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.
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.