DLA Tribunal next week, I am somewhat terrified

Well done, that's a relief for you.

Just thought would update that we won the appeal :-)

Thank you all for taking the time to reply.

stranger - I supplied lots of reports from pead and salt, and a letter that stated he was to be reffered to EP and OT. I have sent those reports at appeal stage.

mumof3 - I did a lot of comparison to his twin which she is typically developing so thought was fair to do so. I also compared him to other children at playschool eg he is taken to playschool on a wrist strap and none of the other children are.

intenseworld - He was only at Nursery for 3 hours a day so they have discounted all my evidence stating that he is on a wrist strap because he runs off and doesnt hear you call him. You need to get and keep his attention before you can even think about getting him dressed and washed. He has sensory difficulties and falls all the time because he is skating on tiptoes, out and about he has to close gates, follow the lines of the letters on road signs, step on particular drain covers etc. He has refusal to walk episodes regularly, his behaviour is scary and unpredictable, he beats his sister and parents when in meltdown. and he needs constant encouragement to not high pitch scream and meow like a cat to ''use his words''. amoungst many other things.

I do have evidence from nursery now i have his end of year folder that actually counteracts what has actually been written on DLA nursery report.

I just didnt know if this week i need to focus on counteracting their reasons for decision or just explain what day to day life is like for my son. Was not sure on what appeal means, if i need to appeal their reasons or explain why he is entitled, sorry thats as clear as mud i cant explain what i mean

You need to show how he is impaired, so that could be higher risk of danger due to his behaviours that are specifically autistic.

I don't know why they cite refusing to walk as a conscious decision.  It is a conscious decision most likely made because of his autism, and actually as it's a neurological condition I think that is unfair.  But as they have said it needs to involve assistance for more than an hour a day and the nursery have said it doesn't this is a key issue.  Perhaps if he also does this behaviour outside of nursery and it involves additional time there, it does add up to more than an hour and therefore they are prejudiced against your parental input, by only using the nursery's information.  That could be used as argument.

If washing/bathing him takes longer than it does an NT child the same age, because he has sensory issues and meltsdown, you can use that too, as even though another toddler would need a parent doing those things they wouldn't as a rule have a massive problem with it and they don't have autistic behaviours making it take longer.

If he needs more restraining outside than an ordinary toddler that could be used.  I can't really think of anything else.

As Intense World says, you have to prove that your child has more care needs than a child their own age. Or they have to have the same care needs as a younger child.

Did you send any of your own evidence in?

Also, it's not a medical. It's you appealing their decision.

Mobility isn't the only aspect of a claim though.  What about self-care, low danger awareness, impulsive (therefore potentially dangerous) behaviour as a result of meltdowns, social naivety making him more vulnerable than the average child, high need for guidance, sleep problems...I could go on.

Why are they focusing on one nursery report?  I think it's a lot harder at your child's age because the whole thing is differentiating his needs from another child his age.  They need to be significantly different and at that age all toddlers run off, need an adult washing them and cleaning up after them and don't know what's dangerous.

Best of luck.

It is easy for them to bully one on one,, for stress reasons(autism), I never try and submit a claim by myself. I need my supportive ring, I found that out the hard way, via assessment and stress. The system actually MAKES YOU ILL, hence I think it is a satanic machine and the ones assessing are demons in human clothing.

Try and get as much information from GP, a letter that retracts that comment from the nursery. Go to that medical, do not be intimated,, just be yourself. It maybe an idea to tell them what you intend to do with any claim money. It normally goes to a third party anyway for expenses.

Pity the NAS can not go along with you, great supportive Autism Society as it is.