Disability Allowance and Autism (Aspergers)

dubdub123

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Hi, My son is pending asd assessment to confirm diagnosis of autism (psychotherapist and OT) indicated this but he needs official diagnosis. He is a teen and this is late diagnosis.
While loking up support info, I read that he may be eligible for disability allowance.
Has anyone experience of applying for this? Should I ask psychologist to complete documentation aroumd this?
My son is experiencing anxiety and waitlisted for counselling and Im worried about him for the future.
Any info appreciated
 
Sorry to hear about your son. Disibility Allowance is incredibly difficult to get and will require lots of medical reports and likely an actual Diagnosis confirmed. It's also means tested.

Attached is a link outlining info on DA.

I know a few adults who have been awarded the allowance but after an initial refusal. Your Sons GP will also play an important role in the process.

I'm sure when a confirmed diagnosis is reached the process will be more straightforward but do understand it can take many months to get approval, I also believe initial applications can be declined and its the appeal process that involves a thouragh review of all the medical data, reports etc.

Good luck

 
Sorry to hear about your son. Disibility Allowance is incredibly difficult to get and will require lots of medical reports and likely an actual Diagnosis confirmed. It's also means tested.

Attached is a link outlining info on DA.

I know a few adults who have been awarded the allowance but after an initial refusal. Your Sons GP will also play an important role in the process.

I'm sure when a confirmed diagnosis is reached the process will be more straightforward but do understand it can take many months to get approval, I also believe initial applications can be declined and its the appeal process that involves a thouragh review of all the medical data, reports etc.

Good luck

Thank you.
Im trying to setup ASD assessment privately but that could take months but im hopeful he gets it this year.
He's had counselling before but some things have escalated recently highlighting mental health struggles.
Thank you for information
 
It's an extremely difficult time for you, I am sure and it's very important to retain all and any information during your son's Journey . I've no doubt when the time comes to looking at long term income supports etc you'll have everything required and certainly wise to gather as much information on the processes, especially Disability allowance as it can take many months to get approved . I wish you both well
 
It's an extremely difficult time for you, I am sure and it's very important to retain all and any information during your son's Journey . I've no doubt when the time comes to looking at long term income supports etc you'll have everything required and certainly wise to gather as much information on the processes, especially Disability allowance as it can take many months to get approved . I wish you both well

Thank you so much
 
I've finally obtained a date for private ASD assessment and expect to have full report this summer.

Is there anything needed from psychologist in relation to applying for DA or is report enough for application?

Ive also managed to get a GP and meeting her next week to ask for referral to CAHMS.
 
I've finally obtained a date for private ASD assessment and expect to have full report this summer.

Is there anything needed from psychologist in relation to applying for DA or is report enough for application?

Ive also managed to get a GP and meeting her next week to ask for referral to CAHMS.
Great News,

It's hard to know how many visits will be required to psychologist for them to determine, confirm diagnosis, at a guess they'll not do a report immediately, might take time but best to have when starting application for the DA.

Your sons new GP will also need to assess the situation before a referral to CAHMS, was there a previous GP dealing with your Son if so your new GP could request medical records etc and expedite a referral. Your making progress and fingers crossed.
 
Great News,

It's hard to know how many visits will be required to psychologist for them to determine, confirm diagnosis, at a guess they'll not do a report immediately, might take time but best to have when starting application for the DA.

Your sons new GP will also need to assess the situation before a referral to CAHMS, was there a previous GP dealing with your Son if so your new GP could request medical records etc and expedite a referral. Your making progress and fingers crossed.

Our previous GP is aware that my son was anxious and that he attended psychotherapy, however that was arranged through his previous school. GP had given a referral for HSE psychologist but we have since moved from that location. His old records wont really have a lot of detail about anxiety etc as we supported with counselling through the school but tgey are getting transferred across. I think we will need to work with his new GP for possible CAMHS referral and I can tell her he is waitlisted for Pieta House.
For the ASD assessment, there will be a parent intake form, document to be completed by his school and parents meet with psychologist first. Few weeks later my son will attend a session with psychologist and speech and language therapist and its a conversational style.
Few weeks later, after everything has been assessed we are given feedback followed by a report. Because he is older, they wont need to go into his school and observe. We have another report as well, so they will look at that.
Im hoping to have it all before return to school in Sept and cannot believe we got an assessment scheduled.
We are still waitlisted with Pieta House and hopefully that will come through soon but in case thst takes a while we will try get to CAMHS.
Im glad we are making some progress. Really out of my depth so thankful he has at least had initial call with Pieta House.
 
