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walking distance confusion

joyclyn

I cannot understand the walking question don't know what it means walk for 5 minutes how long that takes or how many Steps is it
.meters I only know ft ins how to answer on my Breathing I don't go out so walking indoors cannot get my head around it sorry been so thick

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Pippa_Alumni

Hi @joyclyn,

No question is a silly question! Many of our members have mentioned being unsure about this part of the form, and hopefully some of them will be able to help you with this. To start with, Citizens Advice have some great guidance on filling in this part that I'd recommend taking a look at.

joyclyn

Thank you I get mixed up and don't want to trip up at appeal not knowing what to say

CockneyRebel

Hi joyclyn

Be very carefull with this
The walking descriptor should only be answered in terms of distance

20 metres is equal to just over 21 yards or two bus lengths
50 metres is equal to about 54 yards

Very slow walking is around 45 metres per minute so walking for more than 30 seconds would be 20 -50 meters and not the enhanced rate

CR

Matilda

Also, I recall the CAB advice on walking distances question is not to tick the 'it varies' box but to tick a specific box. Ticking 'it varies' could give the assessor too much scope to decide that much of the time you can walk quite long distances! Don't give them any excuse.

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joyclyn

Will give it a try many thanks

Tricia1912

Thank you That’s very informative as l have a walking disability and when they say metres l can’t visualise it the same.

charlene

Hi cockney Rebel. If an assessor asks if you can walk 1-2 minutes then 3 mins surely they are in the the wrong for prompting.

CockneyRebel

That is a leading or closed question that they use designed to get the asnswer they want. It is prompting but not wrong. Sales people use the same sort of tactic

CR

charlene

I am so angry with myself for allowing her to prompt me! Like Jocelyn I didn't understand the question, couldn't visualise walking and minutes. Also she was relentless and wanted an answer!

duckett123

just say you cant walk any distance without support or stopping to be safe if you use walking aid/s you need them so you don't fall alternatively tell them you don't go out on your own or if you do tell them say it would take you 5min to walk bus lengh stopping inbetween no further and you are always in constant pain

samahira

Hi
I am in constant pain with other health problems, hardly go out and if I do go out I have someone with me because Of my health.
can someone from experience explain the answer to walking question please. I am so confused how to explain this to the panel that I can walk less than 20 meter and need to rest before I can walk anymore. I don understand the timing side of the question.
Would appreciate anyone can help

thank you

Adam_Alumni

Hi @Samahira

You may be interested with our discussions on Chronic pain.

Try to use real-life examples. For example, say that you can't walk more than the length of a train cartridge without difficulty and needing to rest.

I hope this helps

cristobal

@samhira - with any of the descriptors you have to be able to do something ‘reliably”. Reliably means:

safely in a manner unlikely to cause harm to themselves or to another person, either during or after completion of the activity

to an acceptable standard

repeatedly – able to repeat the activity as often as is reasonably required

in a reasonable time period – no more than twice as long as the maximum period that a non-disabled person would normally take to complete that activity

So, if you can walk a certain distance but wouldn’t be able to do this again for several hours,it wouldn’t be ‘repeatable’. Similarly if you could walk a certain distance but it took more than twice as long as an unimpaired person this wouldn’t be ‘in a reasonable time period’

You will need to work out how far you can walk such that you meet all of the above criteria.

I don’t want to get everyone started again (!) about what the assessors do, or don’t do, but I think it is worth mentioning the following:-

My assessor didn’t seem to know about ‘reliability’. If you come across this during your assessment this I would recommend that you make it clear for example “I can walk xx but I wouldn’t be able to do it again for the rest of the day” etc (as discretely and politely as possible, without sounding like you’ve just swallowed the DWP Manual!!)

My assessor also calculated my walking speed and added this to her report. It was completely wrong, for lots of reasons.

If you go to a centre (my assessment was at home) I would guess that the assessor will probably time you over a known distance - and there’s nothing wrong with that as long as the result is recorded accurately….

Guardian9622

Be aware when attending an assessment center, you are being watched from the time you arrive until the time you leave.
The distance from the car park maybe around 50-80mtrs to the reception desk, so think about your answer before saying it, because if you're telling them you can only walk 20-50mtrs, you may have already covered TWICE that distance just getting to the reception desk!

I was lucky to be given a home assessment, and when she asked if I could walk to the other side of the road (approx 20mtrs) I said I could, but it would take around 2 minutes as I get out of breath.

I added that if I were to attempt that distance, I would need around a 5 minute break before I tried to walk back to my house. I could NOT do this repeatedly due to extreme fatigue and the fear of tripping/falling.

samahira

Thank you for all your answers
the place I am attending is more than 20 meters from car park but I can take rest in between and carry on
anymore tips will be appreciated

Matilda

You can repeat a 20m walk if you need to take a break of a few minutes before you can continue.

If asked how long you can walk for rather than how far, don't give a time in isolation as the tribunal might think you can walk farther than you can. Say that it takes you X seconds or minutes to walk Y meters. For example, the DWP calculate that 45 seconds to walk 20m is very slow walking.

A favourite question is how far is your car parked from your front door, likely to be asked by the doc.

Doing a lot of driving indicates considerable energy, stamina and concentration, as well as manual dexterity if it's a manual car, so the doc and judge might ask numerous questions about how much and how far you drive.

Doing a lot of driving wouldn't affect eligibility for mobility - but potentially could impact on eligibility for daily living.

A tribunal increased my standard mobility and daily living to enhanced both. I can't walk more than 20m before having to stop and rest and can only drive short distances, otherwise I become tired.

samahira

Thank you

samahira

Hi
thank you for all your help
I was awarded higher for both

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