Working and claiming DLA?

[Yukiko]

Hi there,

 

I was wondering if anyone can help.

 

From the age of about 7, my mother claimed Disability Living Allowance for me as I was diagnosed with ADHD, Aspergers/Autism and Dyspraxia.

 

My Mother used the money to take me out on trips to the sea side, the zoo and to buy me things to help me through school/college. When I turned 18, we applied together and I moved away to go to college out of my local area and to have a shot at going alone. The money I received was used partly to put fuel in her car to come and help me shop and get me through day to day life as required (Such as learning tools, computer repairs etc - My handwriting was never the best so being rather methodical and meticulous about things, I always prefer to type letters and so on).

 

However, this expired when I turned 20/21 and almost as soon as it did, I entered employment in Security. My ways and means of doing things with precision and care took me higher in the security industry and now I'm living in Cambridge earning a relatively good wage, but I don't go out shopping and so on, on my own and rely on friends taking me or coming with me. I drive and work independantly, but I still "use" my mother to shop for me and take care of laundry and so on as I find it really difficult to actually do this alone. Most of the fear regarding this, is that in doing my own laundry and shopping, I either forget to get things, get duped into sales tactics at the front of stores and I genuinely have issues with caring for myself in relation to work clothes, which have to be perfect due to the nature of my site.

 

Hence, I ask the question. Can I claim the Disability Living Allowance as I did before and use the money to cover my mothers expenses in performing these tasks with me as it's a 60 mile journey for her to come up to me and she does 3-4 loads of washing every time I get time off work. I'm not a rinser of benefits and I don't want to come across as being lazy, as I genuinely get really anxious when in public on my own.

 

Mum's got all the forms and so on, but I don't want to be investigated for fraud and so on seeing as I seemingly live a normal life to outsiders.

 

Regards,

 

Yukiko.

[Nystagmite]

You can claim DLA and work. What you can't do is claim DLA and do a job which contradicts what you've said on the form. For example, you couldn't say "I can't walk" and then work in construction or something.

[jadeybags]

My daughter is 15 & Aspergers & I can't picture her living away from home or even working tbh, she rarely leaves the house unless it's to school, but didn't know you could claim DLA for it? I am just hoping I can earn enough in the future when all child related benefits stop, to keep her too. Would be interested in what replies you get.

[Yukiko]

Well, I started working, funnily enough, in a Supermarket as a "Security Officer". Dealing with the public was fine and dealing with colleagues wasn't an issue as I knew them on a professional level and got on with them well. I now work as a supervisor in one of the MOD buildings we're contracted to and don't deal with the general public very often.

 

My main issue is the anxiety of being done wrong by somebody when out and about. I can't really go shopping on my own as I fall for stupid offers and sales gimmicks, and usually end up spending 50% more than I need to on general tat. Obviously, mother doing my laundry for me saves me from forgetting about it until the last minute and then panicking and calling into work saying I cant make it for whatever reason, to pull myself back together again. I know it must seem odd to hear me talk about it so openly here and acknowledge the problems, but I just can't seem to get a grip of myself when actually going through day to day life.

 

Yet, when it comes to my actual job, I do it with military accuracy and precision. Obviously, if my income were to improve, I would cover my mothers expenses out of my own pocket and give up the allowance, but for now, I need some help with the above issues to ensure that I can continue in a "normal" fashion.

 

I hope I don't sound whingey. I don't mean to detract away from peolpe with worse "disabilities" and whatever I recieved in the past always went towards keeping Mum 'in the black' for the help she gave me. I didn't apply for or appeal for more money, I think I was on the lowest DLA available, but it kept life running smoothly and fulfilled it's purpose.

 

Regards.

[Nystagmite]

My daughter is 15 & Aspergers & I can't picture her living away from home or even working tbh, she rarely leaves the house unless it's to school, but didn't know you could claim DLA for it? I am just hoping I can earn enough in the future when all child related benefits stop, to keep her too. Would be interested in what replies you get.

