Tips on completing the Disability Living Allowance form

You can receive a Disability Living Allowance if your child meets the criteria for extra care beyond that of a child without a disability.

The care component consists of three levels:

1. Lower rate care: your child needs help for some of the day or night
2. Middle rate care: your child needs frequent help or constant supervision during the day, supervision at night, or someone else to help with their care
3. Higher rate care: your child needs help or supervision day and night, or is  terminally ill

The mobility component consists of two rates. The rate you will receive depends on the level of help your child needs to move around.

• Lowest rate – the child can walk but needs help and/or supervision when outdoors.
• Highest rate – the child cannot walk, can only walk a short distance without severe discomfort, could become very ill if they try to walk, or they are severely sight impaired. Children with additional disabilities may be eligible for the higher rate of mobility.

You can normally only apply for the mobility component after your child’s fifth birthday. However, if your child has severe difficulty walking and is severely sight impaired, you can apply for the mobility component when your child is three years old.

Telephone: 0800 121 4600 
Textphone: 0800 121 4523 
NGT text relay (if you cannot hear or speak on the phone): 18001 then 0800 121 4600 

Lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 7.30pm.

The forms are date-stamped with two dates: the first date is the one you requested the form, the second is the date when you need to return the form by. You have six weeks to complete and return the form. A successful claim will be backdated to the first date of request.

• Make sure you allocate a good amount of time. The form is quite long and may  take you quite a few hours to complete. You may find it less stressful to split the task into chunks, perhaps answering one question a day
• Before you start, it’s a good idea to keep a diary for a couple of days to help you break down just what kind of support you give to your child
• With your diary at the ready, start to fill out the form and explain in detail the extra support you provide to your child on a daily basis and at night. Look at all the many ways you provide support and include them in the application form; remember that things that disruptions that are the norm for you may not be so obvious to others. For example, explaining your actions verbally to your child because they can’t see you, or comforting your child because they become upset at sudden loud noises or if you have to get up at 2am every night. You need to ask yourself, would I be doing this if my child didn’t have a vision impairment?
• Be aware that the questions are very repetitive, so you’ll need to try and be as consistent as possible. For example, if you say a night-time task takes an hour on one part of the form, you need to say the same on other relevant areas
• If you feel you can’t give a clear and true picture of your child’s needs, ask someone to help you fill in the form: a friend, a social worker, or health visitor, for example. Our specialist Family Support Officers can also advise you on how to complete of the form  

A few things to avoid: 

• It’s best not to include details about what you would like to buy with your Disability Living Allowance. The allowance is about the extra care your child needs, not funding for equipment or aids 
• Don’t waste time explaining the impact of your child’s visual impairment on the other children you are caring for – you need to focus purely on the child you are claiming for
• You also don’t need mention that you go out to work or that the child’s care prevents you from going to work – the approval panel won’t consider this relevant for the purpose of this application

Questions to ask yourself:

• Does your child need the help of a carer to play with a ball (catching or kicking)?
• Does your child have poor balance? Can your child hop? Are they able to stand on one leg when dressing and putting on trousers?

In this next section you can expand on the guidance and supervision your child needs when outdoors. Ask yourself:

• Is your child nervous outdoors?
• Does your child panic if they hear loud noises and cannot locate the source?
• Are you not comfortable letting your child run ahead of you in a safe area, for example in the park? Does your child sometimes lose sight of you and panic?
• Is your child vulnerable to the intentions of strangers?
• Does your child miss non-verbal cues, such as waving or blowing a kiss?
• Does your child need to be told about obstacles in their path, for example, bollards, dog excrement, parked cycles, toddlers on scooters, kerbs, broken paving slabs etc?
• Can your child judge the speed of moving objects, for example, swings, roundabouts and traffic?
• Does your child need the help of a carer to use equipment like swings and climbing frames in playgrounds?Does your child have difficulty with depth perception and have problems with things like steps and kerbs - especially in unfamiliar environments?
• Does your child have difficulty with colour recognition, for example distinguishing between red and green? (traffic lights/green man at crossings)

• Is your child prone to accidents, trips and falls? Do they walk into door frames, edges of furniture and cupboard doors. Or have problems with stairs?  Give brief details of any recent incidents.
• Does your child need support from someone to ensure they are safe indoors – particularly in unfamiliar places?
• Do you need to keep your house clutter-free, and ensure furniture is not moved and is always in the same place?
• Your child may cope in a familiar environment, but do they cope in someone else’s house where the layout of the furniture is not the same as at home?
• Can your child judge the depth of stairs?
• Do you need to think constantly about  keeping your child safe from harm and hazards?

• Does someone have to wake your child up?
• Do you have to make sure your child is safe when they wake up?
• Can your child occupy themselves when waking up, or do you have to respond to their needs straightaway?
• Is your child disorientated when they wake up?

