Breadcrumb Home / DLA test Share on: Quality checked 1 Personal details Open Close Your full name Your email Your email Confirm email Your address 2 The child Open Close Your child's first name Your child's surname The date of birth of the child The decision maker at the DWP may know nothing about your child’s condition(s). Explain the main symptoms and difficulties they have because of their disability. ? [Child name] has Mobility Open Close What rate do you think they should have got for mobility? * Higher rate Lower rate N/A Do they have physical difficulties that affect their ability to walk places? Examples He has hemiplegia and walks with one heel raised. He cannot keep up with his friends. If he walks too fast or runs it hurts him. When he tries to run he usually falls, and becomes frustrated and angry.She can walk small distances. She cannot walk longer distances at all. After 200 metres or so she is very tired and in discomfort. Sometimes the pain is so bad she cries.He has only one foot. He can walk very short distances with a crutch but becomes exhausted (and usually falls) after 20 metres.She cannot stand up or walk. She has a powered wheelchair but requires help to manage in crowds, doorways, kerbs and steps etc. He has a severe visual impairment and needs constant prompting and reminding to walk in the right direction, and not to walk into things, or off the pavement. She has impaired hearing and cannot hear cars or vehicles. She therefore has no warning of dangers approaching from behind or any direction she is not looking in and has put herself at risk as a result.His heart does not function as well as other children’s so even though he might try to walk, he will need to rest afterwards and his legs will ache later. He can walk perhaps 20m very slowly before he will get fatigued, hot and sweaty and has to be carried as he physically can’t work further. They have difficulty with walking because Explain what difficulties they have, how they walk (if they can), and any impact it has on them and their condition. Examples He has hemiplegia and walks with one heel raised. He cannot keep up with his friends. If he walks too fast or runs it hurts him. When he tries to run he usually falls, and becomes frustrated and angry.She can walk small distances. She cannot walk longer distances at all. After 200 metres or so she is very tired and in discomfort. Sometimes the pain is so bad she cries.He has only one foot. He can walk very short distances with a crutch but becomes exhausted (and usually falls) after 20 metres.She cannot stand up or walk. She has a powered wheelchair but requires help to manage in crowds, doorways, kerbs and steps etc. He has a severe visual impairment and needs constant prompting and reminding to walk in the right direction, and not to walk into things, or off the pavement. She has impaired hearing and cannot hear cars or vehicles. She therefore has no warning of dangers approaching from behind or any direction she is not looking in and has put herself at risk as a result.His heart does not function as well as other children’s so even though he might try to walk, he will need to rest afterwards and his legs will ache later. He can walk perhaps 20m very slowly before he will get fatigued, hot and sweaty and has to be carried as he physically can’t work further. Do they need supervision, prompting or encouragement to walk places? Examples When he becomes distressed, he needs supervision to stop him acting dangerously and running into the road. I need to hold his hand or keep him within ‘grabbing distance’ to help keep him safe. She doesn’t understand the rules of the road and can just step into it without thinking.When he is angry or upset, he can just run off. When he does run off he puts himself in danger and also gets lost. She can and does run into the road, or push and shove others into the road. She needs you to be constantly alert to this so that you can restrain her if needed.He needs supervision because he might have a seizure. He gets very little warning and is very disorientated if it does happen. He has also often been hurt by falling awkwardly or onto something when he has a seizure.She needs a huge amount of prompting and encouragement to start walking and keep walking. She needs to hold my hand the whole time to soothe her. If she doesn’t have my full attention, and lots of soothing and prompting she becomes very anxious and distressed and her behaviour becomes very difficult to manage. It takes 40-60 minutes to get her to walk the 8 minutes to school. He needs extra help and supervision because he gets easily confused and lost, and cannot manage a journey on his own, unlike others of his age can. He also needs supervision to help him stay safe as he is very vulnerable and puts himself at risk in his relations with other people, including strangers. She needs more physical help than others to walk, or keep walking and to get up steps and on and off curbs. I feel very sad comparing him to his brother at a similar age. His brother was able to take himself to the local park, but I could not trust him to go anywhere like that on his own. The world is quite a frightening place for him, it is very difficult getting him out and about even with aids such as his headphones. Any noise such as that from a loud car or a backfiring engine is enough to send him into a complete meltdown – where he will react with fear and refuse to move. He is too big for me to move him now so I have to rely on strangers to help me.He is blind and needs constant prompting and reminding to walk in the right direction, and not to walk into things, or off the pavement. She has impaired hearing and cannot hear cars or vehicles. She therefore has no warning of dangers approaching from behind or any direction she is not looking in. He can walk but because of his shaking, he feels weak and cannot keep up with his peers. He requires lots of attention and encouragement to keep going, particularly at the end of a school day. If he does not get this attention he becomes very cross, often verbally abusive, and will refuse to continue. I have often had to resort to putting him on my back to get him home, but he has now grown too big to do this. They need substantially more supervision and help than others of their age when out and about. This is because Examples When he becomes distressed, he needs supervision to stop him acting dangerously and running into the road. I need to hold his hand or keep him within ‘grabbing distance’ to help keep him safe. She doesn’t understand the rules of the road and can just step into it without thinking.When he is angry or upset, he can just run off. When he does run off he puts himself in danger and also gets lost. She can and does run into the road, or push and shove others into the road. She needs you to be constantly alert to this so that you can restrain her if needed.He needs supervision because he might have a seizure. He gets very little warning and is very disorientated if it does happen. He has also often been hurt by falling awkwardly or onto something when he has a seizure.She needs a huge amount of prompting and encouragement to start walking and keep walking. She needs to hold my hand the whole time to soothe her. If she doesn’t have my full attention, and lots of soothing and prompting she becomes