I'm sure this subject has been discussed to death, for that I can only apologise.
For a couple of years now, doing a little research on my own, I think that I may have what a Work Psychologist I saw 01/2012 called a neuro diverse condition. I thought it might be Aspergers, it might be ADD possibly Dyspraxia. I'm by no means an expert nor a diagonistician. I could be completely wrong and, as i suspect my GP thinks (but doesn't say), lazy!
When I first saw the Work Psychologist (a dwp person, i don't know much about the specific role as I'd never heard of them before) I was on JSA. Since then I started on the Work Programme which I am still on. She claimed she could test for Aspergers but relented to saying she could do some kind of test to see if I might have ADD. I realise that makes no sense, but it involved answering a load of puzzles like remembering number sequences backwards and spotting patterns and stuff. From what I could understand she said it was highly likely. I have yet to get an official diagnosis as such facilities are not local to me and I find travelling around cities rather scary. There is now a chance the local CMHT might do one.
However the Work Programme treated me badly. They ignored the information regarding my mental health (even though no formal diagnosis) and refused to accept even the possibility of such problems - of any kind. I was told that without a support worker present they wouldn't countenance any such possibility. I made a complaint and have since changed advisers. Though the replacement is better they still admit they can't do anything. Basically the WP is rubbish. I was told that the main problem was because I was on JSA and that I should claim ESA.
To cut a long and predictable story short that's what I did, six months later I have, unsurprisingly, failed the WCA. I've sent the GL24 form back to lodge an appeal. I'm not sure how that will work but I'm told that doing so reinstates my benefit until such time as they decide whether to change their mind (I doubt it, let's be honest). In the meantime I have to persuade my GP I need help.
I suppose my point in posting is just to hear what other people think. I haven't found my GP to be terribly helpful or sympathetic and the system certainly isn't. ESA should be employment support, but it seems to work on the basis that, in order to get into the WRAG (my stated goal, i don't claim to be deserving of the support group) you need to also qualify for the support group. This doesn't make much sense to me. As a result I feel guilty as if I'm swinging the lead. But on the other hand, I just can't cope with the DWP. I find life difficult and I find dealing with society at times very hard. All the stuff you've heard before no doubt.
I can't say for certain I'm an aspie/add/whatever, so I could be wrong. But just trying to get support and be taken seriously is horrendous. It's enough to make you ill even if you aren't. If anyone has any advice I'd be grateful, thanks.
As crazy as it seems what you describe is absolutely 'normal'.
Very few people on the spectrum pass the WCA - so you're right on track there - as you say, they don't assess anything like the right kinds of things for AS and ASDs.
Also just about everybody 'fails the first part of the appeal' - right on track again there too - basically the first part of the appeal consists of the DWP saying "no, we're going to change our decision" which they almost always do say.
The CAB are absolutely correct, ESA is not just for people that can't work - it's also for people who want to, but need extra help in getting, and staying in, work.
And, lastly, the people you'll see are not DWP employees, they will be a very highly trained Doctor (and, yes, they are a real Doctor), and a very highly trained Judge - as I believe I explained before it is the job of the Doctor to explain to the Judge how your condition affects your ability to work, the Judge then sees how that applies within the law as it is written (not the law as the DWP chooses to interpret it).
So, because the law says that ESA is for people that need extra help in getting and staying in work, I forget the exact statistics, but something like 80% or 90% of all appeals are successful.
Hang in there. Things do get better.
I didn't even have my Asperger's diagnosis when I went to appeal - I just strongly suspected that I had it (and was on the path towards a diagnosis) - and my appeal was succesful at the tribunal.
If you are open, and truthful, the Doctor will see what difficulties you have.
There is nothing normal about any of this. At no point during this ridiculous appeal process am I consulted nor do I have any say. I can't for example ask them to wait until I can be seen by the diagnosis people (though god knows when that will be, or even if the GP has asked them). Instead I have to be seen by some tribunal which I find incredibly intimidating. I doubt I'll get a diagnosis appointment before then so what use will their doctor be, and he'll be biased. They all are. None of these people are knowledgeable in these sorts of conditions and without any kind of decent evidence there's no way they will take me seriously. How many doctors are there that are knowledgeable in every condition conceivable? That seems to be what's expected of this person in this capacity. As for a judge? He's just going to take one look at me and think I'm a scrounger and then probably do me for bloody benefit fraud.
