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Telephone Tribunal. Help Needed.
Adele78
Member Posts: 11 Connected
Hi All,
I have a telephone tribunal tomorrow for my son, aged 10.
I am going through the tribunal pack to try and mentally prepare and I am a little confused. I would appreciate some advice so I don't embarrass myself tomorrow.
The tribunal is in relation to High Rate Mobility and as you may be aware in order to receive this my son must have Severe Mental Impairment and Severe behavioural problems. His main diagnosis is Downs Syndrome. So that ticks the SMI box.
At the Mandatory Reconsideration they stated that he 'cannot be considered to have incomplete or arrested development of the brain' (SMI) because he sees a Speech and Language therapist at school and uses a PECS book.
Obviously I have and will dispute this wholeheartedly.
Confusingly at the beginning of the tribunal pack, The Secretary of States Response, states that it is accepted that he does have arrested and incomplete development of the brain and does meet criteria for SMI but theres not enough evidence about his behaviour.
My question (embarrassingly) is who is the Secretary of the State? Is this who will be holding the tribunal tomorrow?
Sorry it's so long I felt as if I had to give you some background rather than simply ask!
I have a telephone tribunal tomorrow for my son, aged 10.
I am going through the tribunal pack to try and mentally prepare and I am a little confused. I would appreciate some advice so I don't embarrass myself tomorrow.
The tribunal is in relation to High Rate Mobility and as you may be aware in order to receive this my son must have Severe Mental Impairment and Severe behavioural problems. His main diagnosis is Downs Syndrome. So that ticks the SMI box.
At the Mandatory Reconsideration they stated that he 'cannot be considered to have incomplete or arrested development of the brain' (SMI) because he sees a Speech and Language therapist at school and uses a PECS book.
Obviously I have and will dispute this wholeheartedly.
Confusingly at the beginning of the tribunal pack, The Secretary of States Response, states that it is accepted that he does have arrested and incomplete development of the brain and does meet criteria for SMI but theres not enough evidence about his behaviour.
My question (embarrassingly) is who is the Secretary of the State? Is this who will be holding the tribunal tomorrow?
Sorry it's so long I felt as if I had to give you some background rather than simply ask!
Replies
Yes I am absolutely concentrating on proving how he meets the criteria and they have a shed load of evidence from various professionals to refer to. I simply saw the blatant contradiction and wondered who on earth the SoS was Haha!
The PECs statement absolutely made my blood boil, hes 10, non verbal and uses PECs in a very simplistic way with very little understanding. Thankfully his SaLT has written a great report so I dont need to tackle that.
He has a dual diagnosis of DS and Autism, hes a complex little man and his behaviours are extreme to say the least. I've sent as much as I can in from his MDT and school as evidence so I plan on just answering the questions as honestly and as clearly as possible.
I made the application 60 weeks ago so it's trying to take myself back to then, to answer all the questions as I would've done then rather than now. But I will do my best.
I'm grateful that its happening at all to be honest!
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He sleeps between 3 and 6 hours per night...I hope tonight's a good one and he has the 6 otherwise they might get a blubbering idiot Haha!
Am I right in thinking that there will be a judge, a doctor and a member of the DWP?
I will let you know how we get on.
1 - the tribunal are not especially going to concentrate on papers once the hearing has started. As long as you know what is where in the papers you can largely ignore them too. The focus will be on real world examples of extreme behaviour. You should be writing those down tonight so you have them in front of you and can refer to them during the hearing.
Mike I've written down lots of extreme regular behaviours, and I've got an incident log dating back to when I initially completed the form that will give them real life examples of how the behaviours impact on his daily life. Theres lots to go on.
My main problem will be keeping my emotions out of it, it's not going to be easy because as his main carer, the majority of his aggression is directed at me. I find admitting that and talking about it quite difficult. But I shall put my big girl pants on and crack on...his life would be so much easier and safer if we win this.
Thank you so much for the insight into the panel members, it's eased my mind. I feel as though the telephone tribunal will be less stressful than actually being in court, I'm in the comfort of my own home and can wear my pyjamas if I want 😀 but part of me wishes that I could see the tribunal panel and they could see me. But as I said I'm relieved and grateful its being done finally.
Will keep you all posted!
My stress levels were already high, they're now through the roof. I'm on the phone trying to get through to HMCTS!
I feel so grateful and relieved for my boy. Life will be somewhat easier and that's all I ask for.
Thank you to everyone for your expert advice and support, I will stay on the forum and try and support anyone else in the same situation.
I've been up since 3am so I am going to celebrate with a nap!
Take care and thank you again ❤
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Thanks all 🙂
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Already recieved the Decision Notice...the team at Liverpool are very efficient indeed! 👍👍
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