Hi there Alan
DLA Mobility Component
The higher rate of the mobility component has six disability tests:
1. you are unable to walk;
2. you are virtually unable to walk;
3. the exertion required to walk could be dangerous to your life or could lead to a serious deterioration in your condition;
4. you have no legs or feet
5. you are both deaf and blind
6. you get the care component at the highest rate and have a severe mental impairment with extremely dangerous and disruptive behavioural problems
The test causing the greatest area of dispute is number 2; that you must be ‘virtually unable to walk’. The average person’s idea of virtually unable to walk is more severe than that required by the law.
In establishing virtual inability to walk, the law says that, for most of the time:
Your ability to walk out of doors, is so limited, as regards
* the distance over which, or
* the speed of which, or
* the length of time for which, or
* the manner in which you can make progress on foot without severe discomfort, that you are virtually unable to walk.
It is the physical act of putting one foot in front of the other that should be measured. Your ability to walk is measured until you begin to experience severe discomfort; any walking after this time is ignored. Severe discomfort is subjective and means different things to different people. The courts have said that severe discomfort is less than severe pain or distress, and is far from being excruciating agony. In addition to pain and discomfort, severe discomfort may include:
* breathlessness, tiredness or fatigue;
* risk of falls brought about by poor balance, gait, ataxia, etc;
* the length of time it might take you to recover from any severe discomfort;
* the risk of walking increasing damage to an affected area or causing a general deterioration in your condition It often helps to do a ‘test’ of how well you can walk (with a friend or carer acting as note-taker) so that you have some firm evidence of your walking disability. This simply involves you walking as far as you can before you feel severe discomfort – at which point you stop. This distance is then measured, as accurately as you can, to find out how far you have walked without severe discomfort. While you are walking, your note-taker is making notes about how fast you are going, what your gait and balance is like, are you using a stick or leaning on walls, etc. At the same time, you are calling out how you feel about these things and about your pain and discomfort – where is the pain, how bad is it, etc.
For the low rate of the mobility component, it must be shown that you can walk out of doors, but that, on unfamiliar routes, you cannot take advantage of this faculty without guidance or supervision from another person for most of the time.
This rate is usually (but not exclusively) appropriate for people who have a sensory impairment, learning disability, mental health problem or those at risk of danger from falls, blackouts or seizures.
Guidance can include physically leading or directing you so as to avoid obstacles or places that may create physical hazards or lead to anxiety or aggression, etc. Supervision is a more passive activity and may include someone monitoring your physical or mental state in readiness to intervene if necessary. Sometimes, all that may be required is conversation or reassurance (but the need for it must still be reasonable).
I hope this helps?
Regards
SES