Hi Daniel and everyone else! On your advice, I have opened a shiny new thread on how I can get some help with getting moved. I have fibromyalgia so I am disabled physically but I have only been awarded 30 points for my illness. Thomas as you know is thought to be on the spectrum but awaiting formal diagnosis. We are ina 2 bed flat, but need 3 beds so we have room for overnight carer to stay, plus need a safe place for when he has meltdowns. We have between us lots of extra stuff so we need more storage space. I have various gizmos and gadgets to help me open tins and jars etc, plus grab rails and bath seat. Thomas has lots of sensory toys and different things we use in his sensory sessions to help his tactile defensiveness etc.

Any advice would be gratefully received as I really want to get somewhere bigger, and with a garden where I can let him let off steam in a secure environment

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Keely x

(12-20-2009 07:44 PM)keelyjrs Wrote:  Hi Daniel and everyone else! On your advice, I have opened a shiny new thread on how I can get some help with getting moved. I have fibromyalgia so I am disabled physically but I have only been awarded 30 points for my illness. Thomas as you know is thought to be on the spectrum but awaiting formal diagnosis. We are ina 2 bed flat, but need 3 beds so we have room for overnight carer to stay, plus need a safe place for when he has meltdowns. We have between us lots of extra stuff so we need more storage space. I have various gizmos and gadgets to help me open tins and jars etc, plus grab rails and bath seat. Thomas has lots of sensory toys and different things we use in his sensory sessions to help his tactile defensiveness etc.

Any advice would be gratefully received as I really want to get somewhere bigger, and with a garden where I can let him let off steam in a secure environment

We got a house through the council on medical grounds, it took us a year from first applying and about 8months from adding the medical needs to the application. It took them that long to assess our needs and once they actually accepted us on medical grounds it took us a week to get an offer.....which was totally outstanding!!

We were previously living in a 3 bedroom rented house, it had 2 double rooms and a box room. When euan was diagnosed with cystinosis and we were told he would need a kidney transplant in childhood we decided we wanted more secure housing so decided to apply for the council, thinking it would take years. After a month or so euan had to have an NG tube down and had to be pump fed.

In our medical needs application we decided to go on the grounds that he could not share with his sister and needed a room of his own because of his medical equipment. They classed our house as 3 bedrooms but on doing alot of research and looking up laws in regards to room sizing etc we discovered that legally the 3rd box room was not actually classed as a bedroom as it was too small, it could not fit a full size single bed in it and it had no plug for euans equipment.

The council obviously didnt want to accept this as there initial stance was well it has 4 walls and a door therefor its a room but after printing off the legalities off the shelter website and handing them into the council the accepted that fact.

Then, as the house we were in had a front and back room downstairs they tried to say that we could put him downstairs in a room. The back room was openly adjoined to the kitchen so when they sent someone out to measure it up (the council will do anything to get out of housing someone) we had to state health and safety to them, it was simply unreasonable of them to expect a small 18month old to sleep down stairs alone effectively in the kitchen. So....that discounted that room.

Once we'd gone throught all that they downgraded our application from a 3 bed to a 2 and as euan should of had his own room we were technically 'overcrowded'. Which in turn makes you 'homelss within a home'.

We contacted social services and asked them to come and carry out an assessment of our needs and to support our housing applciation, which they did. And we also got our sons consultant to support our application.

Finally, after months of fighting them we were accepted on medcal grounds and over crowding. We were told we were 9th on the list!!!! which was unbelievable but i still thought it would take forever. Yet a week later we had a phonecall with an ofer for a property in the perfect area (litterally 5mins from were we were already). Where we would be offered was another concern but i put on the application that i had to stay within a certain radius to my family and my daughters school as they were my support network.


In regards to your application, i would go on the grounds of getting a room for an overnight carer and space for your son to let off steam (dan should be able to tell you the legalities as he did all ours bless him ). do you have a social worker who is prepared to support your application or is assissting you with overnight care for you son? also, if you go down the route of needing a safe space then you will obviously need more space to cater for this.

Also, if you live in a flat do you struggle with stairs? as that would get you medical.

I think deffernatly the key is to have someone supporting you, know who you can use and be direct in asking them for what you want and how they can help!!!

I'll send dan along, hes better with specifics but might need more info from you to help. Just thought i'd give you the background on our ordeal :cmas_emoticon019:

xx

Hi Keeley
Just a few questions in order to advise you best.

1)Are you in receipt of local housing allowance (Also known as housing benefit)
2)How far off are you in regards to a formal diagnosis for your son?
3)Apart from the garden what would you say was your biggest issue with the current property?