Child DLA high rate mobility

Could anyone give advice, 12 year old with Autism and constantly wanting to go to toilet, has severe sensory overloads, very difficult to get them out of house, previously on 2year high rate care and low mobility, I am doing review paperwork and would welcome any input as regard obtaining high rate mobility as well please

Hi gt,

Thank you for your question.

To increase the mobility part of DLA for a child you really need to prove physical disabilities that make mobility difficult or prove mental health issues that affect mobility.

The latter is quite difficult (see below extract from the site guide)

“If your child doesn’t walk outdoors alone in unfamiliar places because of ‘fear or anxiety’ related to their physical (rather than mental) health, this will not entitle them to an award of lower rate mobility. So, for example, if your child doesn’t go to unfamiliar places alone because they are afraid of having an episode of incontinence, this won’t count. If, however, their fear or anxiety is so severe that your doctor’s diagnosis is that it amounts to a mental health problem, such as agoraphobia, then they may be eligible for lower rate mobility on the basis of fear or anxiety related to their mental health. But if this is not the case, then it’s best to avoid using words like frightened or anxious on this page.”

If you haven’t already, please check out the full guide at link below
www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/guides-for-claimants/dla

This guide has specific guidance on claims for children

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/?dlp=63ed2a16dd4b5

Good luck
Pete

They already get low rate dla mobilty, I think they should receive higher rate as they can only leave the home about 2 days a week due to the psychological distress of going out whether it is a place they know well or not and would not go out alone this coupled with their constant need to want to urinate which causes them extreme distress. There Autism which as I understand it is a physical condition related to the brain can cause them to refuse to walk any further and is unpredictable, this is due to their rigidity of thinking, so am I correct in thinking that these come under the "virtually unable to walk" criteria which would entitle them to higher rate. Thank you

Thank you for your reply Gordon, I have looked at the criteria you suggest, looking at 61293 Example 2 which states
"Fraser is autistic. There is evidence that his autism has a physical cause. On occasions he suffers from
temporary paralysis. There is evidence that Fraser has more bad days than good days. On the bad days
he is unable to walk; on the good days he can walk only very short distances with difficulty. Fraser
satisfies the test". My understanding is that Autism is a physical condition related to the brain, so therefore would be covered under this criteria, no amount of bribery or coaxing will make them move, it is not down to naughtiness but a rigidity of thinking which is linked to their Autism.