Benefits

What are benefits?

In some circumstances, either the UK Government or the Scottish Government will provide money to people who have certain needs. For example, it might be because they don't earn a lot of money, because they have a disability, because they're caring for someone, because they are over a certain age, or because they have children. 

Understanding benefits

Sometimes people assume that they will not be entitled to benefits because they earn too much money, or because they have too much money saved in the bank. However, not all benefits are given only to people with a low income or not much in the bank. Some are given to people because they need extra money in order to help them make life easier because they are disabled, or because they are helping to care for a disabled people. 

Therefore, it's helpful to remember that there are two types of benefits. Those that relate to your income or savings, and those that do not. 

Benefits that relate to income or savings

Examples of these types of benefits include Universal Credit and Scottish Child Payment. It is important to remember that some people are entitled to more Universal Credit than others because they are disabled, or because they care for someone who is disabled. 

Benefits that relate to what someone needs

These benefits can be claimed by people even if they have a high income or lots of money in the bank. Examples of these types of benefits include Child Disability Payment, Adult Disability Payment and Carer Support Payment. 

Who pays the benefits?

In Scotland, most benefits are paid by either the UK Government, the Scottish Government, or your local authority (sometimes known as local council).

The organisation that pays out benefits for the Scottish Government is called Social Security Scotland. 

The organisation that pays out benefits the UK Government is called the Department for Work and Pensions (sometimes known as "DWP").

When looking for information online about benefits, the first place you should try for the most accurate information is the official government website for the benefit you are looking for. They are designed to be accessible and accurate. There are also contact details on the websites if you need to ask questions. 

Although other websites (such as STAND's!) are useful, there is always a risk that they are not 100% correct or up to date. This is why looking at the official websites is always the best place to start.

Both the Scottish Government and the UK Government have websites that give you information on applying for benefits. Click the links below to have a look. 

Information about benefits

The links below contain more information about benefits the neurodivergent (or potentially neurodivergent) children, and their parents/carers, might be entitled to. They include information about benefits which relate to income/savings, and also benefits that do not.  

Make sure you look at the benefits available to see if you are entitled. Many people assume they will not be, but the fact that you are even on STAND's website means that you are likely to be the parent or carer of a child who is, or might be, neurodivergent. If this is the case then you absolutely must check what you are entitled to! If you don't have much time, then clicking here to have a quick look at the information about Child Disability Payment might be a good place to start. 

Applying for benefits

At STAND, our mission is to empower you to be able to succesfully apply for benefits. We cannot do this for you but we aim to give you the tools to do it yourself, and information about support that is available out there to help. 

When looking at the information on this page about each benefit, you will find information to help you apply. 

Also, you can click here for tips on how to fill in application forms for any benefit.

Who can help?

There are many organisations who can help you apply for benefits. Here are a couple that are worth trying: