Bus pass for child on DLA

trayharlem

Hi there,

I have a 5 year old autistic child on DLA & our main form of transportation is the bus as we are in a rural location. She is awaiting a place at a special school so does not have a school bus pass as yet. Is she eligible to apply for a bus pass & me as her carer also? It’s £13 return everytime we go out & me having to give up work to become her full time carer am really struggling to have to pay for this everytime. Any advice? Thank you

Kimi87

You would need to see what your local authority offers in terms of concessionary travel, as they vary.

https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-disabled-bus-pass

Grumpy1314

It’s a very tricky situation to be in, I personally have been there before during my childhood. I attended a special needs school after having to leave infant school due to my health conditions. I was then placed into a children’s psychiatric unit and had to attend school while as an inpatient. But those two special needs schools I attended if I lived at home, I had a taxi service run by the education department and funded by social needs.

I was classed as a Statemented Child due to my ADHD, Autism, Neurological Development Disorder alongside Behavioural & Emotional Needs. I had to have a an Education Support Plan in place and it’s fare to say it was hard growing up. 3 mainstream schools, 3 special needs schools, with the boarding school in the lakes being by far the best and gave me a settled and balanced part of childhood I never had while growing up with a dysfunctional family.

I am sure that your social services and or educational authorities should have something in place for children such as your little girl, to enable her to get from a rural setting to a school a good distance from home.

https://www.gov.uk/apply-school-transport-for-child-with-special-educational-needs-sen