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Problems Walking Outdoors (DLA only)
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LOWER MOBILITY
Most people getting the ‘mobility’ part of DLA because of mental health problems
get the ‘lower rate’, which is paid because you need someone with you when you
are in unfamiliar places. This could be because of:
- · Panic attacks
- · Anxiety that makes it hard for you to concentrate/ communicate
- · Voices which distract you
- · Paranoid feelings
- · You putting yourself at risk in some way
Incredibly, if your difficulties are so severe that you can’t get out at all,
then you do not qualify. List ALL the difficulties you might have and explain
how having someone with you helps (e.g. encouragement, guidance, communicating
with strangers, reassurance, keeping from danger, calming, helping you to a
place you feel safe, etc.)
DLA caselaw says that your ability to walk outdoors should ignore ‘familiar
routes’, so if you cope with getting to see friends/ relatives, or to some local
shops and back alone, that shouldn’t stop you getting benefit. Try, then, to
imagine how you would cope in an unfamiliar setting, and answer the questions in
that context.
HIGHER MOBILITY
To qualify for the higher rate of the Mobility Component someone must either be
suffering from a PHYSICAL disablement and their PHYSICAL CONDITION as a whole
must be such that they are:
- · Unable to walk OR
- · Virtually unable to walk OR
- · The exertion needed to walk would constitute a danger to life or be likely to
lead to a serious deterioration in health OR
- · They have no feet (from birth or through amputation)
OR someone must be:
- · Both 80 per cent deaf and 100 per cent blind
OR
- · Be getting DLA ‘Care’ at the highest rate AND be severely mentally impaired
from ‘arrested development of the brain’ AND have severe behavioural problems
needing constant supervision to avoid danger to self, others or property.
In effect, these conditions rule out the higher mobility component for most
people with mental health problems unless they also have physical disabilities
that make it very difficult or dangerous for them to walk.
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