DLA and school reports.

Hi all,

I wonder if someone may be able to give me some advice. Back in February, I put in a claim for DLA for my 10 year old son who has balance and co-ordination difficulties, severe behavioural problems (he was assesed by the school nurse who thinks he has dyspraxia, but I have no definate medical diagnosis as yet, due to the OT having a huge waiting list). I completed the claim form using the guides here, it was extremely detailed but it was turned down after a report from the Headmistress saying that my son has no difficulties and "No medical diagnosis for dyspraxia" - the headmistress exact words.

One point is though, that the OT sent a questionnaire to the school to be filled in by his teacher to get a better understanding of his needs and behaviour at school, before the DLA contacted the Headmistress - of course I made copies of the completed questionnaire filled in by his teacher. The teacher completely contradictes the report made by the headmistress, saying that my son has a severe inability to concentrate is fidgety, impulsive, anxious, unorganised, clumsy. Cannot feed, dress or toilet himself adequetly. The headmistress states on HER report that chris has no additional help during lessons - yet his teacher states that he has support from a learning assistant each lesson and has SEN.

I am not exagerating when I say the headmistress detests me and my son. This has been going on for two years now. She initially called me into school as my sons behaviour was so bad he was disrupting the other pupils constantly. He is under the care of a clinical psychologist, paeditrician and OT and they are trying to reach a diagnosis. I was shocked when I got a copy of the headmistress report and read it, she is denying that my son has any of the problems she called me into the school about in the first place!

I sent in the copy of his teachers completed questionaire and wrote a letter with it to the DLA stating the inconsistencies in the Headmistresses report and arguing that as his teacher sees him EVERY lesson I think she is more qualified to give evidence of his extra needs than his head teacher. Where do I go from here if my claim is refused again because of the Headmistress report? My son genuinely has extreme difficulties managing day to day life and requires so much more care and attention than other children of his age.

You would need to appeal the DLA adverse decision on behalf of your son, if the claim is disallowed again.

If an appeal is made, the inconsistencies between the headmistress's report and the class teacher can be emphasised in the course of the appeal, which would normally be in response to the DLA appeal submission giving the reasons for the disallowance. If and when the need arises, the discrepancies can also be put forward as arguable before an appeal tribunal.

Hi Marie,

I think you should seriously consider making a formal complaint to the school governors about the head's inaccurate evidence, asking for an apology and a letter retracting the evidence.

It sounds like the relationship between you has broken down, so it probably won't do any further damage to it.

If your child's claim is refused and goes to appeal, the tribunal will have to decide which evidence they prefer and give reasons for their preference.

Good luck,

Steve