Cognitive impairment

Mariam786

Just looking for advice really. I am doing a PhD and I am in my final year. I suffered a stroke in December and it has really affected me physically and mentally. I have short term memory issues along with confusion, anxiety and just unable to communicate properly. I use my phone to make notes of conversations as I am very forgetful post stroke and find it really difficult to answer questions. I have pain in both my arms and I am unable to do tasks for longer than five minutes. Based on these symptoms what sort of support could I possibly apply for does anyone know please? If I didn't have the stroke, I was planning to get a job in the summer as that's when I would have completed my studies. I need the income, does anyone have any advice please? Thank you

poppy123456

Benefits entitlement are not based on any diagnosis. You can look at claiming PIP, it's a disability benefit that isn't means tested. You will need to have had the difficulties for at least 3 months and expect them to last at least another 9 months. See links. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/Migrated_Documents/adviceguide/pip-9-table-of-activities-descriptors-and-points.pdf

Whether there's any entitlement to Universal Credit will depend on your circumstances. If you live with a partner you'll need to claim as a couple. As you're a student, if there's a maintenance loan available to you, it will affect the amount of UC you're entitled to, regardless of whether you took that loan or not. You can try using a benefits calculator but it will likely not give a accurate result if you have a maintenance loan in place.