Published on 12, July, 2020
In the BBC News online, there is a story saying that the government are thinking of getting rid of PIP and replacing it by getting things that disabled people need like a wheelchair or adapting their home.
This is would be not good for us autistics. Firstly UC and ESA together dont even make a minimum wage, we should not be left under the breadline because we cannot work due to being autistic (I know some people who are autistic can work ).
Nowadays with the cost of living, the PIP ontop of those benefits come under minimum wage, therefore lots of disabled people are paying for heating and eating etc using their PIP to help them do that as the other benefits barely cover bills.
But for us autistics, autism varies each day, for example we may take the bus to a shop, but on the way back we find that all the buses are too busy or we are unable to get a bus due to panic attack so we might have to get a taxi, but we would have no time to say to the goverment we need a taxi today please pay for it! There might be a day when we need to go to a cafe for a tea to calm down, and with just UC and ESA we could not afford that.
Also with us autistics we need to have our special interests covered for example a music lesson or a Doctor Who book.
we are not talking about expensive holidays here, but some of us need a day trip to the sea side or a short break somewhere due to stress or sensory overload.
This will be especially difficult for those of us who are single and living alone. Off course couples or those living with relatives may face similar/other difficulties too.
Newspaper headline is PIP maybe replaced by a 6 tier system. What loads of nonsense.
Sorry to hear what happened, sadly a lot of work places are neurotypically catered for and us autistics end up suffering. You are kind hearted and do help when you can in the community.
I hope that you enjoy your holidays, and that you plan for places you would like and have things you like.
They dont understand autism. The stress that even that article is having on many autistics right now ! I need to be able to also choose to go to my private dentist, it is not rushed and noisy like the NHS in the waiting room. The dentist explains everything to me, I am given breaks through my treatment they ask me if I am okay and it is in a building that is local and not scary for me.
Autistic people can indeed get therapy for things, but changing the way we live an are , is like trying to change our own DnA. It is cruel. For example us autistics should not go around changing the way neurotypical (non-autistics) do things.
Instead of therapy, we just need our environments to be modified. And a lot of us can do this each day by: sometimes getting a taxi rather than a bus, or going to a local tea shop to sit in it for a wee while , while we calm down, or having to go and pay for a subscription so we can see our special interest if it is a TV show or SCfi film etc. For me I need to be able to wonder about and go for a tea. I dont want people pointing a finger and saying hey there is that autsitic lady. Instead I want to be left alone so I can modify my day to suit how I feel in order to avoid melt downs etc and go for a tea and day dream out of a cafe window or go to the library or a book shop and buy a book. and feel my own normal and not be moulded into something I cannot be.
The whole system makes me mad!
I wouldn't bank on it being just a media stunt, but I am hopeful a change of government might mean any more attacks on resources people need will be stopped before they get going.
I know people who are only claiming full PiP because of problems with drug addiction. They get it and their income is not that much less than mine and don't have half the bills. Guess what they spend it on though - more drugs.
Meanwhile, I hear of so many people who are struggling with all sorts of things and never get it because the assessors understand nothing about the conditions and problems they face, or they fall through the net of the criteria, and the appeals processes is too difficult and too stressful to get through - so, they just give up.
Personally, I only need it for one thing - the care I need around medical situations and during and after medical procedures. Can I get through to them that I find it impossible to access or manage my health care without help? No, I can't. No matter how much evidence I provide them with that it isn't safe for me to go to the doctors on my own and that my communication can completely break down in there.
Actually, I can and do work and only really need any additional "care" with that one thing. I'd be more than happy to not get PiP but have that care supplied on an as and when I need it basis. I don't relish the thought of having to strain my executive function to source it and pay invoices when I'm at my most vulnerable anyway. However, since I do not have a learning disability there is ZERO help available to be anywhere in any of the systems to help me access healthcare - hence all the professionals say "claim PiP and pay for it" - but I can't get that either.
Pheeeew! I've been turning in circles with it for years.
I rather think there ought to be some sort of conversation with autistic people following diagnosis to establish what they do need and some sort of plan to provide it. For some this will mean they need additional regular cash for taxis or carers, for others it may just be a service they can dip in and out of as and when required or an adapted bit of IT kit to be be funded and refreshed periodically. The needs are individual and so the solutions should be. As it is, so few seem to be getting what they truly need.
no need to worry, its just a media fear story. it wont happen and it likely is impossible to happen anyway as we will get a government change shortly anyway.so it aint gonna happen.but i saw it and i saw it mainly mention depression and anxiety... i dont think anyone should get pip for depression and anxiety as then its not really fair as everyone gets anxiety and depression, even more so people that waste every day of their life working in a miserable job for a boss that holds them back and hates them and gives them no credit... so why should that be pip eligable when everyone just carries on with their lives with it anyway and workers suffer with that more so than people who claim they cant work?