It's that time again. Time to refill out the DLA Form for my son so that we can get help with the things he needs.
He's a chewer, so we can put on a new t-shirt and within an hour it can have a hole in it. It's just who he is. So DLA is very important to keep replacing these.
This isn't our first battle with the DLA Form. We first battled this beast of a form 2 years ago. I say beast of a form as it is quite long with lots of detail to fill in.
One bit of advice that was passed along to us, and that I would like to pass on is, fill it out about your worst day. Make sure you fill in all the details about your child's care needs and ensure you fill in those bad parts.
It's not nice to put in those things down, it feels like your being negative. The thing is though, you need to make sure that the people who are reading the form, the people that have never met your child, get all the details and information on their needs and what you need to do.
If you only talk about the good day, then they won't get to know about the day they had a meltdown in the supermarket because of some issue or the times you have to do personal care.
It's important to get that across. That's what gives me a headache. Trying to make sure you remember it all. Trying to make sure that they understand the amount of extra care you need to give. Just walking up the road means that you have to watch them so they don't run off and into danger. That type of thing.
Every child is different. Every child has their own personal needs. So I can't give you anything verbose I'm afraid. What I do say though is put it all down in the form. By the way, I find that using the electronic form and typing I'm through a computer is easier, it lets you fill in more. You can also save a copy, edit and full out bit by bit.
It's all in the wording they say. How you word things can be a big plus or minus. It's one of my biggest headaches. I can pass on one resource I looked through though, to update some of my wording
https://www.cafamily.org.uk/advice-and-support/money-benefits-work-and-childcare/benefits-and-tax-credits/tips-on-completing-the-dla-form/
It's just the simple things. Simple wording can help or hinder.
The last thing I would say is to send with it any supporting documents. So if you have a diagnosis letter, photocopy and send. ECHP, send. You get the picture.
At the end of the day. It's a headache. It's a big time-consuming Form. The benefit if getting DLA for your child really outweighs that time though.
Getting DLA means you can show it to get extra things, such as reduced rate I to sites or free express queue. Things that will be of benefit to your child. That is worth that headache.
Are you filling in your DLA now? Why not let us know ow your thoughts by commenting below.