Newly diagnosed with ASD (at 38) and have questions about PiP benefit and other support available

Hi all,

I got my diagnosis of ASD yesterday. It took 6 hours, rather than 6 as there was a lot to untangle.

The person diagnosing me said that I can apply for PiP benefit which is not means tested so even though I'm in full employment I would qualify (which is great as I wanted to put this towards some specialised ASD therapy and a mentor).

Looking online I can see there are two options - one for mobility costs and one for general living allowance e.g. groceries.

I'm not sure what my needs would come under.

Does anyone know what the amount is that you can get for this benefit, how easy it is to apply and if it covers things like therapy?

Thank you!

  • PIP payment is not means tested and is payable to anyone in employment or not.

    It is assessed by your personal needs and is measured by what you cannot do - like feed yourself, wash yourself, get around, communicate effectively etc.   You score points depending on how badly affected you are and there is a payment for looking after yourself and for getting about so there are a few combinations of awards dependent on your needs - I think the maximum is about £150 per week but you're unlikely to get near that unless you have lots of other health problems too.

    It's normally hard to get for just autism - it has to affect you looking after yourself.

    I suggest you do some googling about the various sections of the forms and how the points are allocated before you apply.

    https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/personal-independence-payment-pip/pip-points-system

  • I think if you are able to sustain a full time job you maybe classed as too intelligent for Pip

  • To be honest, I may have misunderstood as it was overwhelming taking everything in so maybe I got it wronge. That's good to know. I'll researchit some more but if anyone has experience of getting support - financial or social in any way it would be great to hear about it.

  • I didn't know you could apply for PIP if you are in full employment