disability living allowance (dla)

DLA is a disability benefit, paid by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), for children and young people up to the age of 16 who have extra care needs or mobility needs as a result of a disability.

If you are providing extra care and attention for a child under 16, you could be eligible for DLA if all the following apply:

• They require extra care and attention as a result of having a health condition or a mental or physical disablement.
• They have required the additional care and attention for a minimum of 3 months before making the claim. And they must expect that the care and attention would continue to be required for at least 6 months after.
• They require more care and attention than a typical child of the same age without a health condition or disability. 

Care Component: There are three rates (Low, Middle and High)

Mobility Component: There are two rates (Low and High)

You may be eligible for low rate care if your child needs care and attention with their bodily functions, for a 'significant portion of the day.'

DLA case law states the definition of this to be at least an hour per day. 

You may be eligible for middle rate care if your child requires:

• Frequent attention with their bodily functions throughout the day, or
• Continual supervision throughout the day, or
• Prolonged or repeated attention or supervision during the night, or
• Receives renal dialysis twice or more per week.  

You may be eligible for high rate care if your child requires:

• Frequent attention to their bodily functions throughout the day and night, and
• They are waking either multiple times throughout the night, or once for a prolonged period.

DLA case law states the definition of 'multiple times' to be 3 or more, and a 'prolonged period' to be 20 minutes or more.

You may be eligible for low rate mobility if your child is aged 5 years or over and requires substantial guidance or supervision with walking on unfamiliar routes.

The guidance or supervision must be required because of a mental or physical disablement.

You may be eligible for high rate mobility if your child is aged 3 years or over, and meets one of the following conditions:

• Is unable to walk
• Has no legs or feet (from birth or through amputation)
• Has a severe visual impairment
• Is both deaf and blind, and requires the assistance of another person to walk out of doors
• The exertion required to walk would constitute a danger to their life or would be likely to lead to a serious deterioration in their health

You may also be eligible for high rate mobility if your child meets the criteria for the Severely Mentally Impaired (SMI) route, or the Virtually Unable to Walk (VUW) route.

This route to High Rate Mobility follows strict criteria. DLA breaks this down into 6 main tests, with subsections. The test is cumulative; meaning that if any test is not met, the child cannot be awarded. Each point requires supporting evidence from an Educational, Medical or Social Care professional.

The child must be eligible for the High Rate Care component.

Your child must either have a stopped or incomplete physical development of the brain (sometimes referred to as an arrested development of the brain). This is where the child's brain has not grown or developed properly; and this can be seen or assessed.

A severe impairment of intelligence must be a result of an arrested or incomplete development of the brain.

A severe impairment of social functioning must also be a result of an arrested or incomplete development of the brain.

DLA defines this to mean behaviours that are extreme, unpredictable and disruptive, and they must result in requiring someone to be present and ready to intervene to prevent danger or damage whenever the person is awake. The word 'extreme' in terms of DLA means 'out of the ordinary'.  And the word 'disruptive' is used to describe any behaviours that disrupt. These disruptive behaviours need to be frequent and present across multiple settings, i.e. indoors, outdoors and within an educational setting (if applicable). 

The severe behavioural problems stated in the previous test must then regularly require another person to intervene and physically restrain the child to prevent them causing physical injury to themselves, another person or damage to property.

The level of restraint required will be dependant on the age, height and weight of the child. For example, a grip to them top of the arm may be sufficient to restrain a slight 5 year old from causing harm; whereas this would likely be ineffective to restrain a strapping 16 year old.

Some children, who don't qualify for the higher rate mobility component on the grounds of 'severe mental impairment', may qualify on the basis that they are 'virtually unable to walk'.

The 'virtually unable to walk' test looks at the child's ability to walk outside and takes into account their speed, manner of walking, distance covered and the time it takes. It also looks at any 'interruptions' in their ability to make progress on foot. These 'interruptions' must be part of a physical disability or have a physical cause, rather than being a conscious choice.

DLA case law states that it accepts that Autism is a physical disorder of brain development, and that some children with learning disabilities may have 'interrupted' walking because of a physical cause. This also includes brain damage, chromosome and genetic disorders, such as Down's Syndrome.

If your child can physically put one foot in front of the other but often stops walking and is unable to continue, you need to be able to show that:

• This type of behaviour is the result of a known physical cause, and
• The interruptions in walking are frequent enough that your child's walking is so limited that they can be considered to be 'virtually unable to walk'.

For example, a child with Autism could often have 'refusal episodes', where they either refuse to leave the house or move, or refuse to make any further progress on foot while out. These refusals are not down to naughty behaviour or will, they are due to the extreme rigidity of thinking associated with Autism and their inability to deal with the unexpected.

In DLA case law, these refusal episodes can also be seen as a 'temporary paralysis of will', which will count towards a 'virtual inability to walk'. If you can show that these episodes are frequent, sustained and not easily overcome by the promise of reward or encouragement, then your child may be considered virtually unable to walk and an award of high rate mobility can be made.