• Does your child get tired at the end of the day? 
• Does the effort of focusing also make your child grumpy and/or bad-tempered?
• Do you have to encourage your child to go to bed?
• Is your child difficult to settle? Do you have to spend time settling your child, talking to them, reassuring them and helping them to settle and go to sleep?
• Is your child often in a bad mood at bedtime?
• Does your child wake during the night and need your support to make sure they are safe from harm and hazards?

• Can your child find the toilet in your home or at school?
• In unfamiliar places, which are deemed child-friendly, e.g., activity centres, playgrounds – does your child, unlike their peers, need help to find and use the toilet?
• Do you need to check the toilet after your child has used it?
• Does he sometimes miss the bowl and wee on the floor?
• Can your child go upstairs without help to go to the toilet?
• Does your child need help with zips and buttons after using the toilet?
• Does your child have monthly periods – and if so does she need your help at these times?
• Can your child get up and go to the toilet at night without help?
• Does your child have night blindness, which causes them to panic?
• Does your child need help finding their glasses at night?
• Don’t forget to account for the time it takes to resettle your child, or explain how you need to reassure and talk to them to help them to fall asleep at night

• Does your child find it difficult to wash or have a bath or shower?
• Can your child find toothpaste and put it on their toothbrush?
• Do you need to support or lift your child in and out of the bath?
• Can your child differentiate between bottles of shampoo, bubble bath etc?
• Is your child affected by the glare of bathroom tiles?
• Do you have to tell or encourage your child to wash or have a bath or shower?
• Does your child know where the surface of the water is in a bath or sink?
• Can your child read the settings on shower dials?
• If your child wears glasses, do they panic if they get steamed up, or if they need to be removed?
• Can your child see the colours of the taps, for example, red for hot, blue for cold?
• Does your child panic about water in their eyes?
• Does your culture or religion mean your child has to wash at specific times and need support to do so?

• Is your child at an age when they should be able to dress independently but can’t? Think about the support you provide and your child’s ability compared with another child of the same age
• Without help, would your child put his clothes on back to front or inside out?
• Would your child know if their clothes were soiled?
• Can your child manage zip fastenings, buttons, buckles and laces?
• Can your child recognise colours?
• In school, can your child find their clothes after PE?
• Can your child balance on one leg while putting on trousers or pyjama bottoms?
• Does your child panic when they pull clothes over their face?
• How many times does your child need a change of clothes during the day? 

• Can your child feed themselves like a child of the same age?
• Are they clumsy with drinks?  Do they have spillages, for example, or do they miss the table or knocks drinks over?
• Can your child drink from an age appropriate cup?
• In school, can your child access hot meals without support?
• If food is prepared buffet style (weddings, birthday parties), does your child need help to find and choose food?
• Unlike children of similar age, does your child need food to be cut up or do you need to feed them?
• Some children with additional problems may require extra fluid intake (diabetes for example), which requires the help of a carer during the night. Is that the case for you? 

• Do you need to persuade your child when they need eye drops?
• Do you have to prepare medication dosages for your child?
• Would your child be able to pour their own medication and self-administer without your support?
• Do you use any therapy regimes with your child? Would your child be able to undertake the therapy without your support and encouragement?
• Do you need to stimulate your child’s vision on a daily basis? (particularly relevant for babies)
• Does your child have speech therapy?
• Is your child learning braille and do they need help at school or at home?
• Does your child have the support of a learning support teacher/teaching assistant in school?
• Is your child monitored by an Advisory Teacher for the Vision Impaired/QTVI?
• Does your child receive any other help from a therapist, which involves exercises etc?
• Do you use play therapy to explain to your child about bedtime?
• Do you use play therapy to comfort and settle your child during the night?
• Do you support your child by ‘patching’ or management of prosthetic eyes?
• Do you support your child with contact lenses?

• In this section you can talk about any equipment your child uses to help them see
• You should also explain where they need your help to interpret, explain, or draw their attention to the cues that they miss.  For example, outline how you need to  tell your child when someone is waving to them, or smiling at them, and advise them of an appropriate response.

Children with sight will mirror expressions. Children with a vision impairment can’t always do this because they may not be able to see facial expressions. This is important because sighted people rely on facial expression to aid communication, for example, interrupting a conversation by catching a person’s eye. Ask yourself:

• Does your child feel insecure about interrupting any form of communication? 
• Does your child need explanations many times a day? (you can either be specific or write ‘as required’ in the ‘times a day’ box - for time in minutes give a range of 15-20 minutes)
• Do they play alone or do they interact with other children?
• Is your child at ease with strangers, or do they become clingy?
• Is your child frightened of strangers, or do you need to keep your child safe from approaches by strangers?
• Do you need to encourage your child to lift their head and to turn their head in social settings, especially as they get older?
• Does your child have speech problems, which affect communication?
• Does your child need your help to encourage communication with others?  What encouragement do you have to provide?

