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    Disabilty Tax Credit

    Hello

    Has anyone applied for DTC and were successful? Any advice?

    #2
    Hello Canucklady. The DTC can be very tough to get, but it is possible to get it. A lot depends on how the forms are filled out. However the basic premise is that you are suffering from an illness that markedly restricts you living a normal life. The gov't has very narrow definitions for that. For most people with a mental illness it can be very hard to meet that narrow definition.. Even worse you must be what the gov't calls markedly restricted 90% of the time. Examples of what may qualify. (as copied from the gov't website)

    1) You are independent in some aspects of everyday living; however, despite medication and therapy, you need daily support and supervision due to an inability to accurately interpret your environment.

    2) You cannot make a common, simple transaction, such as a purchase at the grocery store, without help, all or substantially all of the time.

    3) You experience psychotic episodes several times a year. Given the unpredictability of your psychotic episodes and the other defining symptoms of your impairment (for example, lack of initiative or motivation, disorganized behaviour and speech), you continue to need daily supervision.

    4) You are unable to express your needs or anticipate consequences of behaviour when interacting with others.

    5) Due to anxiety you are unable to leave your house.

    In another part of the website they state that the following may qualify a person.

    Mental functions necessary for everyday life include: – Adaptive functioning (for example, abilities related to self-care, health and safety, social skills and common, simple transactions); – Memory (for example, the ability to remember simple instructions, basic personal information such as name and address, or material of importance and interest); and – Problem-solving, goal-setting, and judgement (for example, the ability to solve problems, set and keep goals, and make appropriate decisions and judgements). Important—a restriction in problem-solving, goal-setting, or judgement that markedly restricts adaptive functioning, all or substantially all the time, would qualify. • Devices for the mental functions necessary for everyday life include memory aids, adaptive aids, etc. • An inordinate amount of time means that the mental functions necessary for everyday life take significantly longer than for an average person who does not have the impairment. Examples of markedly restricted in the mental functions necessary for everyday life (examples are not exhaustive)

    Of all that, perhaps the most important for some is: "a restriction in problem-solving, goal-setting, or judgement that markedly restricts adaptive functioning, all or substantially all the time, would qualify." and "An inordinate amount of time means that the mental functions necessary for everyday life take significantly longer than for an average person who does not have the impairment."

    Each person and their doctor will have to decide where they fit. For example: Not being able to manage a bank account because of your mental illness is not a reason for being able to get the DTC,. However if because of your mental illness you cannot manage a bank acct and you are in danger of becoming homeless may be a reason to get the DTC. (more or less you cannot foresee the consequences of your inability to properly manage your money the way a person without a disability would or should be able too).

    Example. You do not remember to take your medications is much different than you cannot remember to take you medications due to the side effects of the meds that you take to control your mental illness.(or due to mania you cannot remember to take your meds)

    Example. You cannot do shopping due to anxieties.

    Example. Your mania causes a marked reduction in social skills to the point where you get into trouble a lot.

    Example. Short attention span due to mania.

    Example. The inability to get proper sleep due to anxieties or mania and thus have impaired judgement.

    I could go on as there are 100's of examples of items that may qualify a person for the DTC when they have a mental illness. The problem is very few of us fit any one criteria of being markedly restricted 90% of the time as required by the gov't when it comes to mental illness. The important thing for your doctor to take into acct when he is filling out the form and writing about your illness is that all of these things may in "TOTAL" that may markedly restrict your life 90% of the time.

    For example, on 9 days out of 10 you may show ONE or many of the following : extreme bad judgement, the inability to go outside due to anxiousness, fail to plan to pay the rent, be unable to get out of bed due to depression, be paranoid, be extremely argumentative, have a really bad reaction to your medication , miss important doctors appointments due to the inability to foresee the consequences of missing that appt or due to the inability to remember that you have that appt because the medication you take on some days leaves you groggy.

    To use a friend of mine as an example. He has many days where he is normal most areas however perhaps he cannot force himself outside due to anxieties , other days his meds leave him groggy and confused and he doesn't know when that is going to happen, other times when he is depressed he spends several days in a row in bed, sometimes he can't be trusted with managing his own money as in a very few days when manic he would use such bad spending judgement that he could end up homeless. He also suffers on some days from chronic fatigue, which may be due to the meds or to the illness. He gets the DTC because his doctor listed everything.

    So make sure that you make a list of every single thing that you cannot do or do properly on some days, every side effect that you suffer from and every example of poor judgement that you have exhibited and make sure that your doctor knows about them all and that he/she writes it up in proper doctor language. (try insist on reviewing and mailing in the form yourself) . Good Luck and Take Care. paul m
    Last edited by paul m; August 1, 2016, 01:35 AM.
    "Alone we can do so little;
    Together we can do so much"
    Helen Keller

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      #3
      Thank you Paul. It seems like very difficult to get. Most of the time I am alright and able to function. Yet due to major depression disorder and Ptsd I may have episodes where I cannot function. I will give it a shot, but the form seems too long and intrusive.

      Comment


        #4
        Hello Canuck Lady. While the form is long, there is only a short space that you have to fill out and the doctor doesn't have to fill out much either. It gets confusing when they talk about markedly restricted and cumulative restrictions. For most people the doctor would only fill out the part about markedly restricted and mental functions. (Culmative is when a person has multiple problems , can't walk, can't speak properly, and has a mental disorder as an example.

        On the web page at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/s...tml#mntlfnctns you will find the several examples including the one below.

        "Bridget experiences psychotic episodes several times a year. Given the unpredictability of the psychotic episodes and the other defining symptoms of her impairment (for example, lack of initiative or motivation, disorganized behaviour and speech), she continues to need daily supervision." Daily supervision does not mean 24/7 personal supervision, it can mean that you have someone call you on a regular basis. It can also mean that you have the doctor or nurse or ER on your speed dial.

        I admit that the form is not the easiest for a lay person to work with, but a good doctor should be able to fill it out correctly within minutes if he is given all of the info.

        Please note the DTC has no bearing on whether or not you can work. I have worked with many people who got the DTC and yet worked full time. The DTC, was invented to recognize that people with disabilities may need extra help and /or incur extra expenses because of their disability. Take Care. Paul M
        "Alone we can do so little;
        Together we can do so much"
        Helen Keller

        Comment


          #5
          DTC application was denied. It is just so exhausting living with mental illness and then coming to terms with being disabled, finally asking for help and then getting denied.

          I expect CPP Disability will be denied as well.

          Comment


            #6
            I'm so sorry to hear that Canucklady.
            AJ

            Humans punish themselves endlessly
            for not being what they believe they should be.
            -Don Miguel Ruiz-

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