This may be a little bit outside the question you have asked but having some experience with this I think it's important not to let these diagnoses define and label someone. What's generally defined as the "autism spectrum" is very broad and there is no scientific consensus on what exactly it entails. Many people who are diagnosed as falling on this spectrum live perfectly fulfilling, productive and happy lives. There is nothing "wrong" with them, they just interact a little differently with others than the "average" person. There is what is now called a lot of "neurodiversity" in the population and this is a good thing as society needs people with different inclinations, abilities and character traits. I hope that in a couple of years' time society will completely stop medicalising this or treating it as a disability.
 
You don't say how old your son is. But if he's old enough for DA (I think 16 is the minimum age) then he's probably too old for CAMHS. As far as I recall they don't take new referrals for 16 and 17 year olds, but will keep teenagers until age 18 if they are already in the service.
 
This may be a little bit outside the question you have asked but having some experience with this I think it's important not to let these diagnoses define and label someone. What's generally defined as the "autism spectrum" is very broad and there is no scientific consensus on what exactly it entails. Many people who are diagnosed as falling on this spectrum live perfectly fulfilling, productive and happy lives. There is nothing "wrong" with them, they just interact a little differently with others than the "average" person. There is what is now called a lot of "neurodiversity" in the population and this is a good thing as society needs people with different inclinations, abilities and character traits. I hope that in a couple of years' time society will completely stop medicalising this or treating it as a disability.

Yes, absolutely. His directness, passion about his hobbies and his independence are huge strengths. I love to hear about his hobbies and he's a very kind, low key person. My concerns are how the world may not fully realise that and how it impacts him.. his level of exhaustion after a normal school day and how he is incredibly critical of himself. His anxiety has greatly increased and it seems he has a lot of questions regarding his identity. Im hoping that a diagnosis will help him understand himself better and that we can all understand the supports he needs. In some ways he has greatly improved his quality of life past few months, attending events and mixing with some peers in school and being honest thats why the recent mental health issues (self harm) are more alarming. I absolutely believe he will live a life walking to the beat if his own drum, but he may need some support to be able to set his pace along the way. Really appreciate your insight on this, thank you
 
This may be a little bit outside the question you have asked but having some experience with this I think it's important not to let these diagnoses define and label someone. What's generally defined as the "autism spectrum" is very broad and there is no scientific consensus on what exactly it entails. Many people who are diagnosed as falling on this spectrum live perfectly fulfilling, productive and happy lives. There is nothing "wrong" with them, they just interact a little differently with others than the "average" person. There is what is now called a lot of "neurodiversity" in the population and this is a good thing as society needs people with different inclinations, abilities and character traits. I hope that in a couple of years' time society will completely stop medicalising this or treating it as a disability.

Yes, absolutely. His directness, passion about his hobbies and his independence are huge strengths. I love to hear about his hobbies and he's a very kind, low key person. My concerns are how the world may not fully realise that and how it impacts him.. his level of exhaustion after a normal school day and how he is incredibly critical of himself. His anxiety has greatly increased and it seems he has a lot of questions regarding his identity. Im hoping that a diagnosis will help him understand himself better and that we can all understand the supports he needs. In some ways he has greatly improved his quality of life past few months, attending events and mixing with some peers in school and being honest thats why the recent mental health issues (self harm) are more alarming. I absolutely believe he will live a life walking to the beat if his own drum, but he may need some support to be able to set his pace along the way. Really appreciate your insight on this
You don't say how old your son is. But if he's old enough for DA (I think 16 is the minimum age) then he's probably too old for CAMHS. As far as I recall they don't take new referrals for 16 and 17 year olds, but will keep teenagers until age 18 if they are already in the service.
Ok i wasnt aware of that. Hes nearly 16. The liaison /SENco in the school pointed me that direction. Ive got him waitlisted with Pieta House and also just added him to VHI so he has some more options.
I'm trying to sort these two areas in parallel.. counselling to support mental health issues and ASD assessment. The school have supported regarding giving me names of agencies but said thet cannot fund any services. His previous school setup and funded psychotherapy sessions and an OT assessment. This school has a NEPS psychologist so i thought they would have some funding available.
 
Regarding accepting 16 and 17 year olds - I'm going from memory and it's a while since my family member attended CAMHS - so I could be wrong or out of date. But the sooner the referral goes in, the better. The CAMHS service is also very busy and it is hard to get in - but if there are self harm concerns that is likely to be taken seriously. Maybe your son's former counsellor can support the referral in some way?
 