 

DLA is based on care and /or mobility needs. Some people on the spectrum won't get DLA (I know someone who wouldn't) and others do.

[Yukiko]

My daughter is 15 & Aspergers & I can't picture her living away from home or even working tbh, she rarely leaves the house unless it's to school, but didn't know you could claim DLA for it? I am just hoping I can earn enough in the future when all child related benefits stop, to keep her too. Would be interested in what replies you get.

 

Jade, how unusual to hear of a female with AS (as I call it). I've heard of it once from various support my mother used to get when I was a child. It is a recognised disability and you can claim for it to a level correspondant with "her needs" (sorry to put it like that!).

 

I.e, if she wont go out without you or is not able to, if she can't dress herself satisfactorially or maintain personal hygiene etc, then I'd say you've got a good chance of submitting the claim and getting some help.

 

My mother used part of the money each month to buy two driving lessons. Selfish it may seem, from the age of 10 onwards, I don't remember a day when she didn't bang a fiver into her car and drive me for miles looking at everything from Steam Trains at the local museum to taking pictures of wildlife in the country side and once a month, she used to take me somewhere special to eat (My choice, of course!).

 

It was a great help to her, and I hope that you think about it as it made my childhood as an "AS" sufferer a lot easier. I know my life has come on leaps and bounds since I left school and I came out with 3 x A-Levels, an SIA license, low end qualification in mechanics and a full driving license.

[estellyn]

DLA is based on care and /or mobility needs. Some people on the spectrum won't get DLA (I know someone who wouldn't) and others do.

 

I have a friend who gets DLA for aspergers - he cant go anywhere unfamiliar or anywhere he would have to have social interaction with anyone on his own. so he can go to tesco, which is anonymous, but can't go in a shop where he would have to ask for anything. I had to go to debhenhams with him to help him get a present for his wife, because sales assistants coming and asking if he needs help, freaks him out. He also has anxiety and communication difficulties with people he doesn't know - he gets low rate care and low rate mobility.

[jadeybags]

Jade, how unusual to hear of a female with AS (as I call it). I've heard of it once from various support my mother used to get when I was a child. It is a recognised disability and you can claim for it to a level correspondant with "her needs" (sorry to put it like that!).

 

I.e, if she wont go out without you or is not able to, if she can't dress herself satisfactorially or maintain personal hygiene etc, then I'd say you've got a good chance of submitting the claim and getting some help.

 

My mother used part of the money each month to buy two driving lessons. Selfish it may seem, from the age of 10 onwards, I don't remember a day when she didn't bang a fiver into her car and drive me for miles looking at everything from Steam Trains at the local museum to taking pictures of wildlife in the country side and once a month, she used to take me somewhere special to eat (My choice, of course!).

 

It was a great help to her, and I hope that you think about it as it made my childhood as an "AS" sufferer a lot easier. I know my life has come on leaps and bounds since I left school and I came out with 3 x A-Levels, an SIA license, low end qualification in mechanics and a full driving license.

 

Probably wouldn't get it then, as she can dress herself ok & personal hygiene is fine. She just struggles big time with anything out the ordinary, & social things, even with visiting family. She misses so many things because she would rather be at home than go see nanny etc who live an hour away. Things like catching a bus on her own, just can't picture it ever happening. She used to end up getting terrible headaches when we went anywhere out the ordinary, probably because she was too young to express herself but found it stressful. She does struggle with school though & gets extra help, so is unusual in that way, but can tell you facts about all sorts of things because she looks a topic up on the internet & really gets into it!

Sounds like the OP needs to try getting the DLA again then. I might look into it.

[Simon7685]

Well I for one think it is refreshing to hear about someone with all these difficulties and disabilities trying to make a decent life for themselves and I take my hat off to the OP. In answer to your question or part of it, yes you can claim DLA when you are working, it is not a means tested benefit so you can get it and carry on working.

