Subject: DLA tips
Hi All Hope this tip helps when claiming dla. Will post others Monica For the majority of people, whether you have a physical or mental health condition, your best chance of getting an award of DLA may be via the cooking test.
So it's really worth putting a lot of thought and effort into giving detailed evidence about any problems you have with cooking at question 48 on the form. What the law says is that if, because of your disability or health condition, you cant prepare a cooked main meal for yourself then this by itself entitles you to the lower rate of the care component of DLA. If you have a mental health condition, problems might include: Being too tired or depressed to motivate yourself to cook. Being unable to make decisions about what to cook and giving up altogether. Forgetting what you are doing and leaving things to boil dry. Getting too confused to be able to plan the timing of cooking different ingredients so that they are ready together. Having to do things over and over again so that cooking a meal takes a very long time indeed. If you have a physical health condition, you might have problems with things like: Peeling and chopping vegetables. Handling pans of hot liquid. Seeing to read labels. Opening cans. Turning taps on and off. Standing up at the cooker. You need to give as much information as you can about your difficulties. If something is painful for you, where is the pain, what sort of pain, how long does it last, how intense is it? If you cannot do it safely, what are the dangers, have you ever had an accident or come close to having one? It.s also really worth considering what aids or adaptations the decision maker might suggest which, in their view, would mean you would be able to prepare a main meal and so would not be entitled to an award. Challenging these suggestions in the claim pack before they.ve even been made could save you having to go all the way to a tribunal to get the award youre entitled to. For example, decision makers often argue that if you cannot safely drain vegetables because you have arthritis in your hands and you are liable to drop a hot pan, then you should use a slotted spoon (a serving spoon with holes in it to allow water to drain away). If you would have any trouble with doing this, then its important that you say so in your claim pack. For example, because your arthritis you may not have sufficient grip strength or movement in your wrist to use a slotted spoon. Our guides forewarn you of possible aids and adaptations relating not just to the cooking test, but to other activities also.
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