January is Application Season: DLA Tips for the New Year

For many families, the thought of applying for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) feels overwhelming — especially during busy months. That’s why January has quietly become application season: the time when many parents finally have the space, clarity, or emotional capacity to begin.

If you’ve ever said, “I’ll start the DLA form after Christmas,” you’re not alone — and you’re not behind. January is the perfect moment to take small, gentle steps forward.

Here’s how to begin the process without feeling overloaded.

1. Recognise the signs that it may be the right time to apply

For many families, the festive period highlights just how much support their child needs day-to-day.
You may be ready to apply if:

Your child’s care needs are consistently higher than other children their age

You provide constant supervision for safety

Daily routines require adult support (dressing, eating, regulating emotions)

Your child experiences sensory overwhelm that impacts daily life

School raises concerns or adjustments are being discussed

You, as a parent, feel exhausted from the level of support you’re giving

None of these are failures.
They are signals that your child may meet the criteria, and you deserve support.

2. Start with observations, not perfection

Many parents freeze because they don’t know where to start.
Here’s the truth: your everyday life is the evidence.

Begin by writing down:

Difficult moments or challenges

Any meltdowns or shutdowns and what triggered them

Sleep habits

How long tasks take and what help you provide

Any sensory difficulties

Emotional support needs

Times when you need to intervene for safety

You don’t need to word things perfectly.
Rough notes are more than enough at this stage — you can shape them later.

3. Break the form into small, manageable chunks

The DLA and PIP forms are long, but they don’t need to be completed in one go.

Try:

10–15 minutes a day

One question per day

Filling rough notes first, then refining

Doing the hardest sections on a day when you have support

Taking breaks as needed

Slow, gentle progress will get you there.
It’s not a race.

4. Focus on the areas the form actually measures

Parents often worry they’re “exaggerating” or “being negative.”
But the form is not asking about your child on their best days.
It’s asking about the support they need on an average or difficult day.

Important areas to include:

✔ Emotional & regulation support

How often do you support meltdowns, shutdowns, anxiety, or overwhelm?

✔ Supervision & safety

Do you need to watch them more closely than a typical child their age?

✔ Sensory needs

Do lights, sounds, transitions, clothing, or smells affect daily life?

✔ Eating, dressing, hygiene

Do they need help, prompting, or supervision?

✔ Communication & understanding

Does your child struggle to process, follow, or retain information?

✔ Behaviour

Not “naughtiness” — but dysregulation, distress, or shutdowns.

✔ Sleep

Frequent waking? Co-sleeping? Early rising? Difficulty settling?

Every detail helps the assessors understand your daily reality.

5. Ask for support when you need it

You don’t have to do this alone.

Reach out for help if you:

Feel emotionally overwhelmed

Don’t know how to phrase something

Want someone to read through your draft

Need clarity on what the questions really mean

Are unsure what evidence to include

Sometimes having someone by your side makes all the difference.

If you need help, Family Avenues offers gentle, step-by-step support to make the process clearer and less stressful — but there’s no pressure. Even free guidance can go a long way.

A gentle reminder to end on

Starting the form is always the hardest part.
Once you take the first step — even writing a single sentence — you’re already moving forward.

You are not behind.
You are not doing this too late.
You are doing what’s right for your family, in your own time.

And you don’t need to do it alone.

Financial support - DLA and PIP

Understanding Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

In the UK, Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) are both non means tested benefits (see current eligibility criteria below). DLA is available to children under 16 who meet the eligibility criteria and PIP is for those over 16.  I am not a benefits expert, nor am I encouraging you all to rush out and make a claim.  I did however want to share some information and tips which may reduce barriers to it, confusion and refusals.

I’ve spoken to many parents who think, as we did, that DLA or PIP are only for those with physical disabilities or complex health needs, those who have trouble walking or need a really high level of care.   There are different rates of benefit and if you or your child need more care and support than another person of the same age might then it is worth considering making an application.  Those assessing the claims look at what support is needed and how much time you take providing this support (especially at night).

