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• Cressida Member Posts: 751 Pioneering

  October 2019 edited October 2019

  Good luck with your application. You will find people very helpful on this forum. One thing the assessor will ask is who supplied your disability aids such as walking sticks etc. Lots of people are successful on the first attempt. I was..  

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• wilko Member Posts: 2,269 Disability Gamechanger

  October 2019

  Hello and welcome, Hello and welcome, Firstly filling in the application form giving as much detail how the applicants illnesses, disability affect their daily lives in relation to the PIP descriptors. Suppling up to date medical and supportive evidence that will comfirm you abilities to or not meet the PIP descriptors. Keep copies of any information documents reports evidence you send to DWP as sometimes they get lost or mislaid. On or at your assessment t if you need or use aids use them don’t just give yes or no answers let the acessor re ask the questions to allow you to answer describing why you can or cannot do the descriptors being decused, in reference to the physical examination do not do any movements that cause you pain discomfort or aggregate your condition. Be aware of the memory games they play being able to remember things from your past will indicate to the acessor your mental state even though your just talking about things which have nothing to do with the current part of the assessment . Be aware there are CCVTs outside and in and around the the assessment center, the acessor know the distances from the nearest car parks, bus stop waiting rooms to their assessment office so if yo can walk from the bus stop or car park or easily from the waiting room to the office these distances will be noted and recorded. And lastly having had your Face to a Face assessment about a week afterwards ring DWPmand request a copy of your assessment report which takes about 14 days to arrive one requested. On receiving it you can and should be able to work out what your award may, should be as the decision I makers at DWP usually go with the assessment report, but you still have to wait for the official award letter notification. If it’s not what you expect then having the report early has given you time to prepare starments ready for submission for an MR which has to be made with 30 days of receding the award letter can be done by phone but best followed up by a postal request.

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• debsidoo Member Posts: 327 Pioneering

  October 2019

  Hi @Fibromite
  Just one other quick observation. It may be worth spending a bit of time working out how you are going to word your answers, as being a full time carer may raise questions as to whether or not it would contradict any answers you give. After all the assessor will jump on any slight inconsistencies in order to write a negative report. Be open and honest but mindful of the way information can be misinterpreted so make yourself as clear as you can. Good luck.
       Debsidoo.x

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• poppy123456 Member Posts: 22,218 Disability Gamechanger

  October 2019

  Hi,

  
  

  It will also be very useful for you to have a read of this link. It will give you a better understanding of the PIP descriptors and what they mean. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-the-assessment-criteria

  
  

  Don't forget to add a couple of real life examples of what happened the last time you attempted that activity for each descriptor that applies to you when you fill out the form.

  
  

  Whilst being a carer can sometimes go against you when claiming a disability benefit, this is only usually the case if the reasons you're a carer contradict the reasons you're claiming PIP. If you're claiming PIP for a completely different reason then there shouldn't be any issues.
  

  Community champion and proud winner of the 2019 empowering others award. This award was given for supporting disabled people and their families for the benefit advice i have given to members here on the community.
  

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• sherl Member Posts: 9 Listener

  October 2019

  Fibromite said:

  Hi i am going to be applying for PIP, i am a full time carer solely  look after my 16 year old son who has high disability rate for Autistic Spectrum Disorder,ADHD, and ODD.  I have Fibromyalgia, CFD, Fibrositis, IBS, Classic Migraines, Depression, Anxiety, and Osteoarthritis  in my knees, neck, right wrist and back, i do not have any help in my house, my family live so far away from me that they cannot help me. I need two walking sticks to help me walk i cannot walk far so i am house bound. I have special equipment to help me in the house, stair chair, wet room, handrails, chairs for bathroom, and kitchen, toilet seats, and a step put ouside my front and back door. I have heard so many people turned down for PIP and had to go to a tribunal. I have been told to apply for it to get the help i need, i not applied for it before as i thought being a full time carer would prevent me claiming Pip, but my Anxiety does nofmt help as i get so nervous and over think.

  Hi Fibromite
  
  I would deffo ask for a home visit, like you I cannot go out with my aids I dont drive distances, I suffer with bad
   incontinence both,   Please ask for a home visit when you fill the form go to the CAB ask them to fill in for you, or email your local office, they filled mine in and took copies to give me. But ask CAB for advice, your local office will have an email address to write to them, make sure you add your telephone number, explain how difficult it is to get out and with your
  son etc. I agree with Debsidoo theymay question your a sole carer, even though all of us with disabilities would find strength when we need it.
  
