You need to show that
-You are entitled to the care component of DLA at the higher rate and
-You suffer from arrested or incomplete development of the brain and
-Your brain impairment means that you exhibit disruptive behaviour and
-The nature of your behaviour means that another person has to be present and watching over you in order to prevent injury to yourself and others and/or damage to property.
Definitions.
Arrested or incomplete development means that only those impairments that occur whilst the brain is growing will be taken into account. Later injuries and illnesses do not count even if they give rise to the same behaviour.
Severe impairment has been defined as an IQ of less than 55 but this has been disputed in other rulings.
A recent Appeal Court judgement has ruled that-
I conclude that whilst in every case the claimant's IQ as conventionally tested is likely to be the essential starting point for considering the impairment of intelligence, and whilst it is perfectly reasonable to take an IQ of 55 or less as the prima facie touchstone of severe impairment , that test and that score will not invariably prove decisive.Rather it should be recognised that an IQ result may give a misleading impression of the claimant's useful intelligenceand that in some cases at least an impairment of social functioning will shade into an impairment of intelligence. Tribunals and Commissioners will accordingly need to admit and consider evidence other than a mere IQ score.
(LORD JUSTICE SIMON BROWN: R(DLA) 1/00 (M (a child) v. Chief Adjudication Officer- emphasis added)
Extremely disruptivemeans behaviour which is so extreme that it requires you to be regularly restrained in order to prevent injury or damage.
The disruptive behaviour should be so unpredictable that it requires someone else to be watching over the person whenever they are awake
If you apply for the higher rate under this criteria, the DWP will normally ask for a specialist's opinion before making a decision.