 

As someone else pointed out though, it might be hard to claim you can't walk if you are a trafiic warden if you know what I mean. you can also use the money you get from DLA to spend on anything you want to, it is your money and is up to you to decide how best that money can help you cope with your life. so if you want to use it to pay for your Mums petrol for helping you with shopping, that is up to you and nobody else.

 

get your claim in now though before the roll out of PIP as unfortunately an awful lot of people who get DLA now, probably won't get it then. In fact forget probably, lots of us will not get it. If you can get it awarded before the move to PIP there is a chance they may leave you alone until it's renewal date, that's not guaranteed but it might be the case. So get the claim in now.

[estellyn]

Probably wouldn't get it then, as she can dress herself ok & personal hygiene is fine. She just struggles big time with anything out the ordinary, & social things, even with visiting family. She misses so many things because she would rather be at home than go see nanny etc who live an hour away. Things like catching a bus on her own, just can't picture it ever happening. She used to end up getting terrible headaches when we went anywhere out the ordinary, probably because she was too young to express herself but found it stressful. She does struggle with school though & gets extra help, so is unusual in that way, but can tell you facts about all sorts of things because she looks a topic up on the internet & really gets into it!

Sounds like the OP needs to try getting the DLA again then. I might look into it.

 

Sounds like she'd qualify for low rate mobility at the least - not being able to go anywhere unfamilar unaccompanied.

[Yukiko]

Sounds like she'd qualify for low rate mobility at the least - not being able to go anywhere unfamilar unaccompanied.

 

The care component would come with that too for the same reason.

[Yukiko]

get your claim in now though before the roll out of PIP as unfortunately an awful lot of people who get DLA now, probably won't get it then. In fact forget probably, lots of us will not get it. If you can get it awarded before the move to PIP there is a chance they may leave you alone until it's renewal date, that's not guaranteed but it might be the case. So get the claim in now.

 

Thanks for the comments, but what is PIP?

[oleg]

Yukiko, just to emphasise what Simon mentioned about using dla payments as you see fit . . . How you use the money is entirely up to you, no questions asked, no need to engage in defensive self-justification as you seemed to be doing in your opening posts.

PIP is Personal Independence Payments, the replacement for dla from spring and said to be tougher to get. Google it, there's lots of info online including discussion from disabled people.

[Yukiko]

Yukiko, just to emphasise what Simon mentioned about using dla payments as you see fit . . . How you use the money is entirely up to you, no questions asked, no need to engage in defensive self-justification as you seemed to be doing in your opening posts.

PIP is Personal Independence Payments, the replacement for dla from spring and said to be tougher to get. Google it, there's lots of info online including discussion from disabled people.

 

I get you now, sorry, I had heard something similar myself but hadn't looked into it yet.

 

I understand the money is there to do with as I please, but I come from a town where far too many of the population are on DLA and the like, claiming bad backs etc, yet, most of them engage in cash in hand manual labour also whilst driving around in top-spec motors and going out to the pub most nights. So, to buck the trend, I just like to make it clear that I'm not claiming to have a jolly. I am thinking about putting the claim in simply so that my mother (Who isn't all that well off) can fill her tank once a month and come and help me with some of the stuff I struggle with

[estellyn]

The care component would come with that too for the same reason.

 

No, it would depend on the level of problems in the home, work or school and for someone under 16 (familiar places), the level of attention that child needs above and beyond a healthy child of the same age. Just being not able to go to unfamiliar places unaccompanied, does bot bring with it low rate care, unless that person/child also has issues in familiar places too - for instance with aspergers/high functioning autism this can be difficulties with communication, socialising (at home or school), communicating with colleagues at work, unable to deal with meetings, phone calls, unexpected encounters etc. It can also mean needing help to prevent or deal with meltdowns due to anxiety and stress. Even having to almost 'interpret' for them, sarcasm, facial expressions, 'jokes' etc.

[Crapstone]

What your town does should be of no concern to you. Just do what you feel is right and honest for your circumstances.

