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dla claim for child approaching 16
would be interested in opinions on this.
client is 15 and 16 at the end of September. based on details of case im thinking low/low dla might be possible but less convinced they would get daily living component in pip.
If we got under the wire to get a DLA award would the DWP be likely to give us the absolute minimum in award length? anyone had any experience of similar?
also, we would then have the dilemma of waiting out the DLA claim for the result or claim PIP as soon as 16. if dla was refused then it would mean effectively a delayed pip claim but if dla awarded then pip claim (im assuming) would end dla entitlement irrespective of the outcome.
am i missing anything?
I’ve had a couple of kids cases at 14 and 15. They awarded to 16 in both cases. I queried the latter as it was effectively an 8 month award. Client was then sent a PIP form!!! Have spoken to 1 GM colleague who had a 15 year old given DLA to 2017 but that is the maximum I’ve heard of thusfar unless someone has a different experience.
I think your next to last para. is the correct interpretation. So, no, don’t think you are missing anything. Interested to understand why you think PIP DL @ SR might not be a runner.
GM = Greater Manchester not genetically modified, obvs 😊
. Interested to understand why you think PIP DL @ SR might not be a runner.
GM = Greater Manchester not genetically modified, obvs :)
I think they would have a good shout of a “significant portion of the day” award based on their need for motivation and prompting on enough days to satisfy the principles from Moyna but getting the points from pip based on a majority of the time is likely to be more difficult.
I find pip to be quite a difficult benefit for people around the 16 - 18 mark (and sometimes more) as most of the test is theoretical at that stage if they still live with their parent or carer. like cooking, budgeting, mum and dad probably still double checking letters (especially for my client group with learning disabilities) and so on.
it can also be difficult even for parents to separate why a young person might not do those things (just being a teenager) or it being disability related.
still the same issues with child dla i suppose but i tend to find its easier to pick out whats disabilty related v ordinary needs of a child the older the get as predicted independence grows but then all of a sudden your 16 and thrust into a full on “adult” test.
these are just ramblings off the top of my head so hopefully this makes sense.
That totally makes sense. Your third paragraph resonated especially.
As I’ve become painfully more aware of my own VIs over the past decade I’ve been able to separate out, at a very late stage, what other people attribute to my personality and yet which is actually part of my VI. I’ve then been able to apply that professionally and it’s quite terrifying. I’m noted for being quite aggressive/feisty and yet that’s a significant thing for many people with a VI and it took me years to get to grips with the fact that was because I’m about 30 years behind everyone else in reading body language and making/using eye contact. What to them has only one context or meaning for me can have many and I can hopelessly misinterpret even the most mundane conversations. Being able to articulate that as an issue is an incredibly powerful thing. Same with clumsiness. I still have one work colleague who will go to their grave telling a story of how I was once in a pub with them and so drunk I fell down a step and spilt a pile of drinks over them. Actually, I was stone cold sober and fell down a small step I simply couldn’t see!
When I was on duty a couple of weeks back I had a client who was the Mum of someone with a VI. Offspring was twenty something. I reduced her to tears (unintentionally) because I was able to articulate the differences between what was her childs personality and what was the VI. It was amazing to realise that she literally had no idea and yet, when you stop to think about it, that must be a very common experience. A lot of parents have a limited tolerance of their childs impairments. Part of that is a difficulty in accepting their child is less than perfect. Part is down to the fact that no-one separates it out for them or even has the conversation that makes them think about it in those terms.
I sit close to our LD team and have had some interesting and educational discussions with them (for all concerned) about the fact that some of what they atrribute to an LD may in fact be an inability to articulate a sensory impairment.
So, yes, I get that totally. Apologies for asking. Also, rambling off the top of my head so apologies for that too.
That totally makes sense. Your third paragraph resonated especially.
When I was on duty a couple of weeks back I had a client who was the Mum of someone with a VI. Offspring was twenty something. I reduced her to tears (unintentionally) because I was able to articulate the differences between what was her childs personality and what was the VI. It was amazing to realise that she literally had no idea and yet, when you stop to think about it, that must be a very common experience. A lot of parents have a limited tolerance of their childs impairments. Part of that is a difficulty in accepting their child is less than perfect. Part is down to the fact that no-one separates it out for them or even has the conversation that makes them think about it in those terms.
As Atticus Finch put it - “you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
Never judge a man until you’ve repeatedly and safely mobilised not more than 20 metres in his shoes.