Regarding accepting 16 and 17 year olds - I'm going from memory and it's a while since my family member attended CAMHS - so I could be wrong or out of date. But the sooner the referral goes in, the better. The CAMHS service is also very busy and it is hard to get in - but if there are self harm concerns that is likely to be taken seriously. Maybe your son's former counsellor can support the referral in some way?

He could well be aging out even if he does get accepted, but Im going to ask GP for referral to get things moving.
I just contacted the Employee Assistance Programme as I've added him to VHI. He can ring them when he turns 16 (very soon) and he can get 6 counselling sessions setup. We will do this as well as no idea how long pieta house or CAHMS might take.
My VHI doesnt cover mental health assessment but does cover towards sessions. Also covers in patient care. I might check and see if other policies may cover more.
Good point about psychotherapist sessions. I didnt get any report but id imagine he may have to keep some details.
 
Hi Dubdub,
I have 2 children/teens diagnosed with Aspergers.
Elder of the 2 was in/near CAMHS because he made comments to his teachers which sent up all of the flags, seems he is the same age as your YP (that means young person, get used to it). CAMHS dropped him like a (very relieved) hot potato when he got the diagnosis. That was about 6 years ago, I don't know if there has been a change.

Separately, expect a "discussion" with Revenue who seem to think that Autism only appears when the diagnosis does.

Good Luck, feel free to post here or DM if you want.
Edit: sorry if I'm being negative - it's a *lot*
 
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Hi Dubdub,
I have 2 children/teens diagnosed with Aspergers.
Elder of the 2 was in/near CAMHS because he made comments to his teachers which sent up all of the flags, seems he is the same age as your YP (that means young person, get used to it). CAMHS dropped him like a (very relieved) hot potato when he got the diagnosis. That was about 6 years ago, I don't know if there has been a change.

Separately, expect a "discussion" with Revenue who seem to think that Autism only appears when the diagnosis does.

Good Luck, feel free to post here or DM if you want.
Edit: sorry if I'm being negative - it's a *lot*

Actually, the counsellor from Pieta who did the screening call said they dont usually take autistic children, however it seemed that my son would engage and I pushed the fact that he'd been at psychotherapist and it helped him. Im not sure if she was accurate with that but hearing what youre saying about CAHMS , now im wondering if its even sensible to tell about possible diagnosis or if they would use it to block him. The school directed me towards CAMHS and said to try get him there to get diagnosis that route, but ive no idea of how long it all takes so pushed ahead with setting up private assessment..
We are waiting few weeks now for pieta house counselling so I think he may need to start counselling through EAP in face it takes months to get appointment.. really hard to know.
Could you explain what you meant about revenue please? Im not claiming any credits for him, never applied for DCA payment.
But now he's encountering more issues and im concerned for him, so I'm considering asking him to apply for DA once he has diagnosis. It would give him a bit if a cushion while he gets support and could help fund therapy going forward.
If you have any further guidance at all, Id appreciate it. Thanks
 
Sorry dubdub, only seeing this now.
You can apply for the Incapacitated Child Credit, it amounts to €3300 per year so quite sizeable. When you convince them that it has been present since birth you then apply to review the previous 4 years as well (that's how far back you can go with Revenue) and get a refund.
I'd be reluctant to not inform CAMHS if you do get a diagnosis just on the basis that it's rarely a good idea to keep back info which may be relevant.
 
Sorry dubdub, only seeing this now.
You can apply for the Incapacitated Child Credit, it amounts to €3300 per year so quite sizeable. When you convince them that it has been present since birth you then apply to review the previous 4 years as well (that's how far back you can go with Revenue) and get a refund.
I'd be reluctant to not inform CAMHS if you do get a diagnosis just on the basis that it's rarely a good idea to keep back info which may be relevant.

Thank you. I sent in his OT report and did let them know he is awaiting ASD assessment.. i felt it better to give them the full picture right. He is now waitlisted so that's positive.

I wasn't aware of the incapacitated child credit. Might that be an option even if im full time working? I'll look into it as well, thank you.
 
I received official feedback thst my 16 year old is autistic, just pending written report now.
Should he submit application for disability allowance now? Or written report required?

Anyone an idea what the criteria is for incapacitated child credit?

Can we apply for both?
If he took up part time work in the future (unlikely at minute due to severe anxiety) would this be an issue?

Just trying to figure things out so any pointers appreciated. Thank you
 
Incapacitated child credit info is here. Your doctor has to sign a form to say that the child wouldn't be able to maintain themselves after they turn 18.
 
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