nav to help him get around.
I think we agreed together that no one single aid (guide dog, long cane etc) however helpful, would ever entirely obviate the need to be accompanied in unfamiliar places.

On a diffrerent issue, I used to represent deaf clients at DLA appeals and I'm always a bit uneasy in arguing for low rate mobility for clients who admit to being able to drive independently ....

alban

More spanners.

Should someone who is so desperately incapacitated by his headaches and memory problems be driving? Is he safe on the road?

I once met a consultant neuropsychiatrist who told me that he found it very useful, when facing someone who claimed to have spells of lost or altered consciousness, to ask about driving. He said he found that if a man who had driven a lot and liked driving had felt impelled to stop driving because of the problem, it meant he ought to be taking this man's complaints very seriously. If not, then they needed to be challenged on their safety behind the wheel. I also knew someone who was an MQPM who had an absolute bee in her bonnet about it.

Sat nav and mobile phone? Surely, the point of DLA is to pay for such aids?

If you start from the wrong position, then DLA ultimately becomes a means-tested benefit because a wealthy person can buy their way out of their mobility restrictions.