Possible trick question in pip phone assessment

maylemon

Had my pip phone assessment and a question the assesor asked is on my mind... she asked without my family being there would I ever get dressed or washed? I just said no probably not. Now I'm already on enhanced living and have 2 pts for dressing and washing but I'm guessing here she's gonna put me on 0 and use the fact I'd never dress or wash anyway right? Absolutely crazy the way they use things and word things. This was after 10 minutes of me and my family explaining my depression and autism and how difficult it is for me to function and dress/wash without encouragement...

poppy123456

That's not a trick question, it sounds like a perfectly reasonable question to me. If you get dressed and washed when you're with your family but less often when they are not around then to me that suggests you most likely need prompting to that those activities.

PIP is about the help you need, regardless of whether or not you receive that help.

Amaya_Ringo

To be honest, many unclear questions are trick questions if asked of an autistic candidate. We are prone to reading too much or too little into questions that aren't clear, especially ones with multiple parts. And that leaves our answers often unclear or open to interpretation, rather than accurate.

I don't know if it's a trick question but it would be easy to overthink the implications of answering it.

I remember in my tribunal, the unpleasant self-declared "expert" on Autism twisted her questions about food preparation away from preparing a basic meal and blamed my parents for not teaching me to cook. I wasn't diagnosed as a child and my parents tried repeatedly to teach me how to cook from the age of around ten, so I was so thrown by the angle of questioning that it disrupted my responses. That came over as negative to the rest of the panel, so even though by the DWP's criteria I could not prepare a basic meal from scratch, I did not get food preparation points until my review in 2021. (I know I could have appealed, but I was so broken and traumatised by the end of the appeal process that I just let it fly till the review).

OP, try not to worry about the question. I think poppy is probably right about the reason for asking it. It just shows an assessor who's not cognisant of autistic people or how we might respond or read a question like that. Which is, frankly, most of them.

worried33

I remember asking my assessor about this when I was assessed back in 2019, and he said if the situation doesnt apply, answer as if it does apply. The descriptor in question was preparing fresh food, he gave me the points.

maylemon

Just wanted to update this as I called the pip helpline today and the guy on the phone actually told me what the assesor ticked and I kept my daily living 15 pts but I have been downgraded on mobility to 10 pts instead of 12 so I worried about the wrong thing.

poppy123456

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/956660#Comment_956660

That sounds all wrong to me. If an activity doesn't apply then why you would tell them it does?