Can I be reassessed for high rate mobility for my son

karenwhas

Hi I'm new to this today so hope I'm doing things correctly. My son is 11 years old and was diagnosed with Aspergers 7 year ago. He was awarded high rate care and low rate mobility back then and then again in March of this year. I was wondering however if i can be reassessed for the mobility component. As George is getting older its getting more and more difficult to get him out and about. He can't and doesnt go out alone as he is unaware of any dangers and just wouldn't know what to do or where to go. He has a lot of sensory issues so won't go on public transport, it's far too busy and noisy for him. His walking isn't great and can take a long while to get a short distance so it's just not something he wants to do. He gets picked up for school by a taxi which he is happy with. I would just like to be able to try and get him out and about more to try help him but as I don't have a car and have no way of getting one I wondered if I could ask for a reconsideration on his mobility award. Thank you

Pippa_Alumni

Hi @karenwhas, welcome to the community!

I've moved your post into our 'Ask a benefits advisor' category to see if they can advise you on the best way to go about appealing your son's mobility award. Hopefully somebody will be in touch with you soon! 

mikehughescq

Most of what you describe fits the criteria for lower rate mobility component i.e. needing guidance or supervision on unfamiliar routes most of the time. Higher rate is largely around the physical ability to walk distances and that largely isn't the problem you're describing. 

If you're saying the distance he can physically walk has shortened and that's the main issue then you may have a case on the basis of being virtually unable to walk but it's very much focused not just on distance but the ability to walk in the absence of severe discomfort.

There is no set distance of 50m or 100m or whatever people like to cite. It really is a case of weighing up time, speed, distance and manner of walking. So, I've had someone qualify who could walk 1/4 of a mile but so slowly as to take around 30 minutes with stops. Equally I've had someone not qualify who could walk 50m but do so repeatedly. 

BenefitsTrainingCo

Hi @karenwhas

As Mike states - the higher rate of DLA mobility generally refers to the claimants physical ability to walk, rather than the extent to which it is curtailed by their distress or need for supervision  - they generally come within the lower rate.

There is a route through 'Severe Mental Impairment' which can give an award of high rate mobility, and the criteria are set out quite well by Autism UK in the link below.

http://www.autism.org.uk/about/benefits-care/benefits/children/dla-mobility-component.aspx

You can ask for a reassessment at any time just by calling up the DWP and asking them to send the forms for him to be reassessed (I'm assuming your recent decision is out of time for appeal here, but please let us know if this is not the case). My only word of warning is to remember that awards can be reduced as well as increased.

Good luck and do let us know if you need anything further!

Kind regards,

Mary

mikehughescq

I concur. Only reason I didn't mention the SMI route is there was no mention of some of the things which would trigger entitlement.