  Good Luck and come back to us.
  
  Sherl xxxx

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• Fibromite Member Posts: 4 Connected

  October 2019

  I have filled out DLA Forms for my son for year's, but i will get help with wording what i put in my form. I have had occupational therapist twice help me with equipment to help me with every day activities, perching stool, raised toilet seats due to the osteoarthritis. My son is capable doing some thing's like getting dressed, he is obsessed with his Xbox, and being a teenager spends a  lot of his time in his bedroom. I have to make sure his clothes are layed out on his bed so he does not have a melt down if he cannot find his socks or pants. I have to prompt him on his personal hygiene otherwise he would never have a shower, or wash and brush his teeth everyday. Sometimes to be honest i am so exausted or unwell i get a take away for dinner instead of cooking it. I make sure i make his breakfast or he would eat something like crisps and cake. I make his sandwich for lunch whilst i make his breakfast, that way if i am exausted i got it ready for him.  I normally use my slower cooker for dinners i have prepared sliced frozen vegetables, frozen mash  sliced frozen meat, i find it hard to peel and chop due to the Osteoarthritis in my wrist. I do a batch of meals and freeze them, helps me a lot if my CFS, fibromyalgia, IBS, or Migraine  has flared up, it's a few minutes to heat up in the microwave instant home made meal for my son. My son gets frustrated with me as i am always sleepy, and in a lot of pains, my arms can be so weak sometimes putting my hair up is a challenge and frustrating. I have a cleaner who comes every week to do the thing's i find hard to do. I live in my pjs as they so comfortable and do not aggravate my skin. I used to fall up and down the stairs a lot and i could not use my bath any more  due to  my Osteoarthritis in my knees and back, i ended up having to wash myself in my little bathroom downstairs it has a little sink i was doing this for month's, i know it sounds gross but i could not wash my hair as i could not bend over the bath due to the pain in my back and knees and my arms got tired very quickly so i could not wash my hair for month's. Getting up and down the stairs took me 20 minutes so i could get my son ready for school, get him in the bath and having to check on him, i was falling up and down them a lot and it became dangerous , the council and Occupational therapist  had my stair chair installed and a wet room with a shower chair, which is heaven and i can keep myself clean. I have no respite, and no help taking my son out, there is no funding for them. My son loved going to the woods and nature reserves dipping with his net sadly that stopped 3 year's ago due to my knees and back getting really painful to walk even with my walking sticks. I  have to look after my son i have no choice, i will not let him down as i am his mother. He goes to college three time's a week at Hill Holt Woods there is only eight lads and the rangers are fully trained to look after Autistic spectrum disorder, ADHD, ODD,students. It is a basic cabin they use as the classroom and for  lunch. My son enjoys it but it has been a struggle to get him motivated now and again to get him on there little mini bus, the alternative is a taxi and it will cost me over £500 to pay, i can pay in instalments, but his DLA was stopped due to me having fibro fog and thought i had sent the PIP form in when i didn't. Luckily they accepted what i wrote and now we have a health care professional doing a home visit to meet him, as i cannot manage to physically get to their office due to my knees and back. I sleep on my sofa as i cannot sleep flat on a bed, i have to be propped up and i use a prop for my legs too, i cannot afford a electric bed and my dining room has become my bedroom i have my chest of draws and my wardrobe in there. This is my life i have no choice but to get on with it. Yes i struggle every day, bad day's  i sleep a lot i make sure my don has his breakfast then he go up stairs i will go to sleep, lunch feed him he goes back to his Xbox i sleep, dinner time i cook his dinner then i go back to sleep. Good day's I'm not as sleepy still have aching pain in my shoulders, shoulder blades, arms, and neck. I drop thing's a lot so i get frustrated, i tumble dry clothes that way they come out crease free and i don't have to iron, as ironing causes my wrist and arm to seize up and hurt. This is why i am applying for pip so i can afford to get more help, like have my cleaner to stay longer and help me with washing my clothes and tumble drying them, i do it myself but i end up in a lot of pain with my back, i use a chair so i can sit down and put my washing in and out and then tumble dry. This is a example of my every day life, i still have my sense of humour and i am grateful when i do get a good day, or a few hour's of my pain and aching being low. Thank you for reading this message, i wanted you to see what my life is like everyday. Sending healing light and love to you all.xx

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