very anxious and distressed and her behaviour becomes very difficult to manage. It takes 40-60 minutes to get her to walk the 8 minutes to school. He needs extra help and supervision because he gets easily confused and lost, and cannot manage a journey on his own, unlike others of his age can. He also needs supervision to help him stay safe as he is very vulnerable and puts himself at risk in his relations with other people, including strangers. She needs more physical help than others to walk, or keep walking and to get up steps and on and off curbs. I feel very sad comparing him to his brother at a similar age. His brother was able to take himself to the local park, but I could not trust him to go anywhere like that on his own. The world is quite a frightening place for him, it is very difficult getting him out and about even with aids such as his headphones. Any noise such as that from a loud car or a backfiring engine is enough to send him into a complete meltdown – where he will react with fear and refuse to move. He is too big for me to move him now so I have to rely on strangers to help me.He is blind and needs constant prompting and reminding to walk in the right direction, and not to walk into things, or off the pavement. She has impaired hearing and cannot hear cars or vehicles. She therefore has no warning of dangers approaching from behind or any direction she is not looking in. He can walk but because of his shaking, he feels weak and cannot keep up with his peers. He requires lots of attention and encouragement to keep going, particularly at the end of a school day. If he does not get this attention he becomes very cross, often verbally abusive, and will refuse to continue. I have often had to resort to putting him on my back to get him home, but he has now grown too big to do this. Care Open Close What rate do you think they should have got for care * Higher rate Medium rate Lower rate N/A For more information, see how DLA works. For more information, see how DLA works. Do they need more help with getting up or going to bed than others of the same age? Examples She needs prolonged encouragement and prompting to get out of bed. Without this she would stay there all day, regardless of the need to eat or go to the toilet. Getting out of bed is fine. Getting into bed and staying in bed until a reasonable hour is the challenge! Getting him to go to bed and stay in bed can take anything from one hour to all evening. If I haven’t succeeded in getting him to stay there by the time I go to bed, he comes in to my bed. It is the only way I can get any sleep (although it continues to be frequently disturbed). Her medication and sleep difficulties make her very drowsy in the morning and she needs help to wake up and get up in time for school. Her drowsiness means that I have to do lots of things for her that other children don’t need. Getting her up and downstairs for breakfast takes 20 minutes most days. Once we get into bed, she will often call out if she has done any physical walking or attended school because her legs ache – I need to help her with massage and pain relief and reassure her that she is going to be alright.She doesn’t like going to bed because she is afraid of the monsters who visit her in the evening due to the medication that she is taking. They need more help and supervision with getting up or going to bed than another child their age. This is because Examples She needs prolonged encouragement and prompting to get out of bed. Without this she would stay there all day, regardless of the need to eat or go to the toilet. Getting out of bed is fine. Getting into bed and staying in bed until a reasonable hour is the challenge! Getting him to go to bed and stay in bed can take anything from one hour to all evening. If I haven’t succeeded in getting him to stay there by the time I go to bed, he comes in to my bed. It is the only way I can get any sleep (although it continues to be frequently disturbed). Her medication and sleep difficulties make her very drowsy in the morning and she needs help to wake up and get up in time for school. Her drowsiness means that I have to do lots of things for her that other children don’t need. Getting her up and downstairs for breakfast takes 20 minutes most days. Once we get into bed, she will often call out if she has done any physical walking or attended school because her legs ache – I need to help her with massage and pain relief and reassure her that she is going to be alright.She doesn’t like going to bed because she is afraid of the monsters who visit her in the evening due to the medication that she is taking. Do they need more help with eating meals and snacks than others of the same age? Examples He needs to have a special diet, none of which is quick and easy to prepare. I have to make him a different meal from my other children every day. Everything he eats needs to be carefully managed so I even need to worry about it when he is on playdates or at clubs etc.- then I have to send him with his meals and special snacks. She needs help to find her food on her plate and will only eat separate things (for example, ham and bread and cucumber but not a ham and cucumber sandwich). She gets very distressed and refuses to eat if you try to give her particular foods, unseparated foods, or particular textures. She will often throw her food on the floor or push everything off the table on to the floor (including other people’s food). She therefore needs to be carefully managed at every meal time and this significantly impacts our life. We cannot go to cafes or friend’s houses. If we get delayed and aren’t home in time for lunch it is a nightmare. She is tube fed – this means that we have to put special feeds through a tube into her nose. Each feed can take upwards of an hour. She has a kangaroo pump that can feed her very slowly throughout the day a few mls at a time. There is a risk that she could get the tube in the wrong place so she needs supervision to ensure this does not happen. We have been trained to change tubes, but it is horrible having to hold her down and pass the tube which must be very uncomfortable. It is traumatic for her and us. Because of his severe allergies, he requires supervision at meal and snack times to ensure he doesn’t eat anything harmful. He isn’t yet able to understand and manage his restrictions himself so will accept a biscuit or piece of food offered by another child or staff at the nursery without mentioning his allergies.We prepare meals with the help of sheets from a dietician – they have to be full of calories and fat. His meals are prepared separately as if we were to eat them we would quickly gain weight. However with his heart we have been told that he needs to eat twice as many calories to gain half as much weight. We are constantly looking for different ways to get him to eat enough.The baby has severe reflux and will throw up everything almost that we put down, despite thickeners from the dietican. We have found that dream feeding works well – so I will try and give her a bottle late into the evening with a very slow teat. Each bottle can take up to an hour and is similar to tube feeding.She has an eating disorder and needs lots of encouragement and supervision to eat. She recently lost 6kg in just a few months even though she is still growing. She will pretend that she has eaten but if not carefully watched will just put some milk in a bowl and pour it down the sink and claim she had a bowl of cereal. She will throw her school lunch away. If she goes to a friend's house, she will tell me she is eating there, and tell them she has already eaten. She constantly tries to minimise the amount of food she eats. Food is thrown on the floor or hidden. She will find ways to avoid any carbohydrate. Every meal time is a battle. They need more help and supervision with eating meals and snacks than others their age. This is because Examples He needs to have a special diet, none of which is quick and easy to prepare. I have to make him a different meal from my other children every day. Everything he eats needs to be carefully managed so I even need to worry about it when he is on playdates or at clubs etc.