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What has DLA allowed you to do?

@thisisamy Go to university. The care component paid for more care.

@Barbsisi Afford treatments to keep me as best as can be. Afford to be able to meet up with impairment support group.

@ATurtle05 Keep my car running so that I can manage to get out of the house. No car, no mobility – and they’ve stopped mine!

@scousepie I was only able to complete professional training due to DLA. Now I pay tax and I’m paying off my student loans and everything. Whoda thunk it, right? Also incapacity benefit rules allowed study in certain circumstances. I wouldn’t be as well as I am or employed without that. Basically, what I had was help to get out of a life on benefits. What I’d get now is starved and shunned.

@ManchesterMind It’s such a liberating benefit. Don’t know how anyone can reconcile supposed ’empowerment’ with reducing DLA access.

@Alexandarshippo I’m not on bus route, so must take taxis to gym once a week. This uses £14 (plus gym) of DLA

@dembones3 To exist at a level beyond just survival with both care and mobility. A well-designed benefit. RIP DLA!

@kohima44terry Live like a normal Pleb and travel like a normal Pleb.

@LordReynolds Buy food and go and get it!

@Spoonydoc DLA allowed me to buy electric wheelchair, thus continuing my PhD and later obtaining my job as university researcher.

@ambir How do we tell people that DLA allowed people to work and study? So many still think it is an out of work benefit

@maryfmcdonough DLA let me get a car I could drive without additional pain. I can cope with pain, but loss of independence is what hurts most. I got my letter saying I’d receive DLA (mobility component) three days before car lease was up for renewal.

@redliz DLA allows me to live as opposed to simply exist…..

@anonemouse62 It allows me to run a car. Without it I’d be housebound. It also allows me a cleaner and dog walker, all of which I need.

@Annakwood To study for a part time MSc in e-learning (2 weeks to go!)

@robotpinemarten It’s allowed me to volunteer outside my borough. I couldn’t afford the fares otherwise.

@tottwriter I would seriously struggle to live independently without DLA, to be honest. My health fluctuates and it cushions my falls.

@buttanoverture I was awarded DLA as a child and it helped pay my fees for grammar school. Now it’s helping to support me find a job. My life is hugely improved by DLA, but I’m so terrified I’ll lose it. I’m upset for kids now who may not get the same chance. DLA went towards living costs during my degree. I am visually impaired and now have a BA in English Lit from a good university.

@Georgenecs My DLA Is often and increasingly used to pay domestic household bills: electric, gas, telephone; mobility decreasing.

@SUEG46 DLA enables me to work. It covers the added costs due to inaccessible public transport.

@fibro_girl Finally, with good support, both financial and social care, I can once again live life, not just exist. It’s made a huge difference to me

@wenhellfreezes DLA helps me get to my hospital appointments that are miles away from where I live.

@thisisamy As an adult, DLA enabled me to go to university and gave me access to care to help me move away from home. While I was a child, DLA paid for extra maths tuition because my cerebral palsy makes maths more difficult.

@eccentricman87 DLA gives me the support I need to act independently enough to make it seem like I don’t need DLA (I do!).

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To cite this page: Roaring Girl Productions (2012) What has DLA allowed you to do?, Roaring Girl Productions [online] [Available at:] [Accessed 21/11/2019]