Autism Refused PIP & Appeal

ohdanx

Hello,
I'm new to the community but found a lot of usefull discussions on here in the past, but i have found myself needing some help.

Im 28 and living at home with my parents still, i was diagnosed with asspergers at the age of 23 and claimed PIP 3 years ago (i think)
I recently had a face to face interview for a renewal of my award which i scored 0 points on all factors
i was previously on the higher rate living and lower rate mobility
Myself and the parents challenged this decision because they didn't really take into account how everyday life really affects me...
this challenge was also refused so now I need to take it to a court appeal, this whole situation is causing me a great deal of distress and anxiety and im at the point of not really knowing what to do, it's really knocked the confidence in myself and making me withdraw a lot.

I've written a sort of covering letter to send off with the court appeal application but im unsure of what sort of things to include and rambled on a bit.
any help would be appreticated on this if anyone has had any success in a case like this at all, im quite happy to post what i've written and any pointers would be helpful, but i will warn you it is quite long

many thanks!

Sam_Alumni

Hi @ohdanx Im sorry to hear you are going through this
We have some videos about going from MR to tribunal that might help/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67tDSlsityY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIHjSpNNbQo

And the CAB have some great advice about going to appeal here.

Waylay

A lot of the assessors really don't understand ASD (and a bunch of other conditions!) The tribunal members should understand it much more. Add to your letter what activities you think you should have scored points on, how many points you think you should have gotten, and why. 

Fight4Justice

I'm in the same boat. Also 28, diagnosed Asperger's, use to have higher daily living and standard mobility. Awaiting my date for appeal but received notification from the Tribunal that they've received it. I've been to a tribunal (by myself) and won before. Just be prepared and take notes with you. Have at least 2 real life examples for each descriptor you're claiming for. When I went to appeal and won, getting the enhanced daily living back should be easy with Asperger's. However, I needed to battle to get my standard mobility back.

In my situation for standard mobility. They gave me 10 points because I can't go to unfamiliar places without another person taking me there. I'm able to drive a car but I only use it to drive to the local supermarket twice a week, and only at 6am (roads are less busy) when the store opens. My HP used the fact that I could drive to take my standard mobility away from me. At the Tribunal, I said I can't use public transport, because it causes me too much stress and anxiety, to sit next to someone I don't know. Furthermore, that I can't go to places I don't know without someone else taking me there, due to fear of getting lost. That's all I said, and I got 10 points and my standard mobility back.

I'm going to use the same reasons whenever I get my tribunal date. As nothing has changed in my circumstances since last time. Sadly, under the practices of the DWP under this current govt. I've accepted that I will probably have to go to perpetual tribunals every 2-3yrs. As it's become blatantly clear that they're going to do everything they can, to discriminate against claimants, whose claim, is based entirely on mental health problems.

ohdanx

Thanks for all the useful imformation, links and help
@Fight4Justice they used the exact same reasons to not award me anything, because i work part time they said i must be completely fine with social interactions, but the asessor failed to mention in the report that is it a struggle.
it's like they'd prefer us to just stay at home and not try to have a normal life and give ourselves a sense of worth.
they also did the same for the mobility part, because i drive they said i must have a good sense of consentration so scored me 0
but they failed to include the part where we said I can happily drive down the road to work, but any longer i require the use of a sat nav and passenger and i also refuse to use public transport because of my anxiety.


Im hoping that going to a tribunal they will see me at my worst due to it being an unfamiliar place full of strangers in a room staring at me, it'll set my stress level through the roof.

Would it also be worth sending off a copy my diagnoses report to the tribunal, or will this not matter?