- then I have to send him with his meals and special snacks. She needs help to find her food on her plate and will only eat separate things (for example, ham and bread and cucumber but not a ham and cucumber sandwich). She gets very distressed and refuses to eat if you try to give her particular foods, unseparated foods, or particular textures. She will often throw her food on the floor or push everything off the table on to the floor (including other people’s food). She therefore needs to be carefully managed at every meal time and this significantly impacts our life. We cannot go to cafes or friend’s houses. If we get delayed and aren’t home in time for lunch it is a nightmare. She is tube fed – this means that we have to put special feeds through a tube into her nose. Each feed can take upwards of an hour. She has a kangaroo pump that can feed her very slowly throughout the day a few mls at a time. There is a risk that she could get the tube in the wrong place so she needs supervision to ensure this does not happen. We have been trained to change tubes, but it is horrible having to hold her down and pass the tube which must be very uncomfortable. It is traumatic for her and us. Because of his severe allergies, he requires supervision at meal and snack times to ensure he doesn’t eat anything harmful. He isn’t yet able to understand and manage his restrictions himself so will accept a biscuit or piece of food offered by another child or staff at the nursery without mentioning his allergies.We prepare meals with the help of sheets from a dietician – they have to be full of calories and fat. His meals are prepared separately as if we were to eat them we would quickly gain weight. However with his heart we have been told that he needs to eat twice as many calories to gain half as much weight. We are constantly looking for different ways to get him to eat enough.The baby has severe reflux and will throw up everything almost that we put down, despite thickeners from the dietican. We have found that dream feeding works well – so I will try and give her a bottle late into the evening with a very slow teat. Each bottle can take up to an hour and is similar to tube feeding.She has an eating disorder and needs lots of encouragement and supervision to eat. She recently lost 6kg in just a few months even though she is still growing. She will pretend that she has eaten but if not carefully watched will just put some milk in a bowl and pour it down the sink and claim she had a bowl of cereal. She will throw her school lunch away. If she goes to a friend's house, she will tell me she is eating there, and tell them she has already eaten. She constantly tries to minimise the amount of food she eats. Food is thrown on the floor or hidden. She will find ways to avoid any carbohydrate. Every meal time is a battle. Do they need more help with keeping themselves clean than others of the same age? This includes washing hands, brushing teeth and washing face, and having a bath or a shower. Examples She needs to be lifted into the bath or shower and needs me to wash and dry her. She needs me to brush her teeth for her as she cannot grip a toothbrush and wash her hands and face. Because of her incontinence she needs to have a bath every day, and be cleaned up 2-3 more times a day. If she does not receive this, her skin becomes sore and she gets very upset. He needs supervision in the shower or bath in case he falls or has a seizure. He also needs prolonged encouragement, soothing and prompting to have a shower or bath at all because he is so scared of having a seizure whilst in the bath or shower. His medication makes him feel really dizzy as it drops his blood pressure – we have to be really careful that he doesn’t fall in the shower so he uses a shower chair. Now that he is older, he doesn’t want me in the bathroom with him so after setting everything up for him I will wait outside and only go in if there is a problem or he falls.She has sensory issues and one of the things she doesn’t like is the feeling of water on her skin because she says it physically hurts her. I have to encourage her to bathe and wash her face or hands because of this.He finds bathing absolutely exhausting and will often sit for a few minutes afterwards totally naked on his towel as he just doesn’t have the energy to dry himself. I have to dry him as he can’t do it himself as he is tired and breathless.She needs lots of prompting and reminding to wash her hands, brush her teeth, wash her face, and have a bath or shower. Without this she does not attend to her hygiene needs at all. He requires help and supervision when having a shower or bath. He cannot tell the difference between hot and cold and risks getting scalded. They need more supervision and help with keeping themselves clean than others of the same age. This is because Examples She needs to be lifted into the bath or shower and needs me to wash and dry her. She needs me to brush her teeth for her as she cannot grip a toothbrush and wash her hands and face. Because of her incontinence she needs to have a bath every day, and be cleaned up 2-3 more times a day. If she does not receive this, her skin becomes sore and she gets very upset. He needs supervision in the shower or bath in case he falls or has a seizure. He also needs prolonged encouragement, soothing and prompting to have a shower or bath at all because he is so scared of having a seizure whilst in the bath or shower. His medication makes him feel really dizzy as it drops his blood pressure – we have to be really careful that he doesn’t fall in the shower so he uses a shower chair. Now that he is older, he doesn’t want me in the bathroom with him so after setting everything up for him I will wait outside and only go in if there is a problem or he falls.She has sensory issues and one of the things she doesn’t like is the feeling of water on her skin because she says it physically hurts her. I have to encourage her to bathe and wash her face or hands because of this.He finds bathing absolutely exhausting and will often sit for a few minutes afterwards totally naked on his towel as he just doesn’t have the energy to dry himself. I have to dry him as he can’t do it himself as he is tired and breathless.She needs lots of prompting and reminding to wash her hands, brush her teeth, wash her face, and have a bath or shower. Without this she does not attend to her hygiene needs at all. He requires help and supervision when having a shower or bath. He