Published on 12, July, 2020
After 4 months of waiting for my paper-based assessment of my DLA to PIP claim to be completed, I received word of a reduction of entitlement for daily living and no mobility. This means I am not longer entitled to certain services.I have ASD, long-standing depression, severe chronic anxiety. All of my difficulties have been lifelong or I have suffered for most of my life. I have no friends due to social difficulties relating to understanding, anxiety and communication.I scored 2 points for mixing with people (prompting) but it is absurd to judge mere prompting is all I need. My therapist was even clear to the assessor that making me sit through a face to face assessment would be unhelpful due to the level of anxiety I suffer from. I still can’t even see my therapist without extreme anxiety. I also scored 0 for communication despite my difficulties in communicating my needs, thoughts and emotions relating to ASD and mutism. I only scored 4 points for mobility despite having limited ability to leave the house or parents car. I can lose awareness of my surroundings while outdoors too.It would seem the assessors have limited understanding of Autism. My therapist had to explain what it meant. I am not sure why they feel confident and qualified enough to agree on my needs without putting more weight on evidence I sent. I also scored no points for managing medication despite being a recognised self-harm risk.I sent my Autism diagnostic report which clarifies communication is part of the diagnosis. I wrote in detail how my condition effects me and provided other written reports. They didn’t seem to put much weight in any of it. Other than depression, I didn’t score much for my more complex needs.Due to a fear of being misunderstood, my answers were quite lengthy and I tried to give examples but it didn’t seem to help.I am exhausted with the whole process and I feel little hope that I can challenge the decision properly. I have limited support due to my difficulties engaging with others, so I don’t have any backup from the mental health team.
You need help from a citizens advice bureau to appeal.
And on every point you need examples and independent proof of what difficulties you claim to have.
There are dishonest people out there and they probably think you're just making things up.
I have a long documented history of social difficulties but I was awarded points for areas that I had less proof of that were consistant with depression. It is as though they don't even know enough about ASD to make that call with those symptoms.
The vast majority of people are not dishonest but it is a shame they treat us all as though we are.