Uh, hello, etc

NotReally

Site developers - the tab stop really should jump from the title text to the discussion text; having to hit the Tab key 16 times to get from the title to the discussion is not an ideal user experience.  Yes, to address this properly you'll need to rework the form layout.

Hello all,

Referred to these discussion boards after phoning the help line some months ago. 

Am on the Autistic spectrum, and as it seems I do nothing by halves, also have ADHD. 

Dealing with PTSD due to abuse in childhood and by my ex wife. 

Was homeless from October last year, until the end of March this year. 

I finally registered and am posting as I (a) need somewhere for a (probably temporary) daily diary, and (b) need to understand how the new Universal Credit ESA health assessment works.

I'm not really sure why I chose this user name.

Some things that are important to me -

My 9 year old son, mostly lives with his mother.

Neurodiversity advocacy work; have developed a large body of work around this and given a couple of talks; and will continue to do so as the opportunity arises - when it's safe for us to do these things again.

Ails

Hi @NotReally and welcome to the Community.  How are you today?  It's nice to meet you.  Thank you for the interesting introduction.  Glad to hear you have decided to join us after using the helpline.  I'm sorry to hear about everything that you have went through and hope you can find some support from our helpful and friendly forum as we are all here to support each other and you are amongst friends here.  So please chat to us anytime you feel like it as there will always be someone on here to listen.  Please have a look around the site too and join in any discussions that you fancy.

Your advocacy work sounds really interesting and I hope it won't be too long before you can return to it once lock-down is over.  

You have mentioned wishing to know more about Universal Credit and ESA, so please find below Scope's information on this which I hope you will find useful -

https://www.scope.org.uk/advice-and-support/universal-credit/

I look forward to seeing you on here and reading more of your posts and I hope also that you enjoy your time with us.  If we can be of any help/support to you then please just let us know.  All the best. 

chiarieds

Hi @NotReally - Welcome to the community. I'm sorry that you've had some difficulty navigating, however this site will be changing, & I'm sure the Scope team will take onboard your comments.

I'm pleased you now have somewhere to stay; being homeless must have been incredibly difficult, & I hope you were able to keep in contact with your son.

As far as UC & ESA goes, there's some info here on Scope, as well as elsewhere, which may help. See: https://www.scope.org.uk/advice-and-support/benefits/types-of-benefit/

https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-style-employment-and-support-allowance

About work capability assessments: https://www.turn2us.org.uk/Benefit-guides/Work-Capability-Assessment/What-is-a-Work-Capability-Assessment

I hope this is of some help, if not, or you have further queries about this, please say. A member of the Scope team may be able to help you further. Please also say if we can help/support you in any way as people here will do their best to help.

NotReally

@Ails, @chiarieds - Are your cats siblings?  They look almost identical!

Ails

Hi @NotReally, I know what you mean.  Yes, they do look very similar, don't they?  No, our cats aren't siblings.  Do you have any pets? 

chiarieds

@NotReally - mine has got definite bits of black in her, which I don't think @Ails cat has, & altho she's lovely, has a thing about biting through wires! She was abandoned near me nearly a year ago, & seems like she's here to stay. Have you got a cat?

Adrian_Scope

NotReally said:

Site developers - the tab stop really should jump from the title text to the discussion text; having to hit the Tab key 16 times to get from the title to the discussion is not an ideal user experience.  Yes, to address this properly you'll need to rework the form layout.

Thanks for pointing this out. I'll pass it on and welcome to the community!