PIP application for 16 year old son

schmoosan

Hi, I'm filling out the forms on behalf of my son, as his appointee, he currently gets DLA. He has autism, adhd, scoliosis and he is partially deaf.
The part about preparing food... well he doesn't. He can make toast and cereal but he doesn't cook. But I wouldn't expect a 16 year old to be cooking and preparing his own meals. I wouldn't trust him with a sharp knife, but does that make him unable to do it? He doesnt know how to cook but again, does it make him unable to do it?
I hate these forms

Cress

I think a 16 year old would be able to prepare a meal, simple or otherwise depending on how enthusiastic they are.
Has he ever attempted using a knife? My son does like to use one but he uses it like a hammer so it gets scary..lol
My son has moderate to severe learning difficulties.
He likes to help in food prep but will not touch anything hot, wont even make a hot drink with one of those hot water dispensers. 
People would always say, oh, but he could make a sandwich, well no he cant. No matter how he tries he cannot get the gist of holding a knife at an angle to spread anything, he just digs holes.
The only thing I can say is if you dont trust your son with a knife then you have your answer.
Only you know what he's capable of at the moment.
You could I suppose try some tasks and note exactly what happened when he attempted them.
Sorry, I'm pretty rubbish at advise but there are plenty of very good advice givers on this site..lol
The forms are a nightmare...good luck with your claim

Cress

Sorry...welcome!

poppy123456

HI and welcome,

Not knowing how to cook isn't going to score him any points. Could he learn how to do this if he was showed how to?

Why don't you trust him to prepare food? Does his need assistance? If so why? You also need to add a couple of recent real world examples of what happened the last time he attempted this activity, stating who was with him, where it happened and what exactly happened. You should do this for all descriptors that apply to him, not just this one.

Just writing "he doens't know how to" or you don't trust him with a knife isn't going to help.

schmoosan

 poppy123456 said:

Just writing "he doens't know how to" or you don't trust him with a knife isn't going to help. 

Exactly my point. 
It's very difficult when they are at an age when most would only really just be learning these skills

thanks for the help, both of you   

poppy123456

I would disagree with this. I have 3 children, all adults now. My eldest son and daughter were both able to prepare and cook a meal well before they reached 16. Infact, my eldest daughter used to share the cooking with me when she lived at home because i have a disability she helped me a lot.

My youngest daughter is 19 and still lives at home, like your son she has ASD, a learning disability and social anxiety disorder but she needs assistance to be able to prepare a meal and even with assistance she has cut herself quite a few times, with the most recent being just a couple of weeks ago. She forgets to turn the hob off and leaves pans on the top and quite a few times i've gone behind her and removed them and turned the hob off. She needs step by step instructions verbally and you need to watch her closely. She forgets things so easily and i have to constantly remind her how to do something.

janer1967

Hi just to add I have a 14 year old son  with no disability and he is able to cook and prepare a basic meal on his own, like beans on toast, microwave meals, and he helps me as I am disabled. He can even bake cakes and scones with a bit of prompting. So I would say that a child of that age in normal circumstances would be able to do the task

So if your son is unable to for reasons other than not having learnt how to then fill in the form with the reasons why

mikehughescq

The key question for all PIP activities is whether a person can perform the activity reliably i.e. in a reasonable time; to a reasonable standard, safely or repeatedly. There is a danger of totally over thinking the PIP 2 questions when addressing the issue of reliability is all that’s needed. 

A healthy 16 year old should be able cook a 2 course meal and several years earlier than 16. I would think it patently obvious that the son of @schmoosan cannot possibly perform this activity reliably.

1 - will someone with ADHD and autism be able to order their thoughts sufficiently to prepare everything in the right order without prompting from another person?

2 - will a person with hearing loss hear a timer sound; hear the microwave beep; hear the pan boil over if they’re not looking directly at it; hear a fire alarm go off and so on?

3 - if he’s not to be trusted with a sharp knife then in what sense can he be said to be able to prepare a meal safely or reliably?