Writing a short diary of your day-to-day needs can lend support to your attendance allowance claim. The diary can be a reminder of the help you need, which you might otherwise forget because it is so much a part of your everyday life. It can also be important when trying to explain needs that fluctuate either during a single day or over a longer period. The simplest form of diary would be an account of your needs over a typical day.

One-day diary – Start from the time you get up in the morning, through a 24-hour period, ending with the time you get up the following morning. List all the times when you need help from someone or you have difficulties doing something because there is no one around to help. When you write something down, try to answer the following questions:

If your needs vary from day to day, keep the diary over a few days to get a clea