Club foot

Hi there

I am looking for some advice.

My son has club foot (talipes equinovarus) in his right leg. He is shorter on one side to the other. He has Plantar Fascitis on top of the club foot and is awaiting an operation to have another operation at Great Ormond St Hospital to correct his heel bone which is vertical.

He has regular osteo, physio and massage. He wears a splint at night and is on a cocktail of painkillers and has not been able to attend school for the last 6 weeks.

He currently does not receive any DLA for his physical limitations, just for his autism.

Should I be asking for this to be reviewed? Last time I did they refused.

Thanks for any help,
Kate

Hi and Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explain where everything is

Welcome to Benefits and Work

DLA/PIP are awarded due to the care and mobility needs of the claimant rather than the condition itself. It may be that DWP believe the rate your son is on currently would not increase if his physical needs are taken into consideration.

You don't say what you son's current DLA award is but I will try to give an example - Medium rate care DLA is given because the claimant has certain care needs during the day. It doesn't matter how much those needs increase, high rate will not be given until/unless the claimant also has needs during the night.

Does your son have an mobility component to his DLA? This might be where his physical needs make more of an impact. However, those needs must be present long-term so any post op restrictions would not be counted.

Finally, you need to show that your son's condition has deteriorated in order to be reassessed.

Once your son reaches the age of 16 you should expect him to be required to claim PIP instead of DLA.

I suggest you have a look at our DLA guides and reply to this message with further questions.

DLA claims

DLA renewals and change of circumstances

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That way you can return to this topic easily to pose any further queries that you may have by replying to the topic.

See : This Topic also !

Thanks in anticipation of your future co-operation in keeping all your queries relating to your son's DLA to this topic !

Dear Gordon

Thank you for your reply and advice.

My son receives the Higher rate of Care and low rate of mobility. This is based on his Autism rather than his foot from what I can tell. His foot condition has worsened but perhaps you are right in that they would still class it as being the lower rate.

Thank you for the links, I will look through them at length.

best regards
Kate