DLA

I’m going through referral with my son and I went to look into DLA but I’m not sure if they want my child diagnosed or want some sort evidence etc, I’m here for the comments

Hey @Hester & @Becca I’m happy to try help. Dla doesn’t require a diagnosis as it assessed on your child’s daily needs. We have been successful after about a 19 week wait. What would you like to know?x

@Shanice we went for a speech and language assessment on Tuesday and she referred my little boy for an autism assessment as she also believes he’s autistic. She did explain that you don’t need a diagnosis you just need to be referred for one which is good! I’m just terrible with forms etc and just wondered what the process was like when applying/have applied for it xx

@Hester sorry I was at work. So the form to me in all honestly was mind blowing, but don’t let it put you off. It’s a case of explaining how your child requires assistance a during the day/night & whether his care needs are of a higher level than a child his age. There’s a really useful Facebook group, I’ll post the link. I was able to type in their search bar if I was ever stuck on a question & it helped a lot. I’ll post a few links shortly x

Also, if you call for your forms, you have 6 weeks to gather evidence & complete them. If your claim is successful, you’ll be backdated from the date you called. If you print the forms, it’s only from the date they are received by dla

@Shanice thank you! yeah any links to help with it would be great! But I didn’t know that about ringing for the forms that’s so good to know I’ll definitely do that then, so do they just post the forms out to you? I don’t actually have a printer anyway so that would probably be the better option for me! Xx

https://www.facebook.com/share/2nXgkq5ct1kKKzqr/?mibextid=K35XfP

https://contact.org.uk/

https://cerebra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/DLA-guide-2023.pdf

@Hester yes, once you contact dla they will take your details & post them out to you. You only have 6 weeks from the date of the call though, I sent mine 2 days before by special delivery with the form & copies of my evidence etc. That way, I had a picture which confirmed they had received my application by the expected date. Also, please please please, take a picture of the completed pages (I put mine in an album on my phone for easy access) just in case your form gets lost etc. That way you can copy it out. Best advice I’ve been given because the form gave me a headache & I couldn’t think of anything worse happening x

I’d say have a read through the dla guide from cerebra & once you receive your forms I’m happy to help if I can x

@Shanice thank you so much!! And I never would have thought of taking pictures incase it got lost, you’ve been so helpful! I might message you when I’m filling it out, only if that’s ok 🥰how long would you say it took you to complete it? X

You’re welcome. Nor did I, then I saw on the Facebook group someone’s form apparently got lost once it had been received. Someone said take photos incase it happens. Yes definitely, I’d be more than happy to help you if I can 😊 I would say it took me about 6 weeks but that’s just due to feeling overwhelmed at the time due to our circumstances surrounding school & trying to juggle multiples situations at once x

Depending on whether you’re little one is a constantly waking during the night, they may suggest a sleep diary over a few days/a week. These are all things to consider when completing the form as again they take time to document as evidence & this isn’t including the actual form itself. It’s a little bit harder to advice on timescale & evidence which may be useful as I don’t know your situation. Happy for you to privately message if you’ll find it more helpful when filling the form x

@Shanice again a sleep diary isn’t something that had crossed my mind! But yes sleep is something we’ve always struggled with! He had a speech and language assessment and she referred us for the autism assessment and said she’d send her report to me so that I could attach that so I’m going to hold off ringing for the forms until I have that, as I don’t know how long that could take! But when I’m filling it out I’d be so grateful for help, thank you so much!! 🥰x

@Hester Sorry been busy with the half term & work. Haven’t checked the app. Hope you are well. Sounds like a sleep diary might be helpful then. Again on the dla group, I’m sure people have put up their own examples which you may find useful. Ahh that’s completely understandable. I will just say, I know you can get the forms & if any evidence isn’t ready by the time you have to send it back, you can send it separately. Depends on whether you want to wait x

@Shanice that’s ok don’t worry!! Completely get it! I’ve joined the group and rang for the forms on Tuesday so hopefully will be able to make a start with them soon 🤞🏻think I’ll feel a lot better once I’ve started them! Thank you so much for your help! I hope you’re doing well! X