[estellyn]

I get you now, sorry, I had heard something similar myself but hadn't looked into it yet.

 

I understand the money is there to do with as I please, but I come from a town where far too many of the population are on DLA and the like, claiming bad backs etc, yet, most of them engage in cash in hand manual labour also whilst driving around in top-spec motors and going out to the pub most nights. So, to buck the trend, I just like to make it clear that I'm not claiming to have a jolly. I am thinking about putting the claim in simply so that my mother (Who isn't all that well off) can fill her tank once a month and come and help me with some of the stuff I struggle with

 

See now I'm questionning how you could possibly know about all of these people in top spec cars, working and claiming and down the pub most nights. Do you know these people personally, and did they tell you that they are working and claiming, while you were down the pub with them, and show you their 'motor'. Or is this the 'word on the street'? I've found that nearly every single person who has told me this type of story, has been unable to point out anyone who they know for sure, just one or two people they have suspicions about, and certainly can't show a population wide epidemic of fraudulent claims in their town. Its kind of an urban myth that there are hoardes of people everywhere committing benefit fraud.

[RaeUK]

^^^ as above.

[dpick]

I get you now, sorry, I had heard something similar myself but hadn't looked into it yet.

 

I understand the money is there to do with as I please, but I come from a town where far too many of the population are on DLA and the like, claiming bad backs etc, yet, most of them engage in cash in hand manual labour also whilst driving around in top-spec motors and going out to the pub most nights.

 

I would make it clear that I am not having a go at anyone on CAG but at the people that start these rumours about people on DLA.

 

I know that there have been comments about me from people where I live due to my having a new car on dla what most of these people dont see is while I can go out and bring home shopping what they don't seem to see is my niece going with me.

 

They don't see that both my wife and I get DLA both care and mobility after an RTA in approx 2004. They do not see the 2 carrier bags of prescriptions that are delivered every 28 days. They dont see the days when I am in bed all day after having to take pain meds etc. But of course they do see the that I do go to the pub on occation but then they dont seem to see me give someone money to go to the bar so that I can stand my round just that I am in a pub. These people have forgoten about the six months that my wife and I had nurses coming house to care for us after the RTA.

 

The people who start these rumours make me sick all they see is the car nothing else. I would love to be fit again and able to work and keep myself.

 

Ok rant over as I say not against CAG or it's members just against rumour mongers in general.

 

dpick

[honour2012]

Morning all, my grandson who is 7 has ADD, special educational needs of speech and language delay. His mum gets DLA middle rate care and low rate mobility. His mum also claims carers and it adds £50 dissability premium to tax credits. Its always worth claiming. It enables my grandson to atend every after school club he wants, football, karate and street dance, which all help with his confidence.

[Nystagmite]

Probably wouldn't get it then, as she can dress herself ok & personal hygiene is fine. She just struggles big time with anything out the ordinary, & social things, even with visiting family. She misses so many things because she would rather be at home than go see nanny etc who live an hour away. Things like catching a bus on her own, just can't picture it ever happening. She used to end up getting terrible headaches when we went anywhere out the ordinary, probably because she was too young to express herself but found it stressful. She does struggle with school though & gets extra help, so is unusual in that way, but can tell you facts about all sorts of things because she looks a topic up on the internet & really gets into it!

Sounds like the OP needs to try getting the DLA again then. I might look into it.

 

A big problem for those of us on the spectrum is communication - such as asking for help, making ourselves understood, etc. Is that an issue for your daughter? I personally find that during a sensory overload / meltdown, that I can't actually speak and have to do something visually to alert people. It has been suggested by 2 people (including the lady who filled in my form - her son is on the spectrum) that I use cards to explain how I feel.

[estellyn]

A big problem for those of us on the spectrum is communication - such as asking for help, making ourselves understood, etc. Is that an issue for your daughter? I personally find that during a sensory overload / meltdown, that I can't actually speak and have to do something visually to alert people. It has been suggested by 2 people (including the lady who filled in my form - her son is on the spectrum) that I use cards to explain how I feel.

