Light at the End of the DLA Tunnel · Monday May 7, 2007 by Abbie
It was respite day today, so as soon as the Dxh got here I settled down to working on the DLA form.
One of the questions is ‘Does the child need help or encouragement in moving around indoors’. In the guidance it says ‘Does your child often remain in one place engaged in repetitive activities and need encouragement to move around.’ The Dxh didn’t think that would apply to Ram, but when I came out after two hours Ram was still in exactly the same place as where he was when I went into the study. He had been complaining that his ankles really hurt that morning, and so hadn’t moved! Once I pointed this out both Dxh and Ram realised that they had been doing that without realising it! So I got Ram up and moving around again.
It has been really hard but I have finally broken the back of the form. It takes so long. Even photocopying the form itself took ages as I kept being called away to see to Ram. I haven’t got much left to go now so I am feeling much more positive about it all. However, it is all so upsetting to read in black and white the disabilities of a loved one, that I won’t be reading through the form again. I left it up to Dxh to proof read it, before I print it out and put it all together.
I didn’t really see much of Ram today, until the Dxh left. Then we have dinner and watched Fifth Gear, one of his favourite programmes. I think it is important to watch together if you are watching TV. It can become so much more educational, and we get so much more out of it. And yes, sometimes it is Ram that is explaining things to me!