In this section you’ll need to cover any problems you have experienced with your child’s development. Sometimes, children with vision impairment have a delay in the development of fine motor skills (use of hands and fingers). If your child is late walking or potty training you should also state this on the form - talk about the experience you have had in relation to your child’s development. Also ask yourself:

• Does your child has hearing or speech difficulties – how has this has affected their development?
• Does your child will need your help to alert them to non-verbal cues like pointing, nodding or shaking their head?
• Do you have to explain things like a firework display, a field of cows, or television programme?
• Do you have to provide a lot of support with daily living skills like dressing, bathing, eating and drinking that fully sighted children of the same age can do? 

• Does your child need help with jigsaws, construction sets, colouring, painting etc?
• Does your child need help to stimulate his sight, hearing and sense of touch?
• Does your child need the help of an adult to catch or kick a ball?
• Does your child need the help of a carer to encourage them to complete tasks?
• Children with vision impairment don’t always like different floor or ground textures and need encouragement to explore and feel safe, do you use play to encourage exploration?
• Do you help your child to understand the size and dimensions of an object for example, the size of a car compared to a toy car?

Does your child need:

• More time to read books to your child
• Help with homework and studies
• Extra time to play to develop awareness of their environment
• Help to support communication with other children because they can’t see to see well enough to participate
• Time to develop daily living skills and independence
• Time to explain concepts of the world in terms of a shape and size (for example your child may need to have explained to them what sand, the shoreline and the sea look like)
• Help with daily living skills like how to dress themselves, spread butter onto bread, or tie their shoelaces
• Support to ensure they are safe from harm and hazards when undertaking tasks
• Comfort and reassurance in a new or different environment
• Hand-over-hand help and support when carrying out tasks
• More time to play than other children

Consider taking about these activities to help you get your case across: 

• Going swimming
• Attending places of worship
• Going to the library
• Going to soft play groups
• Attending brownies, guides, beavers, cubs, scouts or other youth clubs
• Going to birthday parties
• Visiting playgrounds and parks
• Going shopping
• Visiting the theatre or cinema
• Doing sport
• Attending stimulation and play therapy
• Visiting museums other places of interest

In this section make sure you write down any of the following factors if they affect you: 

• Your child panics in unfamiliar environments or if they lose sight of their parent/carer
• You child has night blindness and panics in dim light or if they wake at night
• Your child gets frustrated if they cannot complete a task and will become verbally or physically aggressive
• Your older child becomes even more frustrated because they can’t storm out the house like other teenagers
• Your child becomes withdrawn when excluded from activities with friends (for example, cycling, ball games and social outings)
• They also get frustrated and may bite and scream when anxious – you need to be constantly aware of any situation which may provoke this kind of behaviour

Some more points about this section:

• Briefly name and explain the effects of your child’s eye condition.  If your child is certified/registered, mention that here, even if you have mentioned it before elsewhere
• Is the eye condition variable?  If it varies according to fatigue, dim light, or bright light, mention this in this section.  State if the eye condition is unstable or progressive
• Children in mainstream school have greater demands on them. For example, text is smaller, and pupils need to move between different classrooms.  Depending on your child’s stage in the education process, you can express your opinion about their changing needs in the future

We’re getting close to the end now.

• Do not forget to sign and date your Disability Living Allowance form
• You will also need to supply personal information including details of how you would like the allowance to be paid (bank, building society, post office)

Some additional things to include:

• Attach information on your child’s eye condition to the application from a reliable source – contact us if you need help with this
• If you have an up-to-date medical report on your child’s vision, attach that too
• Your child’s Advisory Teacher for the Vision Impaired/QTVI, may be able to provide a report that you can also attach
• You can also  approach your ophthalmologist or an optometrist in an eye clinic, but be aware they are usually very busy

Finally, photocopy the form and the evidence you submit  for your own records. And make sure you return the form within the six-week time limit!

• Do not despair and do not give up. You have a right to ask for a ‘revision’ within one month of the date you were sent the decision
• Put your request for a review in writing and simply state that you disagree with the decision and would like a review
• If you have been partly successful, then only challenge the part of the award you are not happy with i.e. the rate of one of the components. One of our specialist Family Support Officers will be able to support and advise you if you need help
• If the revision is unsuccessful, you still have the right to challenge the decision at a tribunal.  Again, you must request this within one month from the date of the decision of the revision
• To request a tribunal you will need Appeal Form GL24. Always request an Oral Appeal. This will allow you to interact with members of the tribunal and put your argument over in a more personal way.  At this stage, you will need help in preparing your submission – again, please contact our Family Support team if you need help