Disability Living Allowance.

[Beautiful_Disaster]

Okay, so I'm going to talk about Disability Living Allowance.

I'm in the process of my M.E being confirmed, I was diagnosed last year with it, and it needs to be confirmed, unfortunately, I have a shit doctor, once again, so I've wrote a letter to him & I see him tomorrow, so I'll give him this letter, & hopefully he'll be able to fill in one of the forms on my DLA papers & confirm I have M.E so I can claim Disability for it(finally, after a year and nearly 4 months of suffering!)

I'm in the process of applying for DLA(for not only my medical illness, but also my mental health illnesses/disorders & emotional instability, all of which are severe) & I'll be filling in the forms over the next few days, they are very long & I'm getting worse physically, & mentally I'm struggling severely, so it'll take me quite a while to fill them all in & get it all sorted.

I've discovered I'm eligable for Higher rate for Mobility & Middle-Higher rate for Care.

This means I'll be able to get a wheelchair from NHS for free & permanently if I'm on Higher rate for Mobility.

This would mean so much more freedom for me.

I'd also be getting an income, which would help me a lot financially, as I can't work, or go to college, or anything due to my severe health.

I'm going to be using this thread for the following;

• Updating about the process of confirming my diagnosis
• Updating about the process of filling the DLA forms in, how I felt filling them in, any doubts/concerns, my feelings about it all, etc
• Updating about the process of the DLA being reviewed and hopefully accepted
• Updating (if it's accepted) about what type of allowance I'll be getting, and what level of care/mobility I'm going to be at
• Updating about doctor appointments, how they went, what happened, how I feel about what's happened, etc

Thanks for reading, I hope I can get support & any suggestions from this thread.

x

[losing touch.]

Hey, i'm on the higher rate of DLA for care and mobility so i know how annoying it is filling out those insanely long forms [persevere though - it's worth it!]

just thought i'd ask if you've considered applying for employment and support allowance. if you are unable to work [which it sounds like you are] then you can get this as well as DLA. it works out at about £120 per week so it's definitely worth looking into. i wasn't told about ESA until a few months ago so i missed out on getting quite a bit of money which is annoying.

also, your parents can get a reduction in their council tax if you're on DLA.. you just need an assessment and it's pretty easy to sort out.

if you phone up jobcentre plus they can talk you through any other allowances you may be entitled to as well. i was lucky in that i had/have a CLIC sargent social worker who basically sorted everything out for me. just a tip, when filling out the forms you need to fill it out with info of how you are on your worst days.

one last thing, if you do get the higher rate or DLA then you can get a car for free or for a small downpayment on the motability scheme. either for you or your parents depending on how old you are. the motability scheme is amazing, google it and look into it, seriously.. it saves loads of money!

[Beautiful_Disaster]

Yep, my M.E specialist told me that (about the worst days)

And thanks for the info.

I only live with my mother(she's an alcoholic, and neglects me, and on&off abuses me though,so not so keen on her...)

I'm 17, so I think the car thing would be applicable for me?

And, I'll look into the ESA,thank you again.

And yes, I cannot work, I'm pretty much in bed nearly all day, every day. (only when I need to get up for toilet, food/drink, meds, etc, and for very short periods of time, it is difficult.)

[tomohawk]

yes the car thing would be but i guess it would depends on the severity of your M.E and if you are able to drive, i love you positive attitude and i take my hat off to anyone that has to live with such thing i think i would of given up by now, i will deffo be following your story and heling in anyway i can

[losing touch.]

Originally Posted by Beautiful_Disaster

Yep, my M.E specialist told me that (about the worst days)

And thanks for the info.

I only live with my mother(she's an alcoholic, and neglects me, and on&off abuses me though,so not so keen on her...)

I'm 17, so I think the car thing would be applicable for me?

And, I'll look into the ESA,thank you again.

And yes, I cannot work, I'm pretty much in bed nearly all day, every day. (only when I need to get up for toilet, food/drink, meds, etc, and for very short periods of time, it is difficult.)

yeah, i'm 17 and i got a car on the motability scheme. so long as you get the higher rate for the mobility component you are eligible i believe.

[Beautiful_Disaster]

Gah.
That doctor was an asshat & he was discriminating against me & he was extremely rude, and patronized me, (talking down to me, talking like I'm less than him), and basically, I'm now back to square one, with zero doctors, zero possibility of getting a diagnosis confirmation anytime soon.
Which means I can't get my DLA for my health now.
URGH.
I want to cry.
And scream.
And just, give up.
But, I won't.

[losing touch.]

try a different doctor? if you're not happy with how you're being treated get referred to another specialist by your GP.

[Beautiful_Disaster]

I can't, GP is crap, he doesn't even believe I have M.E.

You don't understand, this doctor was supposed to confirm my M.E diagnosis, and now I'm back to square one.

[Bibliophile]

Hey there,

It has been said, try a different doctor. You have a right to see another doctor if you're not happy with what one doctor has said. As for the DLA, there's a useful page here. [Click.]

[Beautiful_Disaster]

I've already tried changing GP's, I can't, 1) I tried moving to a different surgery, but they won't a) accept us and b) the law is the surgery has to be in a one mile radius.

2) there is only one GP at our surgery.

And, regarding different doctor to confirm the M.E, I have no clue how to even go about that anymore. I'm stuck. I'm at a dead end.

& I'm mostly just using this thread for updates about what I said I'd be updating about, but thanks for the info.