cannot tell the difference between hot and cold and risks getting scalded. Do they need more help with going to the toilet than others of the same age? Examples She needs lots of prompting and reminding to use toilet paper and wash her hands. He needs physical help to get to and use the toilet. He can spill urine down his front (usually 2 or 3 times a week) and he needs help to wipe every time. She needs a lot of prompting and encouragement and soothing to use the toilet at all. She is scared of it and refuses to use it. Instead she tries to hold it all in. This makes her ill and also causes her to have accidents – which she then tries to cover up and pretend hasn’t happened. I have to monitor her closely and prompt her and try to encourage her every hour. For example, a few months ago I discovered she had been going to the toilet in a cupboard at night. She gets very embarrassed because if she can’t get to the toilet in time, with the diuretic medication that she takes, she wets herself. She wears period knickers to try to cope with this. She has a get out of class card at school to allow her to go to the toilet whenever she needs without having to wait to the end of the lesson.He needs physical help to get his trousers down and back up and buttons and flies done up etc. He also needs someone to check if he has soiled himself (which he does in one way or another a couple of times a week) and to clean him up afterwards.Without help, he will just pretend the accident hasn’t occurred and will smell and get sore skin. She will not go to a different room by herself so she needs someone to go with her and wait with her every time. If she doesn’t get this, she will become distressed and will wet or soil herself. They need more help and supervision with going to the toilet than others of the same age. This is because Examples She needs lots of prompting and reminding to use toilet paper and wash her hands. He needs physical help to get to and use the toilet. He can spill urine down his front (usually 2 or 3 times a week) and he needs help to wipe every time. She needs a lot of prompting and encouragement and soothing to use the toilet at all. She is scared of it and refuses to use it. Instead she tries to hold it all in. This makes her ill and also causes her to have accidents – which she then tries to cover up and pretend hasn’t happened. I have to monitor her closely and prompt her and try to encourage her every hour. For example, a few months ago I discovered she had been going to the toilet in a cupboard at night. She gets very embarrassed because if she can’t get to the toilet in time, with the diuretic medication that she takes, she wets herself. She wears period knickers to try to cope with this. She has a get out of class card at school to allow her to go to the toilet whenever she needs without having to wait to the end of the lesson.He needs physical help to get his trousers down and back up and buttons and flies done up etc. He also needs someone to check if he has soiled himself (which he does in one way or another a couple of times a week) and to clean him up afterwards.Without help, he will just pretend the accident hasn’t occurred and will smell and get sore skin. She will not go to a different room by herself so she needs someone to go with her and wait with her every time. If she doesn’t get this, she will become distressed and will wet or soil herself. Do they need more help than other children their age to move about indoors? Examples She will not go upstairs or into a room on her own. She needs someone to be with her for reassurance. If she does not get this (or you are delayed) she will either refuse to go or will resort to aggression or destructiveness in order to regain your attention to get her needs met. Our bathroom is upstairs. Because of his visual impairment he needs help to move around the house and pretty much continuous help to move around indoors locations he does not know well. He recently fell down the stairs and broke his collarbone because he got confused.She needs prompting and encouragement to move around indoors. Left alone she will just stay where she is and ignore her needs like going to the toilet or eating or entertainment. She is very oppositional, so you can’t just tell her to come for lunch or go to the toilet – it takes time and the right approach to get her to do anything. Just getting her to go upstairs in order to start getting ready for bed can take 20 minutes. When he is tired, he will stumble and fall – because he is on Warfarin, this can be dangerous as he may bleed uncontrollably. He is not allowed to go up the stairs without someone behind him in case he falls backwards. We also have to watch where the furniture is as if we move it and he doesn’t realize he will stumble and fall into it/trip over and hurt himself. They need more help and supervision than others their age to move about indoors. This is because Examples She will not go upstairs or into a room on her own. She needs someone to be with her for reassurance. If she does not get this (or you are delayed) she will either refuse to go or will resort to aggression or destructiveness in order to regain your attention to get her needs met. Our bathroom is upstairs. Because of his visual impairment he needs help to move around the house and pretty much continuous help to move around indoors locations he does not know well. He recently fell down the stairs and broke his collarbone because he got confused.She needs prompting and encouragement to move around indoors. Left alone she will just stay where she is and ignore her needs like going to the toilet or eating or entertainment. She is very oppositional, so you can’t just tell her to come for lunch or go to the toilet – it takes time and the right approach to get her to do anything. Just getting her to go upstairs in order to start getting ready for bed can take 20 minutes. When he is tired, he will stumble and fall – because he is on Warfarin, this can be dangerous as he may bleed uncontrollably. He is not allowed to go up the stairs without someone behind him in case he falls backwards. We also have to watch where the furniture is as if we move it and he doesn’t realize he will stumble and fall into it/trip over and hurt himself. Do they need more help with dressing and undressing than others of the same age? Examples He needs lengthy and prolonged encouragement and prompting to get dressed and undressed. Without it he just doesn’t do it and if you get cross or impatient he will become very distressed and usually violent or destructive. She needs help to choose clothes and put them on. She cannot manage buttons or zips so needs physical help with those. She cannot get things on or off over her head without help. She now needs to wear a bra and needs help fastening and unfastening it. He needs a lot of help to choose appropriate clothes and lots of encouragement and at times physical help to put them on. Because of his sensory issues, he will only wear very specific clothing. If he feels something is wrong with the clothing he can become very distressed and it can take hours to be ready to leave the house. She has a rigid routine with getting dressed and getting changed for bed that cannot be changed or hurried without her becoming very distressed. She requires encouragement and reassurance