Night care is assessed completely separately from daytime care — and it can make the difference between middle rate and highest rate care. Yet most parents either leave this section sparse or miss it entirely because they don’t think of what they do at night as “care.”

If your child wakes and needs resettling, needs the toilet and can’t manage alone, wanders, has seizures you monitor, or requires checking on for any reason — that is night care. If you are woken more than once a night, or one episode lasts around 20 minutes or more, this is significant.

This is arguably the most under-completed section on the entire form. Parents either skip it (“they only use a few things”), or list two or three items when their child relies on twenty. Everything counts: weighted blankets, ear defenders, chew tubes, visual timetables, specialised cutlery, adapted clothing, PECS boards, bed guards, bath seats, noise-cancelling headphones.

Each item you list demonstrates a care or supervision need. A weighted blanket doesn’t just show your child uses one — it shows that without it, settling to sleep requires extended parental involvement. The DWP needs to understand the function of each item, not just its name.

Parents instinctively want to present their child in the best possible light. But on a DLA form, writing about your child’s better days — or averaging out their needs — can be one of the most damaging things you can do. The DWP assesses what your child needs when they need support. The bad days are the evidence.

If your child has a fluctuating condition — autism, ADHD, a mental health condition, a chronic illness with flare-ups — describe the pattern of difficult periods clearly. Use the phrase “on a bad day” rather than “sometimes.” Avoid “good days” or “normal days” as these imply your child needs no support on those days, which is rarely true.

Many parents describe what they do for their child, but forget to describe what would happen if they didn’t. Supervision needs — particularly for children with autism, ADHD, sensory processing difficulties, epilepsy, or mental health conditions — are one of the most significant factors in DLA award levels, and one of the most commonly under-described.

If you cannot leave your child unsupervised indoors, if they would run into a road, injure themselves, eat non-food items, have a meltdown that could harm them or others, or are unable to recognise danger — all of this is supervision need. It must be spelled out. “He needs watching” is not enough. Describe specifically what would happen and why.

Parents often list their child’s medications but forget to describe what administering them actually involves. The DWP needs to understand the process, not just the prescription. If your child refuses medication, needs it hidden in food, becomes distressed, needs physical assistance, requires monitoring after taking it, or needs reminding multiple times — all of this is relevant care.

Similarly, home therapy programmes are almost universally under-reported. If you carry out physiotherapy exercises, SALT activities, sensory circuits, OT programmes or behavioural regulation strategies at home — this is care and therapy time, and it belongs on the form. Include how long it takes and how often.

DLA is awarded based on the additional care and supervision your child requires compared to a child of the same age without any disability. This comparison is the foundation of every DLA assessment — and it is the thing parents forget to make explicit most often.

You may know instinctively that your eight-year-old needs far more support than their peers. But if you haven’t written that comparison into the form, the decision maker cannot make that inference for you. Be direct: “A typical child of this age would be able to [do X] independently. My child cannot do this and requires [Y support] every time.”

A professional supporting statement from someone who knows your child well — a SENCo, class teacher, OT, SALT or paediatrician — can significantly strengthen a DLA claim. Yet many parents either skip this entirely, leave it until the last minute, or submit a statement that is too vague to be useful.

The supporting statement should describe your child’s functional needs in a school or professional setting — their supervision requirements, the adjustments that are made, how they compare to peers, and the level of additional support they require. It should be specific, concrete, and signed on page 11 of the form.