DLA higher rate mobility. Tribunal soon.

I am going to tribunal on Dec.23rd!

My 16 year old daughter has had her mobility rate changed from higher to lower She has Severe Learning Difficulties/Severe Developmental Delays.

The reason given was that she "...is achieveing academic levels of NC 2a for reading, NC 2 for writing and NC 2b for maths. Overall this does not indicate that her learning difficulties would fall into the most severe category. Medical services advice is that although she may refuse to walk it is most likely to be a conscious decision."

My contention is that she runs off (an immediate reaction) when: she hears loud noises/sees something unexpected (a man on scaffolding saying hello)/is distracted by something she loves or hates/sees someone she knows/is frightened by something.

When she's tired/frustrated/angry, she will lash out or run off. She has no sense that she could hurt herself or others. She can have tantrtums over disruptions to routines and things that frustrate her.

She cannot access public transport without a carer; she has no sense of danger/she approaches strangers inappropriately; she cannot be left alone in known or unknown places; she has communication difficulties; she is clumsy and she lives in a completely ego-centric world.

Are these characteristics of my daughter really related to her reading/writing abilities, and hence her levels of intelligence?

Comments and advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks.

Have you had her checked out for Aspergers - which incidentally has no bearing on how intelligent she is as most Aspies are high functioning with average to above average intelligence. Having been in the world of aspergers with my now adult son for over 10 years, your description of her certainly rings a few bells and as dyspraxia often comes hand in glove with aspergers, that is also another avenue to check out

Thanks, but i don't think it applies. My daughter has the intelligence level of a 6-7 year old, according to her reading/writing abilities. And she is 16!

nothing to do with 'intelligence' per say. more to do with cognitive function and fine and gross motor planning skills (clumsiness etc). my son was 14 when he was diagnosed with aspergers and dyspraxia and on the many tests he had many (the majority of) his reading, writing, reasoning and logic were estimated at age 6/7 or 8/9.

i'm trying to say that a diagnosis of aspergers and/or dyspraxia is a much more 'powerful' explanation of someone with similar difficulties, and is widely accepted by DLA on the basis of a report by an educational psychologist. as i say, on many tests his results came back for someone half his age and then a particular maths problem came up - something he has always had problems with - but because it was a visual problem, he decoded it within miliseconds. we were told after it was something a mathematics postgraduate would have had problems with. the point I'm trying to make is, should there not be a diagnosis of what is causing the severe learning difficulties and severe developmental delay. I'm trying to say once you have that, you may well have a much stronger and irrefutable case

its up to you of course, but my son receives high rate mobility and care indefinitely and has done for over ten years, all based on that diagnosis by an educational psychologist and their (extensive) report

Caroline wrote:

I am going to tribunal on Dec.23rd!

My 16 year old daughter has had her mobility rate changed from higher to lower She has Severe Learning Difficulties/Severe Developmental Delays.

The reason given was that she "...is achieveing academic levels of NC 2a for reading, NC 2 for writing and NC 2b for maths. Overall this does not indicate that her learning difficulties would fall into the most severe category. Medical services advice is that although she may refuse to walk it is most likely to be a conscious decision."

My contention is that she runs off (an immediate reaction) when: she hears loud noises/sees something unexpected (a man on scaffolding saying hello)/is distracted by something she loves or hates/sees someone she knows/is frightened by something.

When she's tired/frustrated/angry, she will lash out or run off. She has no sense that she could hurt herself or others. She can have tantrtums over disruptions to routines and things that frustrate her.

She cannot access public transport without a carer; she has no sense of danger/she approaches strangers inappropriately; she cannot be left alone in known or unknown places; she has communication difficulties; she is clumsy and she lives in a completely ego-centric world.

Are these characteristics of my daughter really related to her reading/writing abilities, and hence her levels of intelligence?

Comments and advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks.

Hi Caroline,

The HRM component of DLA is aimed at those who cannot walk, or are virtually unable to walk usually due to physical illness/disability taking into consideration, the distance they can walk, manner and speed of walking, and time taken to walk x distance without severe discomfort. Severe discomfort includes things like pain, fatigue, breathlessness and the like.

Legally, there is no maximum distance that a DLA claimant can walk to qualify for HRM, the other factors above have to all taken into consideration.

Normally, from my tribunal experience, people who can walk but need guidance or assistance out of doors in unfamiliar places would normally only qualify for LRM. However, this is only a generalisation, and we cannot give specific advice on individual claims, as we are not privy to case papers.

You say your daughter was initially on HRM, presumably that was made by a DWP Decision Maker (DM) and not a tribunal ?

Again, presumably you've made a renewal claim and the latest decision made by a DM, was that your daughter was now only entitled to LRM.

What you need to do is to ask the DLA Unit is the reason(s) why her award has been changed from HRM to LRM, especially if her condition hasn't improved, which reading what you've posted it hasn't, then why has her award being lowered. You can ring them on 08457 123456 and ask to speak to the DM who made the decision, but do also put it in writing and keep a copy.

Do you have anyone help you with your appeal, if not, I'd advise you try your local CAB, if they can't help, then try Community Legal Advice

A question, are you attending the appeal called an oral hearing, if so then I'd advise you to take your daughter with you so the tribunal panel can see your daughters needs for themselves, since most DLA appeals are successful not because of any new evidence, but because of what the the appellant tells the tribunal on the day of the hearing. Do not worry about her being disruptive or throwing a tantrum, tribunal panels are used to dealing with cases like this.

Obviously, because of your daughter's age, you will be allowed to state her case, but the tribunal may wish to speak to your daughter if that's possible.

Finally, I'd advise you to read Care and Mobility considerations This is used by DM's and tribunals to help them to assess what rate of DLA care and mobility to award. Plus of course our guide in the members area on DLA Appeals.

I apologise for the long reply, but I've attempted to cover everything to the best of my ability.

Best of luck.

Jim

Thank you for that! Me daughter was awarded HRM after a tribunal. I have already contacted them and have it all in writing. Their claim is that as her levels of intelligence have risen (she can now read and write as a 6 - 7 year old)therefore she does not fall into the severest category of mental impairment. Previously she was pre-national curriculum, therefore did fall inoto that category.

I say this is a narrow interpretation of intelligence, as her behavioural and emotional traits reveal (some of which I mentioned above). My argument is that she qualifies because she gets the highest rate of care, she is severely mentally impaired and displays severe behavioural problems. They are saying that because she is now more intelligent than she was, the SMI aspect no longer applies.

She also has very poor communication skills and I do not want to take her along as undoubtedly she will be quite intimidated by the experience as she won't have a clue what's going on. I also do not want her to be exposed to conversations about what she can not do! Ask her if she can cross a road and she'll say yes and mechanically state look right, look left etc. Yet she has no sense of danger or harm. (yet alone distance, direction or time!)And in practice she just vaguely wobbles her head about.