at every step. Getting dressed in the morning takes 40 minutes and getting changed into her pyjamas at night can take anything up to an hour. Bending down is particularly difficult with his heart, lungs and blood pressure. Dressing is exhausting and can take up to half an hour – we put on his shoes and socks and even when he is at school he gets help from his teachers and his friends. Because of his severe visual impairment, he needs additional help, to choose clothes, to put them on correctly and deal with fastenings, and to check his appearance. It is not unusual for him to put his trousers on backwards or inside out for example. They need more help and supervision with dressing and undressing than others their age. This is because Examples He needs lengthy and prolonged encouragement and prompting to get dressed and undressed. Without it he just doesn’t do it and if you get cross or impatient he will become very distressed and usually violent or destructive. She needs help to choose clothes and put them on. She cannot manage buttons or zips so needs physical help with those. She cannot get things on or off over her head without help. She now needs to wear a bra and needs help fastening and unfastening it. He needs a lot of help to choose appropriate clothes and lots of encouragement and at times physical help to put them on. Because of his sensory issues, he will only wear very specific clothing. If he feels something is wrong with the clothing he can become very distressed and it can take hours to be ready to leave the house. She has a rigid routine with getting dressed and getting changed for bed that cannot be changed or hurried without her becoming very distressed. She requires encouragement and reassurance at every step. Getting dressed in the morning takes 40 minutes and getting changed into her pyjamas at night can take anything up to an hour. Bending down is particularly difficult with his heart, lungs and blood pressure. Dressing is exhausting and can take up to half an hour – we put on his shoes and socks and even when he is at school he gets help from his teachers and his friends. Because of his severe visual impairment, he needs additional help, to choose clothes, to put them on correctly and deal with fastenings, and to check his appearance. It is not unusual for him to put his trousers on backwards or inside out for example. Do they need more help than others of the same age because of taking their medication or therapy? Examples She takes medicine 4 x a day. It tastes disgusting and makes her feel drowsy so she requires lots of encouragement and reassurance to take it. She also often forgets she has taken it and can get cross that I have hurt her by not having given it to her. Her medication makes her more forgetful, angry, and likely to lash out. She needs to be injected once a day. She gets very cross about it and is usually very distressed about it. It can take 30 minutes to calm her down afterwards. He hates taking his medicines, but they are essential to his health. He will tell me he has taken them and I have to constantly nag him to make sure that he does. We have a dosette box and a timer – I use check lists to make sure that I haven’t missed them. He tells me that the meds make him feel worse and that is very hard to hear.His dressings need to be changed every 4 hours. He also requires meds 3 times a day. We are supposed to get him to do his physio exercises and speech therapy exercises every day too. He cannot concentrate or maintain the effort for more than 4 or 5 minutes so we have to do these spread out throughout the day. She is supposed to do her physiotherapy exercises every day for 20 minutes. Unfortunately because of her behavioural problems we can rarely get her to do them at all and never get to the end before she starts acting out. Getting her to even consider doing her exercises takes a long time of encouraging and soothing and prompting. I spend at least half an hour on this every day, even if she only actually does her exercises for 5 minutes. When she stops she is usually angry and in pain and requires another 20 minutes of soothing to calm down. Unfortunately her not doing her exercises is causing her more pain in the long run but, because they hurt at the time, it is impossible to get her to see this. They need more help and supervision than others their age because of their medical needs. This is because Examples She takes medicine 4 x a day. It tastes disgusting and makes her feel drowsy so she requires lots of encouragement and reassurance to take it. She also often forgets she has taken it and can get cross that I have hurt her by not having given it to her. Her medication makes her more forgetful, angry, and likely to lash out. She needs to be injected once a day. She gets very cross about it and is usually very distressed about it. It can take 30 minutes to calm her down afterwards. He hates taking his medicines, but they are essential to his health. He will tell me he has taken them and I have to constantly nag him to make sure that he does. We have a dosette box and a timer – I use check lists to make sure that I haven’t missed them. He tells me that the meds make him feel worse and that is very hard to hear.His dressings need to be changed every 4 hours. He also requires meds 3 times a day. We are supposed to get him to do his physio exercises and speech therapy exercises every day too. He cannot concentrate or maintain the effort for more than 4 or 5 minutes so we have to do these spread out throughout the day. She is supposed to do her physiotherapy exercises every day for 20 minutes. Unfortunately because of her behavioural problems we can rarely get her to do them at all and never get to the end before she starts acting out. Getting her to even consider doing her exercises takes a long time of encouraging and soothing and prompting. I spend at least half an hour on this every day, even if she only actually does her exercises for 5 minutes. When she stops she is usually angry and in pain and requires another 20 minutes of soothing to calm down. Unfortunately her not doing her exercises is causing her more pain in the long run but, because they hurt at the time, it is impossible to get her to see this. Do they need more help than others of the same age to keep themselves and others safe? If you can, explain what might happen or has happened when they were not supervised or did not get the help to stay safe. Examples She needs supervision and attention most of the time she is awake. Anything can make her excited or agitated and then she can act violently and destructively. She has hurt me a number of times, sometimes seriously (she throws things and punches, she once dropped a heavy box from the landing so that it hit me on the head when I walked up the stairs, she hit her sister with a frying pan). In a particularly agitated mood she will do the worse thing she can think of, which can be very dangerous – she has threatened her father with a knife in fact. And she breaks things when she is distressed - my work computer, the family iPad, and the TV have all been smashed because they wouldn’t work or she was not allowed to use them.He needs supervision because when anything happens to upset him, he has a 'melt down', and lashes out and hurts his sisters and us as well as himself. Any sudden