Summary of DLA to PIP Transition & Result-Autism

Hi everyone, just a summary of DLA to PIP transfer journey which may be helpful to others regarding difficulties with Autism.

My son was in receipt of DLA and turned 16 so received invitatiion to claim for PIP in late 2014. As his appointee, I signed up here and used guides (invaluable!) , returning forms which were delivered 17 Dec.
Rang Capita 5 Jan to check all received - to be told they had already done a paper based assessment and returned to DWP!! Ths, they said, was due to the quality of information on the PIP2 form plus the functional reports from school, psychologist, speech therapist and occupatinal therapist. Please note - some of these reports were as old as 8 years, and the most recent 12 months - but they provided a picture of consistent functional impairment caused by a lifelong developmental disorder.
Phoned early Feb to see if any decision, to be told that claim was flagged as needing verification of appointee status and therefore had been put on hold. The chap agreed there was no apparent reason for this and applied for flag to be removed.
A couple of weeks later, received another PIP2 form addressed to my son (not me as appointee) with a return date of 9 March!!! Rang again, PIP helpline didn't know why but said to disregard as clearly a 'blip'
Last week, received letter stating that if PIP2 not received by 9 March, claim would be closed, so rang again as his letter wa generated AFTER I had been told it was an error!! As no-one seemed able to offer total assurance that existing claim awaiting decision wouldnot be jeapordised, and as Capita report had been sent over 8 weeks ago, I decided to involve my MP.
MP's caseworker was fantastic, phoning DWP on my behalf on Friday 6 March and told me that Capita report had been 'fast tracked', ensuring decision within 2 weeks and assuring me that claim would not be erroneously closed.
Phone call today (Sunday!!!!!!!) from DWP decision maker who advised that he made decision this morning - 5 years Enhanced on both daily living and mobility!!!!!!!
So, despite a slightly bumpy journey, a superb outcome for my son
I think 5 years is fair, because although my son's autism is lifelong, he is only just 16, and it is reasonable to think that how he copes with life may change and develop by the time he is 21 - given that he may develop, with maturity, more coping strategies.
I shall request a copy of the Capita report just for reference as I'm sure it will help with future reviews. In the meantime, we can now secure private transport for his post 16 education and maybe afford some input from an independent speech and language therapist to address his selective mutism which is one of his greatest functional impairments.
He will always have autism, and in some ways this award is heartbreaking, but hopefully it will also open some doors for us to find more support for him as demands increase in the 'adult' world!
So thankyou for your guides! And my sdvice to anyone else applying for/with someone with autism - tell it how it is, with as many real life examples as possible, in as much detail as you can! Being totally truthful, although painful, has paid off - in particular stressing the very nature of autism as relates to how my son copes to varying degrees from one day to the nexxt and in differing environments and circumstances.

Hi SOM,

Thanks for letting us know about your experience and your son's PIP award, I'm sure this will be of help to other people in similar circumstances. Thanks also for your kind words about B+W