I have arthritis, am I entitlied to DLA?

[lisachloe]

I am 36 yrs old & was born with a congenital dislocated hip. As a child I attended hospital appointments, as I had years of being in casts. It was established at the age of 11 that I be dismissed from hospital as they could do nothing else for me.
Since then my condition has worseded & I now have arthritis in my lower back & right hip.
I was sent for x-rays from my doctor & it was established that I did have arthritis & I needed physio. Physio, didn't really help as I also have 1 leg shorter than the other (I had no balance when doing the physio) so I was given a heel raise of 1.5" to wear in my shoe & discharged from the hospital's physio department.
I now get incapacity benefit & the last time I had to go for a medical was around 8 years ago (I was sent a medical form to fill in around 5 yrs ago & got a letter back saying they will contact me Dec 200
My arthritis has worsened & I now find it uncomfortable during the night & I end up going "walkabout" as it's too painful.
I don't know if I should apply for DLA as back in 1996 my daughter was diagnosed with Leukaemia & turned down! The hospital social worker re-applied again for us & she was finally awarded it.
SO, I'm thinking, if they turn down a child with cancer, what hope do I have with arthritis?
I also suffer with depression, which is related to other issues & my arthritis.
Many thanks & sorry that this is a long post.

[Bookworm]

Only one way to find out....

The trick to remember with DLA is to describe every day at its worst. If on one day, it takes you 10 mns to walk to the shop, but the next time, it takes you 20 mns, then you write 20 mns. It is an awful form to fill in, pages and pages of questions seemingly endlessly repeated, so don't try to fill it all in one time.

[gizmo111]

It may be a good idea to contact your local welfare rights as they will help you to fill it in. As Bookie says the form is long and quite intrusive.

[greenrizla]

The important factor to take into consideration, when applying for DLA is to persist, they have a very high rejection rate for first-time claimant at around 65%. If rejected, appeal, as around 85% of appeals are successful in favour of the claimant. Wherever possible get a social worker or a welfare rights advisor to assist with the application and any subsequent appeals as they know how to work the system to your advantage.

[lisachloe]

That's great thanks, I'm thinking that as I have xrays from birth surely there's no getting away from the fact that my condition has worsened. I rely on taxi's & other people for the supermarket etc... somedays my husband or daughter helps me up & down the stairs etc. I've fallen down the stairs twice last month, so I know with age I wont get any better.
Thanks for all your help, I will give it a try. I'll no doubt get knocked back & would've probably never re-applied, so I'll just keep going. Cheers

[Bookworm]

Just remember that a lot of the "no" at DLA levels very often get turned into "yes" once going in front of the tribunal, so don't be afraid to go to appeal if the turn you down.

I went to tribunal with someone whose AS son had been turned down for DLA 4 times, we went to tribunal and came out with middle rate for care and lower rate for mobility, and a £4k backdate on her claim.

[demon_x_slash]

Fully agree with Bookie about putting down how bad you are as opposed to how you cope; I filled out the forms for both of my grandparents, who had also been turned down before. They (like most people I would have thought) didn't want to 'put themselves forward', but I had to convince them that if they didn't put it down on the form, as far as the assessors were concerned their 'bad days' didn't exist. Granddad can walk to the shops slowly on a good day, but on a bad he can just about make it to the end of the garden - therefore you put down something like 'cannot walk more than 10 metres unassisted/without supervision' rather than 'can walk to the shops if slowly' - you need to cover all the situations that your disability would affect in order to get an accurate assessment.

[lisachloe]

Thanks, I think I will try & appy online - well read through the application form if I can..... I remember it being a lengthly one!

[Billyhunt]

Hi lisachloe, the thing to remember when applying for DLA care component is that it is the help you need even if you are not actually getting this at the moment, its what help you require. So its important to keep this in mind. For example, getting out of and into a chair, or in and out of bed. It helps if you have medical evidence, which is sounds as though you have and even better if you have doctor, physio details as well to add weight to you application. Details of your depression can also be included in your claim but with mental health issues it is very important to have doctor, health worker details etc as without this it is very difficult to mak a successful claim. Organisations like the Citiziens Advice Bureau can help you complete the forms and also help with any appeals if they are needed. If it is difficult for you to get to a bureau it may be possible for a home visit. Worth a telephone call if you find the application a bit daunting. Good luck