noise, or a frustration with homework or a computer game, or that someone calls or doesn't call can cause him to become very distressed. He needs constant supervision because he does not understand common dangers and acts impulsively. He has burnt his hand by trying to hold the lightbulb, he has also put his hand into the barbecue before. He regularly bumps or knocks himself. When we are outside he can run into the road without looking or warning. He likes to go into the kitchen and help himself to food and drink at night and has scalded himself with the kettle.She needs supervision and help to stay calm most of the time. She cannot regulate herself and spins out as a result of even small frustrations – having to wait her turn, share a toy, or wait for something to start or the bus to come. When she is distressed she will lash out at anybody who tries to help or stop her. She frequently hits, scratches, or bites me or her TA at school, or other children. Whilst agitated she will also hit herself on the head or pinched and scratched herself in frustration, sometimes very hard. They need more help and supervision than children of their own age to keep themselves and others safe. This is because Examples She needs supervision and attention most of the time she is awake. Anything can make her excited or agitated and then she can act violently and destructively. She has hurt me a number of times, sometimes seriously (she throws things and punches, she once dropped a heavy box from the landing so that it hit me on the head when I walked up the stairs, she hit her sister with a frying pan). In a particularly agitated mood she will do the worse thing she can think of, which can be very dangerous – she has threatened her father with a knife in fact. And she breaks things when she is distressed - my work computer, the family iPad, and the TV have all been smashed because they wouldn’t work or she was not allowed to use them.He needs supervision because when anything happens to upset him, he has a 'melt down', and lashes out and hurts his sisters and us as well as himself. Any sudden noise, or a frustration with homework or a computer game, or that someone calls or doesn't call can cause him to become very distressed. He needs constant supervision because he does not understand common dangers and acts impulsively. He has burnt his hand by trying to hold the lightbulb, he has also put his hand into the barbecue before. He regularly bumps or knocks himself. When we are outside he can run into the road without looking or warning. He likes to go into the kitchen and help himself to food and drink at night and has scalded himself with the kettle.She needs supervision and help to stay calm most of the time. She cannot regulate herself and spins out as a result of even small frustrations – having to wait her turn, share a toy, or wait for something to start or the bus to come. When she is distressed she will lash out at anybody who tries to help or stop her. She frequently hits, scratches, or bites me or her TA at school, or other children. Whilst agitated she will also hit herself on the head or pinched and scratched herself in frustration, sometimes very hard. Do they need more help than others their age to have fun, take part in social activities, or enjoy hobbies? It doesn’t matter if they actually get this help, it is about what help they need to do something reasonable, like go swimming or go to an after-school club. Examples Her hearing impairment means that she needs lots of extra help to communicate with anybody and can get very frustrated when others don’t understand her. After school clubs or activities are really hard as she needs help to understand and be understood. She also needs lots of encouragement and attention not to disengage, particularly when she doesn’t like something. If she can she will just look away when she doesn’t want to talk to you or hear the instruction you are trying to give her. He needs lots of encouragement, support and careful handling to participate in any activities. He goes to drama club at the moment, but it usually takes an hour of me calming and encouraging him to go, and then support from them for him to go in the session and stay there. I have to stay outside as he will sometimes get overwhelmed and insist on leaving. She loves swimming but finds the noise overwhelming and will often refuse to get in. It can take an hour to get him into the pool. Once in she loves it but needs support not to bump into or annoy other people. She also needs physical help to lead her to the pool and help her get changed before and after. We use Makaton with him to support his understanding. He is much better at signing than speaking and is much more willing to engage with others non-verbally. This however does require us to translate for him an awful lot, so one of us goes with him to Woodcraft Folk or anything like that.He loves a bit of art and craft so we spend a lot of time doing that. He needs help and encouragement to try touching the different texture things, and encouragement and prompting to keep going and help to manage any social interactions - waiting for or sharing the glue or the scissors without getting angry for example. She goes to brownies. She has one-to-one support there to help keep her calm and happy and able to manage the social aspects and the activities. She cannot manage when it gets too noisy and will lash out, so we either don’t go those weeks or she needs to be carefully managed, often in another room. They need more help and supervision than children of their own age to take part in social activities or hobbies. This is because Examples Her hearing impairment means that she needs lots of extra help to communicate with anybody and can get very frustrated when others don’t understand her. After school clubs or activities are really hard as she needs help to understand and be understood. She also needs lots of encouragement and attention not to disengage, particularly when she doesn’t like something. If she can she will just look away when she doesn’t want to talk to you or hear the instruction you are trying to give her. He needs lots of encouragement, support and careful handling to participate in any activities. He goes to drama club at the moment, but it usually takes an hour of me calming and encouraging him to go, and then support from them for him to go in the session and stay there. I have to stay outside as he will sometimes get overwhelmed and insist on leaving. She loves swimming but finds the noise overwhelming and will often refuse to get in. It can take an hour to get him into the pool. Once in she loves it but needs support not to bump into or annoy other people. She also needs physical help to lead her to the pool and help her get changed before and after. We use Makaton with him to support his understanding. He is much better at signing than speaking and is much more willing to engage with others non-verbally. This however does require us to translate for him an awful lot, so one of us goes with him to Woodcraft Folk or anything like that.He loves a bit of art and craft so we spend a lot of time doing that. He needs help and encouragement to try touching the different texture things, and encouragement and prompting to keep going and help to manage any social interactions - waiting for or sharing