I need advice

Hi kath1234,

If you utilise the appeal process, it may take 6-8 months before you get a hearing. At this hearing, the tribunal will only be able to take into account your son's condition up to and including the date of the decision to refuse the claim. Anything that has happened after that cannot be taken into account, unless it relates to a condition that he had before the decision.
You could even appeal against the old decision and make a new claim, but doing this would restrict the powers of the tribunal as it would only be able to award the benefit (if it decided to do so) from the date of the first claim up to the day before the new claim began. The new claim would then be subject to its own decision which could lead to another appeal if refused.
I know you are tempted to do a new claim but your son could be missing out on backpay if you decided not to pursue the first claim.
It's a very difficult decision and it's difficult because you don't know what the decisions will be but I hope at least now you have the information you need to make an informed decision.

Lee