It is important to apply as soon as you identify a need for support, rather than wait for a period of crisis.

What can DLA/PIP help with?

Types of support and care that may not be obvious could be:

Daily living support:

·        Costly period knickers if you/they cannot tolerate pads or tampons

·        Needing to help or encouragement to bathe. i.e. wash hair, clean teeth, shower etc.

·        Needing to buy more expensive clothing that is seam free/comfortable

·        Long periods of time spent encouraging a child to eat or the provision of a therapeutic diet (i.e. gluten free for celiac disease)

·        Support when out and about.  For example, a child who is over 12 can typically walk to the local shops or school alone.  If anyone (including adults) over this age needs an adult with them for safety, for reassurance or to cross roads/get public transport then it indicates that there is a need for this.

Social and emotional support:

·        Sensory equipment (e.g. ear defenders, fidget toys, wobble seat)

·        Support with socialising i.e. if they have a friend round you may have to remain in the same room to facilitate or ensure they don’t lash out if misunderstandings happen

·        Excessive reassurance at bed time or night wakings for reassurance

·        Excessive encouragement to get out of bed, leave her bedroom or the house

·        Needing to replace phones/tech frequently as they get damaged or are overused

·        Counselling/therapy

·        Spending several hours each week emailing the school, speaking to the school, collecting your child early from school.  Or similar facilitation or support with work or other activities those over 16 may need.

·        Support for self harm i.e. checking bedroom each evening for sharp items or securing the sharps in your kitchen

The Application process:

If you decide to apply and if you ring up for a form, you then have 6 weeks to complete the form and if successful any payment will be backdated to the day you phoned for the form.  Alternatively, you can download a form to complete and in some postcode areas you can complete online, but doing it this way you will not benefit from backdated payments.

Brace yourselves, there is no getting away from it, the form is lengthy and no fun!  Take your time with it.  Try breaking it down into sections and set yourself small goals for each day.

It is sometimes useful to think about each day from morning to night, write down all the things that you do relating to your child and jot down how much time you spend.  When you write it down you start to see just how much there is.  Ask a close friend or family member to help you identify other things you may have missed.  You will need to think about what life is like on a bad day to give a full picture of the support needed.

Providing evidence:

Gather all your most recent letters from GP, school, CAMHS or other health or social care professionals as you will need to include these with your claim.  Even an email from a teacher saying that your daughter had to leave the classroom again will be useful evidence.  If you need help with the form Action for Carers or the Citizens Advice Bureau are often able to help - don’t hesitate to get in touch with them.  You are not alone and many of us feel overwhelmed, so do ask for help.

Evidence with examples:

When completing the form, try and give examples to evidence what you are telling them.  For example, “Daisy can walk unaided, but if I am not with her she will easily get lost and get very distressed.  When we are out, if a loud motorbike or lorry goes past, she gets very agitated and distressed and needs lots of reassurance to carry on”.   Another example might be “Daisy becomes very agitated in the evenings, it takes us several hours to settle her to sleep, one of us needs to stay with her at all times and she is rarely asleep before midnight”.  The person reviewing the form only has a certain time to read each form, so by giving examples, you are making it clear for them to see the areas of need.

There is a section where a person who knows your child/you well can write a supporting statement.  This could be a professional (e.g. teacher, childminder, social worker) or this could be a grandparent or friend who comes round every day to help out.

Last but not least, always keep a copy of your application form, you can use the camera on your phone to scan it.  It will come in handy for any future applications.

If applying still feels overwhelming, you don’t have to do it alone. Family Avenues offers a 1:1 DLA Workshop where we break everything down together and help you create strong, detailed answers with ease. 

Need more information?

Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for children: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

https://www.gov.uk/pip/how-to-claim 

Current Eligibility Criteria for DLA and PIP (as of November 2024)

Disability Living Allowance (Children):

Eligibility

Usually, to qualify for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for children the child must:

·        be under 16 - anyone over 16 must apply for Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

·        need extra looking after or have walking difficulties

·        be in England, Wales, a European Economic Area (EEA) country or Switzerland when you claim - there are some exceptions, such as family members of the Armed Forces

·        have lived in Great Britain for at least 6 of the last 12 months, if over 3 years old

·        be habitually resident in the UK, Ireland, Isle of Man or the Channel Islands

·        not be subject to immigration control

There are some exceptions to these conditions if the child is living in or coming from an EEA country or Switzerland.

The rules are different in Northern Ireland.

If your child currently lives in Scotland, you need to apply for Child Disability Payment instead.

You can claim DLA for children if you’re in or out of work.

If you’re not a British citizen

If you and your child are from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, you will usually also need settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme to claim DLA for your child.

The deadline to apply to the scheme was 30 June 2021 for most people, but you might still be able to apply. Check if you can still apply to the EU Settlement Scheme.

Children under 3

A child under 6 months must have lived in Great Britain for at least 13 weeks.

A child aged between 6 months and 3 years must have lived in Great Britain for at least 26 of the last 156 weeks.

The rules on residence do not normally apply if a medical professional has said the child might have 12 months or less to live.

The child’s disability or health condition

The child’s disability or health condition must mean at least one of the following apply:

·        they need much more looking after than a child of the same age who does not have a disability

·        they have difficulty getting about

They must have had these difficulties for at least 3 months and expect them to last for at least 6 months.

If a medical professional has said they might have 12 months or less to live, they do not need to have had these difficulties for 3 months.

Care component

The rate the child gets depends on the level of looking after they need, for example:

·        lowest rate - help for some of the day

·        middle rate - frequent help or constant supervision during the day, supervision at night or someone to help while they’re on dialysis

·        highest rate - help or supervision throughout both day and night, or a medical professional has said they might have 12 months or less to live

Mobility component

The rate the child gets depends on the level of help they need getting about, for example:

·        lowest rate - they can walk but need help and or supervision when outdoors

·        highest rate - they cannot walk, can only walk a short distance without severe discomfort, could become very ill if they try to walk or they’re blind or severely sight impaired

There are also age limits to receiving the mobility component:

·        lowest rate - the child must be 5 years or over

·        highest rate - the child must be 3 years or over

If your child is under these ages and you claim DLA for them, you should be sent a claim pack 6 months before they turn 3 and 6 months before they turn 5. You can then apply for the mobility component if you think they’re eligible for it.

Source: www.gov.uk

Personal Independence Payment:

What PIP is for

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) can help with extra living costs if you have both:

·        a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability

·        difficulty doing certain everyday tasks or getting around because of your condition

You can get PIP even if you’re working, have savings or are getting most other benefits.

You can also read about PIP in Welsh (Cymraeg).

How PIP works

There are 2 parts to PIP:

·        a daily living part - if you need help with everyday tasks

·        a mobility part - if you need help with getting around

Whether you get one or both parts and how much you get depends on how difficult you find everyday tasks and getting around.

If you’re nearing the end of life (for example, due to a life-limiting illness), you’ll automatically get the daily living part. Whether you get the mobility part depends on your needs. Find out how to claim and how much you’ll get if you’re nearing the end of life.

Daily living part

You might get the daily living part of PIP if you need help with:

·        preparing food

·        eating and drinking

·        managing your medicines or treatments

·        washing and bathing

·        using the toilet

·        dressing and undressing

·        reading

·        managing your money

·        socialising and being around other people

·        talking, listening and understanding

Mobility part

You might get the mobility part of PIP if you need help with:

·        working out a route and following it

·        physically moving around

·        leaving your home

You do not have to have a physical disability to get the mobility part. You might also be eligible if you have difficulty getting around because of a cognitive or mental health condition, like anxiety.

How difficulty with tasks is assessed

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will assess how difficult you find daily living and mobility tasks. For each task they’ll look at:

·        whether you can do it safely

·        how long it takes you

·        how often your condition affects this activity

·        whether you need help to do it, from a person or using extra equipment

Source www.gov.uk