the glue or the scissors without getting angry for example. She goes to brownies. She has one-to-one support there to help keep her calm and happy and able to manage the social aspects and the activities. She cannot manage when it gets too noisy and will lash out, so we either don’t go those weeks or she needs to be carefully managed, often in another room. Do they need more help than others their age to play and learn? Examples Because of her visual impairment, she needs to have things described to her or explained to her continually throughout the day if she is to engage in her work. She needs to have things read to her and needs to be reminded of instructions to help her stay on task – she needs one to one support all day. Every task needs to be adapted for her to be able to complete it. His learning difficulty means that he requires frequent and at times constant prompting and refocusing to keep him on task until it is completed. She requires one-to-one help at school to engage in any of the activities and keep her engaged. Without it, or if it is done in the wrong way, she will withdraw entirely and do nothing. Every task in PE needs to be adapted so that he can participate. He also needs extra help to get changed for it and changed back.She needs help to manage and participate in playtime games, PE, and any more physical task at school. His hearing impairment means that he has to be given instructions for every task at school separately and often repeatedly. He needs help to understand what is happening on the TV or what his friends are discussing or what is going on in the playground and how we can join in. They need more help and supervision than children of their own age to play and learn. This is because Examples Because of her visual impairment, she needs to have things described to her or explained to her continually throughout the day if she is to engage in her work. She needs to have things read to her and needs to be reminded of instructions to help her stay on task – she needs one to one support all day. Every task needs to be adapted for her to be able to complete it. His learning difficulty means that he requires frequent and at times constant prompting and refocusing to keep him on task until it is completed. She requires one-to-one help at school to engage in any of the activities and keep her engaged. Without it, or if it is done in the wrong way, she will withdraw entirely and do nothing. Every task in PE needs to be adapted so that he can participate. He also needs extra help to get changed for it and changed back.She needs help to manage and participate in playtime games, PE, and any more physical task at school. His hearing impairment means that he has to be given instructions for every task at school separately and often repeatedly. He needs help to understand what is happening on the TV or what his friends are discussing or what is going on in the playground and how we can join in. Do they need more help than others their age at school or nursery? It doesn’t matter if they actually get this help, it is about what help they need. Examples She has an EHCP, she shares a learning support assistant with one other child in her class, and is supported throughout the day. She uses a computer for all her writing but requires extra time to complete each activity. He has a TA to support him all the time. She helps him manage interactions with the teacher and class mates and helps him to stay focussed enough on the task and feel he is progressing so he does not become disruptive, destructive and violent. There have been times when he has not been managed well, and he has been very disruptive and even violent. He has been suspended for school 4 times for hurting his TA or another member of staff. She manages well but needs extra support from the class teacher with physical activities which she often doesn’t get. She particularly needs help with PE and changing her clothes before and after it. She often comes home either having not changed for PE or not having changed back out of her PE kit. He needs help to manage his food at lunchtimes. Usually this is provided but if someone is sick it all goes to pot and he comes home hungry because he couldn’t eat his lunch. When she is tired she shakes more and feels unwell. Often in the afternoons she needs someone to scribe for her or she will use an iPad to record her speaking her answers. Tasks are often adapted for her to make them less tiring so that she can manage the whole day. Particularly after PE she is often exhausted, so she usually does a less tiring form of the activity, or rests afterwards. She also needs someone to give her medicine at lunch every day.He doesn’t get a lot of the help he needs at school. As a result he is often disengaged and often completes little or none of the task he is supposed to. He particularly needs support around transitions - moving rooms, changing from one task to the other, going to lunch and coming back in, or having a new teacher. He does get support around this now - when he doesn’t he is disruptive, and destructive or aggressive. They need more help and supervision than children of their own age at school or nursery. This is because Examples She has an EHCP, she shares a learning support assistant with one other child in her class, and is supported throughout the day. She uses a computer for all her writing but requires extra time to complete each activity. He has a TA to support him all the time. She helps him manage interactions with the teacher and class mates and helps him to stay focussed enough on the task and feel he is progressing so he does not become disruptive, destructive and violent. There have been times when he has not been managed well, and he has been very disruptive and even violent. He has been suspended for school 4 times for hurting his TA or another member of staff. She manages well but needs extra support from the class teacher with physical activities which she often doesn’t get. She particularly needs help with PE and changing her clothes before and after it. She often comes home either having not changed for PE or not having changed back out of her PE kit. He needs help to manage his food at lunchtimes. Usually this is provided but if someone is sick it all goes to pot and he comes home hungry because he couldn’t eat his lunch. When she is tired she shakes more and feels unwell. Often in the afternoons she needs someone to scribe for her or she will use an iPad to record her speaking her answers. Tasks are often adapted for her to make them less tiring so that she can manage the whole day. Particularly after PE she is often exhausted, so she usually does a less tiring form of the activity, or rests afterwards. She also needs someone to give her medicine at lunch every day.He doesn’t get a lot of the help he needs at school. As a result he is often disengaged and often completes little or none of the task he is supposed to. He particularly needs support around transitions - moving rooms, changing from one task to the other, going to lunch and coming back in, or having a new teacher. He does get support around this now - when he doesn’t he is disruptive, and destructive or aggressive. Do they need more help and supervision than other children their age at night? Night-time is when you would otherwise be in bed. If you