Fight4Justice

@ohdanx

I would ignore the sat nav part because it's irrelevant. If you need a passenger with you when driving to an unfamiliar place, that gets you the 10 points, you don't need to mention the sat nav, if anything that could work against you, as it could lead to follow-up questions such as "why can't you use a sat nav to go to unfamiliar places". Therefore I wouldn't offer that information. However, if they ask you if you can use one, you should say yes, but have a good reason for why you can't use that sat nav to go to unfamiliar places, without needing someone else with you in the car. I wasn't asked that question at my tribunal, even though I am capable of operating a sat nav to get to familiar places. If I was asked that question, I'd probably go with "I can only use a sat nav as extra to help to go to places I know, I can't use it to go to places I don't know, out of fear the sat nav could malfunction". I just came up with that off the top of my head. I would probably spend time to think of something better. I think that should be enough though, as that for me, would be the reason why I wouldn't feel comfortable using a sat nav to go to an unfamiliar place.

My general reason for not being able to drive to unfamiliar places is the "fear of getting lost", I'd use that for the reason, if it also applies to you. Also, one of the tribunal panellists might follow-up with some formulation of the following question - "what would you do if your usual route to work is closed" e.g. road works. My response has always been "If I didn't already know an alternative route, I'd pull over at the next available safe spot, and attempt to drive back home". If they follow-up by saying something like "what would you do if you couldn't find your way back". I've replied with "I would then pull over at the next available safe spot and call my parents for help on my phone". I've not had any problems with these replies thus far.

I'm not sure if it matters if you're at your worse during the Tribunal. The key is to have real life examples for each descriptor you're claiming for.

Also, yes I would send your diagnosis to the Tribunal. The DWP forgot to send mine to my Reassessment back in Feb, because of that botch up, the HP professional was able to say stuff like "he has no diagnosed mental health impairment", throughout their reason for giving me 0 points for certain descriptors. When I rang up to complain, the DWP said that they didn't send it to the HP because it was 6yrs old. Obviously, that doesn't matter, because autism is a lifelong condition. I think even though the HP didn't take my diagnosis into account, because they weren't sent it. The DWP Decision Maker did take it account after putting pressure on them, via my MP writing to them, and I was given standard daily living instead of nothing, but nothing for mobility. So overall my enhanced daily living was reduced to standard, and mobility to nothing. Which is actually an improvement on the last time I had to go through the appeal process. As last time, they removed daily living completely, but let me keep standard mobility. So as standard daily living is > standard mobility, I'm at least better off this time, whilst waiting for my tribunal date.

ohdanx

@Fight4Justice Thank you very much for all your useful information about all of this, there is just so much information to take in a prepare and try and put it all together so it makes sense
It's all been very much appreciated

Waylay

I'm not autistic, but a friend is, and she said this was very helpful: 

ohdanx

@waylay thank you very much, that's a good read and full of some useful information, much appreciated

ohdanx

Just an update on this if anyone has any more input they can provide.

I went ahead and got a new psychologist report done because I thought this would be a good bit of evidence supporting my case with my other one being 7 years old and sent this off to the tribunal along with other documents such as statements etc.

The DWP have also submitted their case against me and on all factors for PIP they argued that because I work part time (23 hours a week) and I'm able to drive to work on my own which is 1 mile away I'm fully capable of living a normal life and do not require help of any kind.

Do I have a solid case if this is the only argument they have against me for everything they ask you on the assessment?

Many thanks

Yadnad

ohdanx said:

Just an update on this if anyone has any more input they can provide.

I went ahead and got a new psychologist report done because I thought this would be a good bit of evidence supporting my case with my other one being 7 years old and sent this off to the tribunal along with other documents such as statements etc.

The DWP have also submitted their case against me and on all factors for PIP they argued that because I work part time (23 hours a week) and I'm able to drive to work on my own which is 1 mile away I'm fully capable of living a normal life and do not require help of any kind.

Do I have a solid case if this is the only argument they have against me for everything they ask you on the assessment?

Many thanks

For a start you cannot describe how you are now the appeal is about how you were on the day you filled out the claim form. So a new doctor's report based on current findings would be of no interest to the Tribunal. The report should be based on how you were then
Secondly be prepared to show with evidence how driving to work does not contradict what you are claiming. You will also be asked about working so again be prepared to show how you can do that and it not affect the claim you have made.