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Daughter with autism starting college - what help is available?
goose68
Member Posts: 9 Listener
Hello mum of one , I have a daughter of 16 whom is autistic , I work full time , my daughter starts College this September , trying to find out what help is out there
Replies
What sort of help are you looking for?
Is your daughter going to be attending college full time?
Are you currently receiving any help and if so what do you receive? i.e child benefit, tax credits etc.
I look forward to hearing from you and good luck to your daughter
You should still be able to claim Child Benefit and Child Tax credits while she's in full time education. It's probably worth checking with HMRC whether they will still be paid and to make sure there's nothing going on that would stop the payments.
Is your daughter claiming PIP? If not this could be something to consider as it helps with some of the extra costs associated with disability.
It's also worth checking with the college to see if they offer bursaries or financial support.
Hope this helps
I know it's difficult but hang on in there. Have you got any local advice services in your area where you can go and get some face to face advice? I know it's difficult when you're working full time to get to places like this so if you get stuck send me an email at the helpline and I'll see if I can work through things with you.
My daughter had to contact the ESA department a few weeks ago and she used her mobile phone. The 20 minutes she spent on the phone cost her £15 which isn't good when you're already on a low income. It was a needless £15 spent too. She had moved from the WRAG to the support group but this information isn't automatically cascaded to the work programme providers who despite several emails and letters with proof of the move to the support group continued to send appointment letters for work related activities. She then received a letter informing her that as she had not complied with the mandatory requirements that they would be alerting the Jobcentre and she could be sanctioned. Of course this worried her hence the phone call and subsequent £15.00 cost of finding out that there was nothing to worry about.
Is your daughter receiving the enhanced rate of PIP mobility? If so she should qualify for a disabled person's buss pass but the criteria varies from one local authority to another. Which local authority do you come under?
I suppose 10 minutes isn't too bad in getting through, I've had worse trying to get through to non-government departments! The main thing is you got through and hopefully the tax credits will be sorted out soon. As for my daughter, she's fortunate that she has the bank of mum to turn to in times of crisis. Other's are quite so lucky and £15 is a big deal when you're on a limited income. She's been budgeting really well but will definitely not be using her mobile to call them again!
Are you getting any help with housing benefit? If you are you can ask them to assess your housing benefit award without the tax credits include, however when the tax credits are sorted out they will be backdated and then the housing benefit department will probably have to do another assessment and then take back some money. If you're having problems with your rent let me know.
Don't feel bad about letting off some steam, it helps to share the burden
Senior online community officer
Senior online community officer
Sorry to hear things aren't going well right now. Is there anything I can help with?