Disabled Facilities Grant for Visually Impaired Teen.

Florrie

Hello, 

I'm new here,
Does anyone have any experience of applying for a disabled facilities grant?
My son (18) has a visual impairment.
His bedroom is very small with a sloping ceiling, he has one velux window which he cannot properly see out of. 
He is extremely short sighted and I think not being able to exercise his long vision much due to the small size of the room, and lack proper window doesn't help. He has tripped on his desk chair a few times due to the small size of the room.
Really we are hoping for an extension to give him the room he needs. 
Our mortgage company will not lend us anymore. I've read that income is disreagrded for under 19's.

The lady who has reffered me to OT has told me NOT to show OT any of the other rooms when OT visits.
But won't they insist on looking?
Does anyone has any advice?

Thank you

mikehughescq

Starting point for would be what is the VI? Your assumption about the impact of using long vision may be incorrect. However, the severity of the VI is absolutely going to be relevant to a DFG application.  

Florrie

mikehughescq said:

Starting point for would be what is the VI? Your assumption about the impact of using long vision may be incorrect. However, the severity of the VI is absolutely going to be relevant to a DFG application.  

His Visual Impairment is moderate. He has Optic Nerve Hypoplasia and Congenital Staitionary Nightblindness.
So he experiences Nightblindness, Photophobia and he is extremely short sighted.
His vision is not fully corrected with glasses.

mikehughescq

The issue here then are the DFG tests of necessary, appropriate and reasonable. Do you have any medical evidence that he’s not using his long vision enough or that not using it is detrimental in any way? That seems unlikely and a little bit of wishful thinking to me. None of his eye conditions are treatable in any meaningful way so I’m struggling to see the case for a DFG let alone an extension. 

I think any assertion that being unable to look out of his window is likely to be greeted with a response “isn’t going to help with what?” and anyone with knowledge of VI will say that the size of the room is relevant in some cases but less so in others. Has he tripped on the chair because of the size of the room or simply because that’s what happens with his vision? Have you asked him? The likely response from a medical professional re: the window would most likely be that he simply needs to spend time in other rooms or outside. They may also observe that a smaller window likely helps his sight by limiting direct light. As regards trips the reality is that they happen everywhere. Some may happen more in small spaces but that’s often about organisation and it’s often the case that bigger spaces encourage more message are often flooded with unhelpful light and shadows. 

Like all children he may benefit from a bigger bedroom but pinning that on his VI seems a very long shot to me. I think you would benefit from reading more about his VI and talking to his specialists about what will and won’t help. I’m going to say straightaway that he needs good, consistent lighting which doesn’t shine directly into his eyes i.e. more than one on the ceiling. I’d also say simply get the desk out of there.