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Work Program forcing activities you can't do

Bloodheart
On ESA-WRAG and on Work Program, if you've already informed them that there are certain activities you can't due to disability and they attempt to force you to do so anyway what do you do? 

I'm autistic (ASD) and suffer from general anxiety disorder. I can't do role-play but Work Program staff seem to think this is just 'I dislike doing role-play' rather than it being due to disability - they don't seem to understand that I can't pluck things out of nowhere to fill-in missing information to act within a given situation and I can't perform in front of others. If I do role-play it's a guaranteed meltdown; it may cause me to hurt myself or hurt the staff members, will result in my inability to function fully for up to a week afterwards, and may make my autism significantly worse long-term. They just don't seem to acknowledge my disability and refuse to listen to me when I tell them what would or wouldn't be helpful to me, they've not even asked about my work history or what could help.

My concern is that; 
A.) they make me do it regardless, and I suffer harm as a result. 
B. i) if I can't do it or refuse to do it my benefits will be sanctioned. 
B ii) I can't appeal if sanctioned as DWP are just as unlikely to understand Autism. 

The mere thought of this situation is causing me to suffer anxiety, sleeping problems, and I'm struggling to function...even without the threat of role play Work Program causes these problems because I'm always *TERRIFIED* of what Work Program are going to do to me or that they're going to sanction me - in the past I've experienced verbal abuse and a sanction as a result of their eror, so this fear isn't unfounded. This role play thing hasn't happened so far but I'm really worried about what exactly I'm supposed to do when it does come up...can I refuse to do it? What happens if I do? 
This goes for other things too...work experience is fine, or at least as 'fine' as working for free can be, but what if the specific work placement is prejudice against me or I would struggle to work there because they use phones (I can't use a phone) or it involves lots of talking to others. Or what about them trying to force me to apply for work via phone, or for jobs I know I'd struggle with, etc. I'm worried that they will force me to do things I can't do, and as a result I'll experience crippling meltdown or/and lose my benefits...I don't know what my rights are, or if I have any at all. 
Parents

  • Role play certainly might pose difficulties for a student on the spectrum (if I can go down that route, as where I'm best qualified to comment), along with group work, group presentations and such-like. 

    With group work and group presentations the difficulty lies in interactions with other members of the group, as the individual on the spectrum will have difficulty reading intention, and difficulty responding the way the others expect. With role play the further problem is lack of experience of roles, through not being good at group work. Acting skills might well help, but not readily as a short-term solution, which is what OP needs right now.

    Having observed students on the spectrum in group work situations I can attest to the difficulties that arise. Students on the spectrum aren't readily chosen as group participants, because the others feel they may bring down the group score. If persuaded to take on an autistic student they will try to exclude them. So often tutors have to consider the option of letting the autistic student do an equivalent piece of assessment on their own, if the learning outcomes allow. Which isn't necessarily the best solution.

    Yet many times I've seen students on the spectrum persevere and succeed at group work. People tend to assume that social communication difficulty implies lesser intelligence, and of course this doesn't follow, moreover people on the spectrum may well strive to better themselves and overcome these prejudices.

    In some cases it may be better for someone on the spectrum to persevere with group work or role play, because the barriers are primarily social communication and fear of failure as a consequence.

    To some extent I understand the Work Program staff perspective, because certainly in a student context, all students hate group work, role play type situations, and that is likely to be reflected across the wider population. So to some extent the DWP staff are chiding anyone shy of doing role play.

    HOWEVER, I don't think DWP staff have done anything remotely like enough to understand disability. Looking at their reports they seem happy to produce ignorant bigoted bullshit. Job Centre Plus staff are not helping the situation by signally failing to understand the disabilities they are being asked to help, and frequently demonstrate crass ignorance and tactlessness.

    Many people have had to adjust to providing better provision for the disabled in workplaces, schools and colleges, public institutions. One group that has clearly made not the slightest effort to adapt has been the DWP. That's an absolute disgrace.

    My advice to bloodheart is to have another think about this. I'm not belittling your difficulties, but I think you have little prospect of getting sympathy and understanding from the idiots that are running the work programme.

    Fear does seem to be an understandable issue with autism. You have so much more to deal with and overcome than NTs. I'm going to get some bad press if I advocate "facing up to your demons" and trying to overcome your fears about role play. I think you might find this is something you can shine at.

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  • Role play certainly might pose difficulties for a student on the spectrum (if I can go down that route, as where I'm best qualified to comment), along with group work, group presentations and such-like. 

    With group work and group presentations the difficulty lies in interactions with other members of the group, as the individual on the spectrum will have difficulty reading intention, and difficulty responding the way the others expect. With role play the further problem is lack of experience of roles, through not being good at group work. Acting skills might well help, but not readily as a short-term solution, which is what OP needs right now.

    Having observed students on the spectrum in group work situations I can attest to the difficulties that arise. Students on the spectrum aren't readily chosen as group participants, because the others feel they may bring down the group score. If persuaded to take on an autistic student they will try to exclude them. So often tutors have to consider the option of letting the autistic student do an equivalent piece of assessment on their own, if the learning outcomes allow. Which isn't necessarily the best solution.

    Yet many times I've seen students on the spectrum persevere and succeed at group work. People tend to assume that social communication difficulty implies lesser intelligence, and of course this doesn't follow, moreover people on the spectrum may well strive to better themselves and overcome these prejudices.

    In some cases it may be better for someone on the spectrum to persevere with group work or role play, because the barriers are primarily social communication and fear of failure as a consequence.

    To some extent I understand the Work Program staff perspective, because certainly in a student context, all students hate group work, role play type situations, and that is likely to be reflected across the wider population. So to some extent the DWP staff are chiding anyone shy of doing role play.

    HOWEVER, I don't think DWP staff have done anything remotely like enough to understand disability. Looking at their reports they seem happy to produce ignorant bigoted bullshit. Job Centre Plus staff are not helping the situation by signally failing to understand the disabilities they are being asked to help, and frequently demonstrate crass ignorance and tactlessness.

    Many people have had to adjust to providing better provision for the disabled in workplaces, schools and colleges, public institutions. One group that has clearly made not the slightest effort to adapt has been the DWP. That's an absolute disgrace.

    My advice to bloodheart is to have another think about this. I'm not belittling your difficulties, but I think you have little prospect of getting sympathy and understanding from the idiots that are running the work programme.

    Fear does seem to be an understandable issue with autism. You have so much more to deal with and overcome than NTs. I'm going to get some bad press if I advocate "facing up to your demons" and trying to overcome your fears about role play. I think you might find this is something you can shine at.

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