 

When my friend has meltdown/overload, he has no problems speaking, but still has issues communicating - he ends up shouting and swearing, screaming at people, basically goes ballistic, and the stuff he does scream bears no relation to what is happening. People don't understand that if he's had a stressful day, something as simple as someone unexpectedly knocking at the door, or the phone ringing, or a shop assistant telling him something he ordered has not arrived (when he was told it had), can set him off.

[Lillibelle]

I get hrc and hrm..I have a nice car on Motabilty,costs me 53 odd a week in hrm payments.I can no longer drive but live in a quite cut off area so need a vehicle. If you saw me sitting in a chair at first glance you would struggling to see what is wrong with me..till I try to move..I have to be helped to my feet,and use a stroller to walk very short distances,my hips are badly effected,,I cannot see very far any more,I have plenty of ''mental health' issues. I'm a quickwitted person and love a good laugh,,yet my body is failing due to MS,,and you would be amazed at how people react when they finally pluck the courage up to ask.,instead of making wildly incorrect assumptions.

[Yukiko]

See now I'm questionning how you could possibly know about all of these people in top spec cars, working and claiming and down the pub most nights. Do you know these people personally, and did they tell you that they are working and claiming, while you were down the pub with them, and show you their 'motor'. Or is this the 'word on the street'? I've found that nearly every single person who has told me this type of story, has been unable to point out anyone who they know for sure, just one or two people they have suspicions about, and certainly can't show a population wide epidemic of fraudulent claims in their town. Its kind of an urban myth that there are hoardes of people everywhere committing benefit fraud.

 

I hate to say it, but I've seen it all too often.

 

3 years ago, whilst upstairs in my Mum's house, I saw someone I KNEW to be claiming for bad back etc removing Mum's neighbours kitchen for her. And at the end of it all, being handed money for doing so (I also think there was gardening work involved, but I didn't see that part).

 

Said person is graced with a brand new, £30k vehicle, benefits and does not pay tax upon ill gotten gains.

 

Until the video evidence was submitted and now the person in question has been put behind the till in Sainsburys on work trial.

 

Sorry, I wont say things unless they're able to be backed up. My town is rife with it, people where the walking stick only comes out in daylight hours and so on, being Security in a supermarket in the town was enlightening, as when nobody was around, the stick would get almost discarded and the person would walk normally.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are many more people out there entitled than not, but I don't think a few bitter ramblings in relation to there being no issue with people misclaiming is justified.

[estellyn]

I hate to say it, but I've seen it all too often.

 

3 years ago, whilst upstairs in my Mum's house, I saw someone I KNEW to be claiming for bad back etc removing Mum's neighbours kitchen for her. And at the end of it all, being handed money for doing so (I also think there was gardening work involved, but I didn't see that part).

 

Said person is graced with a brand new, £30k vehicle, benefits and does not pay tax upon ill gotten gains.

 

Until the video evidence was submitted and now the person in question has been put behind the till in Sainsburys on work trial.

 

Sorry, I wont say things unless they're able to be backed up. My town is rife with it, people where the walking stick only comes out in daylight hours and so on, being Security in a supermarket in the town was enlightening, as when nobody was around, the stick would get almost discarded and the person would walk normally.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are many more people out there entitled than not, but I don't think a few bitter ramblings in relation to there being no issue with people misclaiming is justified.

 

So you know one person for sure?

 

And trying to insult me by describing my post as 'bitter ramblings' is rather uncalled for. I've worked in the benefit sector for more than ten years both on the DWP side and the welfare rights side. I've seen many many claimants over the years - including fraudulent ones. I take exception to people repeating the same old disabled claimant propaganda - it breeds hatred, intolerance and mistrust of disabled people. If you feel my knowledge and experience has led to 'bitter ramblings', then you are entitled to your opinion.

 

There are fraudsters. There is not an epidemic of fraud in disabled benefits. If you know differently, please report the people to the relevant authorities.