have to stay up later or get up earlier than you would because of your child’s needs, this counts as night-time. Examples She wakes at least once a night and often 2-3 times. Each time she becomes very distressed and it takes a long time to soothe and calm her and get her back into bed or to sleep. This takes between 20 minutes to an hour or more each time. As a result, after he wakes up he comes into my bed most nights because it is the only way I can get enough sleep to function - even there she takes a similar amount of time to calm down but I don’t need to stay awake until she has gone back to sleep. When she is distressed in the night she is aggressive and destructive and it only gets worse if you don’t get up immediately. He has sleep apnoea. We have to check on him regularly to check he is ok and still breathing. He wakes up panicking and gasping for breath regularly (2-3 times a night) and he needs a lot of calming and soothing to calm down his breathing, stop feeling scared, and get back to sleep. This takes 1-2 hours every night. She wakes in the night - often at about midnight, again at about 2, sometimes at 4 as well and then gets up and stays up at 5am (the rest of our household does not get up until 7). From the moment she is a wake she needs supervision as she does not recognise common dangers and gets ideas into her head that people or things are trying to hurt her. She has hurt both herself and her parents and siblings in the night. Last weeks she smashed a mirror that was scaring her, and then cut her feet with the glass. We are both completely sleep deprived. He has nightmares every night and requires us to get up and look after him. He takes 20-30 minutes to calm down each time. He also wakes up at 4-5am. He won’t go back to sleep at this point so we need to get up too to supervise him. Other children his age sleep through the night. She takes melatonin to help her sleep – whilst it might help her go to sleep, it doesn’t keep her asleep and she will wake several times and needs constant reassurance until or unless she is able to go back to sleep.We have to prop him up on several pillows as lying down is very difficult for him with his heart. We also have to massage his legs and adjust his covers because he is often too tired to do it for himself. One of his medications has to be given every eight hours so we always have to wake him to give him it, and it takes at least half an hour to settle him again. He gets hot and sweaty and will wake up because he is uncomfortable – we need to change his pyjamas and often his bedding. They need more help and supervision than children of their own age during the night when the rest of the household would otherwise be asleep. This is because Examples She wakes at least once a night and often 2-3 times. Each time she becomes very distressed and it takes a long time to soothe and calm her and get her back into bed or to sleep. This takes between 20 minutes to an hour or more each time. As a result, after he wakes up he comes into my bed most nights because it is the only way I can get enough sleep to function - even there she takes a similar amount of time to calm down but I don’t need to stay awake until she has gone back to sleep. When she is distressed in the night she is aggressive and destructive and it only gets worse if you don’t get up immediately. He has sleep apnoea. We have to check on him regularly to check he is ok and still breathing. He wakes up panicking and gasping for breath regularly (2-3 times a night) and he needs a lot of calming and soothing to calm down his breathing, stop feeling scared, and get back to sleep. This takes 1-2 hours every night. She wakes in the night - often at about midnight, again at about 2, sometimes at 4 as well and then gets up and stays up at 5am (the rest of our household does not get up until 7). From the moment she is a wake she needs supervision as she does not recognise common dangers and gets ideas into her head that people or things are trying to hurt her. She has hurt both herself and her parents and siblings in the night. Last weeks she smashed a mirror that was scaring her, and then cut her feet with the glass. We are both completely sleep deprived. He has nightmares every night and requires us to get up and look after him. He takes 20-30 minutes to calm down each time. He also wakes up at 4-5am. He won’t go back to sleep at this point so we need to get up too to supervise him. Other children his age sleep through the night. She takes melatonin to help her sleep – whilst it might help her go to sleep, it doesn’t keep her asleep and she will wake several times and needs constant reassurance until or unless she is able to go back to sleep.We have to prop him up on several pillows as lying down is very difficult for him with his heart. We also have to massage his legs and adjust his covers because he is often too tired to do it for himself. One of his medications has to be given every eight hours so we always have to wake him to give him it, and it takes at least half an hour to settle him again. He gets hot and sweaty and will wake up because he is uncomfortable – we need to change his pyjamas and often his bedding. 3 DWP details Open Close Date on the letter from the DWP that told you about their decision. Address of the DWP Office on the letter that told you about their decision Disability Benefit Centre 4 Post Handling Site B Wolverhampton WV99 1BY If the address on your letter is not the one above, please type it in the box. Has more than one calendar month passed since the date of the decision? Yes No The time limit to ask for a mandatory reconsideration has passed. Use the box below to explain why the delay was unavoidable or a result of your child’s disability (or your own difficulties). The delay was caused by When you press submit, we will email you the letter as a document. You can then make changes to your letter or add anything else you want to tell the DWP on your own device, before printing it out and sending it to the DWP office dealing with your DLA claim (their address is on the letter).If you don’t have access to a printer, you can normally print something at your local library, a local copy and print shop, or a newsagent. If you don’t know how to print from your phone, see our guidanceMake a note of the date you send the letter, just in case anything goes wrong. If the DWP do not change their decision, you should ask for an appeal. Most decisions aren’t changed at this stage, but are changed when you go to appeal. By submitting the letter you agree to our privacy policy * Submit test Was this information useful? Yes No Help us make it better by telling us why not Can you please tell us what you found useful? Your feedback helps us show the impact of what we do, and helps other people know what was useful. Submit By submitting this form, you agree that we may use your feedback to improve our services, or as a review to help other people. We will process your information in accordance with our privacy policy. Your personal data will not be shared or used for any other purpose. Related content Work Capability Assessment Tribunal Submission Tool Benefits WCA Mandatory Reconsideration Request letter tool Benefits for families DLA Mandatory Reconsideration letter tool Benefits PIP Mandatory Reconsideration Request letter tool
