I have just received the statement of reasons for refusing my appeal. They have basically ignored the medical letters saying that he does not have a 'real' diagnosis and that i have grossly exaggeratted my sons care needs. And that because he can behave at school i am basically making it up ( not exactly in those words) It also infers that, as his bad behaviour only seems to be when he is with his parents that 'more could be read into this' Are they saying we cause his his behaviour? I am so upset and angry. The whole statemnent is offensive and insulting to us as parents

My God - don't really know what to say to this one - I don't know how I'd react to getting a letter like that - those forms are horrible to fill in in the first place. We had a discussion at Portage nursery today about things like this and we all said that we probably 'undersell' just how much we have to do for our children cause eventually it just becomes 'the norm' and we just get on with it! Also how can anyone 'judge' us on what they can't see - how do they know what we have to do to care for our children say, during the night? Can you appeal again or ask for an independent medical assessment? I don't know how the system works as I feel fairly new to it all. All I can say is I really feel for you and I'd be bloody well furious too! x

That is terrible - how dare they. I would look into making a big complaint about this, as it appears that they are making assumptions and they don't have that right. I read that schools are notorious for painting a "positive picture" of the child, because it reflects good on the school.

Perhaps you could seek legal advice on this one. I am sorry for what you are going through, and you are right, everything we do for our children becomes the "norm", so don't emphasize enough what we actually do ""do" for our children. I know that when I filled those damned forms in I got really upset because it brought home to me just how much extra care and attention we gave our son compared to our 2 other children.

I'm sorry and I'd feel absolutely fuming too!

(06-23-2010 08:22 PM)ginny Wrote:  That is terrible - how dare they. I would look into making a big complaint about this, as it appears that they are making assumptions and they don't have that right. I read that schools are notorious for painting a "positive picture" of the child, because it reflects good on the school.

Perhaps you could seek legal advice on this one. I am sorry for what you are going through, and you are right, everything we do for our children becomes the "norm", so don't emphasize enough what we actually do ""do" for our children. I know that when I filled those damned forms in I got really upset because it brought home to me just how much extra care and attention we gave our son compared to our 2 other children.

I'm sorry and I'd feel absolutely fuming too!

Thank you both, who do I complain to? It's actually got me worried that they are suspicious about us as parents- as if they think we are making things up just to get dla- or that our son behaves badly because he has a bad homelife

Your notification should explain about higher appeal processes....... maybe get a welfare benefits adviser involved?