Children's DLA - No Official Diagnosis

Hi All,

I was hoping someone might be able to give some advice regarding children's DLA for mental health.

We've been struggling to get help for our daughter (9) who is suffering with her mental health (anxiety, depression, and potentially an emerging personality disorder). None of these have been officially diagnosed, because the NHS keep sending us around to the same services who offer low-level counselling, but don't seem equipped to diagnose or treat actual mental illness (most of these services specialise in things like friendship worries, exam stresses etc.)

She's reached the point where she's self-harming (superficially at the moment, but I'm obviously worried about this progressing), she's having panic attacks both at home and school, and she's becoming more reluctant to leave home, struggling with sleep, among other concerns. Her mental health is really starting to impact her life, but as far as I can make out, she needs to become more ill and become a serious threat to herself or others before the NHS can offer her any meaningful help.

I'm coming to the conclusion where the only option to get her the actual help she needs would be to go private, but there's no way we can afford it ourselves. I feel that this is something that could be at least partially covered by a DLA claim, but this is where we find ourselves stuck. We can't get a diagnosis from the NHS, we can't afford a private assessment (£540 seems to be the cheapest I can find for a child's assessment), but I feel that without any form of diagnosis on paper, our chances of a successful DLA claim are slim to none.

I would most likely be able to get some form of supporting document from her School, noting the adjustments they have made to make school life more manageable (they have also recently added her to their list of SEN pupils), and possibly something from the GP detailing the concerns I've raised with them, and where they have referred her.

Does anyone have any advice? Should I still try and complete a claim, or would I just be wasting everyone's time?

Apologies for the lengthy post, and thanks in advance for any information anyone can offer.

Chris.

Hi Gary,

Thanks for your reply, I do apologise for the double post.

I believe that she has been referred to the CAMHS (it's hard to tell as where we live, the services seem to have been broken up and provided by different third parties, so it's hard to be 100% sure, but I believe so), which is where we end up going in circles, being referred to the same teams who aren't equipped to help her.

I'm having a meeting with the School's SENCO after the half-term holidays, and will discuss what steps we can take next (and I'll stop moaning about NHS mental health services now - this isn't the appropriate forum!)

I'll take a look through the guides you've mentioned, and thank you again!
Chris.

Hi Chris.
I would say that you have absolutely nothing to lose in submitting a claim, other than the time and effort involved!
You definitely need to get as much supporting evidence from school and GP, and other caregivers (such as grandparents for example) can also write a letter to explain what support your daughter needs.
My daughter wasn’t formally diagnosed with autism and dyspraxia until her mid-teens, but received DLA in primary school based on the additional support she needed.
Wishing you all the best.