Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi Folks, I am an 29 year old male who has Aspergers. I've had PIP in the past, but I was taken off of it in 2019, and due to family circumstances, including a death in the family, I never chased it. I've recived the forms and I'm getting help from CAB to fill them in. I don't have a lot in the way of evidence but I do have a diagnosis, I have IBS and Anxiety/Depression.
Should I bother and write how it affects me? Because I don't have a ton of evidence.
You say you don't have a lot of evidence, so I think that is even more reason to provide a written explanation of how you are affected by your autism, IBS, and your anxiety and depression.As Shardovan said, it can be a good idea to include supporting evidence from someone who knows you well (friend, relative, etc), and has a good understanding of how your physical and mental health issues affect your daily life.
You can also keep a PIP diary for evidence. If you have diagnoses for autism, IBS, anxiety and depression that's already a good amount of evidence. Any correspondence with work/college if relevant about how these have affected you would help; and you can ask sympathetic people to write a letter detailing adjustments you need. Receipts for things that help you like taxis, take aways, can also be used. You can send the CAB a message and they will reply with a list of different things that can be used as evidence. This can also be pictures of adaptive equipment. For example for me I took a picture of my tinted glasses, cap, and earplugs.
I haven't heard back from them yet. But those kinds of tricks are why it's a good idea to keep all your own copies of the evidence in case you have to appeal points like that.
Did you find they actually paid any attention to the photos? We sent photos of my deformed hands and feet, but they said the photos were too poor quality to show anything even though they were not. But by the time they had probably photocopied them they must have been!