I don't trust any of this and I certainly don't feel particularly comfortable about attending such a place. This is the difficulty I have. I got through the WCA because the place was empty and, as luck would have it, I didn't have to wait over an hour as I was initially told (because an assessor became available - the person after me instead had to wait). I also knew full well what to expect from the assessment. I knew it was going to be a waste of time, and because it's one to one and you aren't seen by someone like a bloody judge, I felt I had nothing to lose. That's not a good thing though. That's fatalism. I knew they wouldn't understand the problems I have so I had nothing to lose. It could have been different; if i'd been stuck in that waiting room (and the receptionist was a right cow) it would have been a very different story.
Nothing about this situation is positive. I have no guarantee the CAB can help, nor that a tribunal will give me a fair hearing, nor even that I can get a diagnosis quick enough to take to that tribunal. They certainly won't wait for that and the people that I see, my GP and the CMHT assessor I saw last month, just don't have a clue about any of this. The CMHT guy was a right waste of space: he said he'd ask about getting a diagnosis locally and then didn't bother. When I rang back last week to find out what was happening with that because I had heard nothing, he acted as if he had said nothing of the kind. This kind of ignorance and uselessness is becoming the norm.
I wish I could be rid of this whole system, but what choice is there? Go back onto JSA and deal with the mardy old cow at the JC as well as all the changes to the system like the appalling Universal Jobmatch and the incoming 35 hour a week jobsearch requirement for claiming? We don't stand a chance.
As crazy as it seems what you describe is absolutely 'normal'.
Very few people on the spectrum pass the WCA - so you're right on track there - as you say, they don't assess anything like the right kinds of things for AS and ASDs.
Also just about everybody 'fails the first part of the appeal' - right on track again there too - basically the first part of the appeal consists of the DWP saying "no, we're going to change our decision" which they almost always do say.
The CAB are absolutely correct, ESA is not just for people that can't work - it's also for people who want to, but need extra help in getting, and staying in, work.
And, lastly, the people you'll see are not DWP employees, they will be a very highly trained Doctor (and, yes, they are a real Doctor), and a very highly trained Judge - as I believe I explained before it is the job of the Doctor to explain to the Judge how your condition affects your ability to work, the Judge then sees how that applies within the law as it is written (not the law as the DWP chooses to interpret it).
So, because the law says that ESA is for people that need extra help in getting and staying in work, I forget the exact statistics, but something like 80% or 90% of all appeals are successful.
Hang in there. Things do get better.
I didn't even have my Asperger's diagnosis when I went to appeal - I just strongly suspected that I had it (and was on the path towards a diagnosis) - and my appeal was succesful at the tribunal.
If you are open, and truthful, the Doctor will see what difficulties you have.
There is nothing normal about any of this. At no point during this ridiculous appeal process am I consulted nor do I have any say. I can't for example ask them to wait until I can be seen by the diagnosis people (though god knows when that will be, or even if the GP has asked them). Instead I have to be seen by some tribunal which I find incredibly intimidating. I doubt I'll get a diagnosis appointment before then so what use will their doctor be, and he'll be biased. They all are. None of these people are knowledgeable in these sorts of conditions and without any kind of decent evidence there's no way they will take me seriously. How many doctors are there that are knowledgeable in every condition conceivable? That seems to be what's expected of this person in this capacity. As for a judge? He's just going to take one look at me and think I'm a scrounger and then probably do me for bloody benefit fraud.
I don't trust any of this and I certainly don't feel particularly comfortable about attending such a place. This is the difficulty I have. I got through the WCA because the place was empty and, as luck would have it, I didn't have to wait over an hour as I was initially told (because an assessor became available - the person after me instead had to wait). I also knew full well what to expect from the assessment. I knew it was going to be a waste of time, and because it's one to one and you aren't seen by someone like a bloody judge, I felt I had nothing to lose. That's not a good thing though. That's fatalism. I knew they wouldn't understand the problems I have so I had nothing to lose. It could have been different; if i'd been stuck in that waiting room (and the receptionist was a right cow) it would have been a very different story.
Nothing about this situation is positive. I have no guarantee the CAB can help, nor that a tribunal will give me a fair hearing, nor even that I can get a diagnosis quick enough to take to that tribunal. They certainly won't wait for that and the people that I see, my GP and the CMHT assessor I saw last month, just don't have a clue about any of this. The CMHT guy was a right waste of space: he said he'd ask about getting a diagnosis locally and then didn't bother. When I rang back last week to find out what was happening with that because I had heard nothing, he acted as if he had said nothing of the kind. This kind of ignorance and uselessness is becoming the norm.
I wish I could be rid of this whole system, but what choice is there? Go back onto JSA and deal with the mardy old cow at the JC as well as all the changes to the system like the appalling Universal Jobmatch and the incoming 35 hour a week jobsearch requirement for claiming? We don't stand a chance.
