• Replies 18 replies
  • Subscribers 79 subscribers
  • Views 3157 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

Please Help Me... (Housing - benefits)

Luke

My anxiety is skyrocketing at the moment due to housing issues.

I have lived with my mum and step-dad for the past 8 years or so.

My mother is a Methodist Minister, and housing is provided integrally to this job.

She has been assigned a new manse along with a change of location.

The new location will not be appropriate for me to live in - it is too small.

I also do not want to move away from this area, which has been a base for nearly 20 years.

For a long time a local organisation have been promising that autism appropriate accommodation would be available imminently.

They knew that the start of August 2014 was my deadline for moving out, ever since my initial application, which must be at least 18 months ago now, maybe 2 years or even longer.

Only now, at short notice have they confirmed that they in fact do not have any autism appropriate vacancies available, nor will they at any time in the forseeable future.

Up until this point they had always presented a rosey outlook on the availability of their services.

As such I am suddenly left in the lurch, struggling to source a local autism appropriate property, together with dealing with all benefits related issues and so-on, then move out, all within a time frame of weeks.

It is going ok I guess, I have a social worker assigned to me, and I also have the involvement of a local autism specialist charity.

My big problem at the moment revolves around housing benefits.

A disability advice organisation has told me that I can get housing benefits up to the amount of the average price of the average comparable property rate.

When I pheond the council helpline the council say I can only get the shared rate - around £58 per week.

I've only found one property that I could afford with that, and it seemed entirely inappropriate - I am quite scared by the idea of living there at the moment.

I have viewed at least 2 properties at about £80-90 mark that seem ok - there seem to be quite a lot locally, it is just the money that is the issue.

I am on ESA, I also claim low rate moblity DLA, but I am studying and still paying for that.

I think I might be able to top up my rent about £10 a week but I would struggle with much more than that.

I thought my social worker might help with all of this but at the moment he seems to have left it to me - with the help of my charity support workers.

I discovered Discretionary Housing Payments with an application form on the council website.

Do you think that this is what the Disability Advice organisation was referring to?

Please - what are other peoples experiences and knowledge around this area?

I would greatly appreciate it if somebody could share. The thought of being homeless, or in horrible housing is terrifying me - it is so frustrating that nobody seems to be able to help me or give me a straight answer.

I am just going round in circles and I can feel it making me quite ill.

Parents

  • It would be scary for the people on the outside of the flying fortress, not for me. :)

    I'd know the inside layout and I'd be completely familiar with all of it and completely comfortable - flying around in the ol' fortressarooni.

    I can appreciate anxiety is not an autistic trait par se, it is a general human ailment.

    Still, unexpected or greatly intensified triggers seem to be quite common amongst those with an ASC, as I understand it.

    Tony Attwood says that in his (very substantial) experience, there are very few people with Asperger Syndrome who don't simultaneously meet the criteria for full blown clinical anxiety.

    I appreciate the 'pep-talk' thank you. :)

    But it isn't that I feel that I 'fail' at getting the bus, I get the bus and get where I'm going to... almost always.

    It is just being realistic about the state I will be in due to the resultant impact.

    An hours journey would likely leave me feeling too agitated to sit and focus for - for example - 2 hours, on something such as study and so on.

    Whereas I could do that if it was to somewhere within walking distance.

    (all dependent upon the environment, and my level of familiarity with it, of course.)

    Then, if I push myself, I just end lying on bed, shaking and sweating and grinding my teeth until the small hours of the morning, and feeling dreadful for several days afterwards.

    If I had my own place, I suspect I might be able to manage this for a number of reasons, having more general independence is one example, but also specifically, the potential to get up and be active even in the small hours, which I feel like I can't do now for the sake of consideration in terms of intruding on my mum and step-dad, obviously sleeping at that time.

    These are the kind of things I'm considering in terms of distinguishing appropriate and inappropriate accommodation.

    There are issues beyond travelling on the bus involved with moving with my mum and step-dad.

    Sorry, I've actually gotten really tired now!

    I'm going to go to bed - I hope this post makes sense, I realise now I was writing it while falling asleep!

    Later all. :)

Reply

  • It would be scary for the people on the outside of the flying fortress, not for me. :)

    I'd know the inside layout and I'd be completely familiar with all of it and completely comfortable - flying around in the ol' fortressarooni.

    I can appreciate anxiety is not an autistic trait par se, it is a general human ailment.

    Still, unexpected or greatly intensified triggers seem to be quite common amongst those with an ASC, as I understand it.

    Tony Attwood says that in his (very substantial) experience, there are very few people with Asperger Syndrome who don't simultaneously meet the criteria for full blown clinical anxiety.

    I appreciate the 'pep-talk' thank you. :)

    But it isn't that I feel that I 'fail' at getting the bus, I get the bus and get where I'm going to... almost always.

    It is just being realistic about the state I will be in due to the resultant impact.

    An hours journey would likely leave me feeling too agitated to sit and focus for - for example - 2 hours, on something such as study and so on.

    Whereas I could do that if it was to somewhere within walking distance.

    (all dependent upon the environment, and my level of familiarity with it, of course.)

    Then, if I push myself, I just end lying on bed, shaking and sweating and grinding my teeth until the small hours of the morning, and feeling dreadful for several days afterwards.

    If I had my own place, I suspect I might be able to manage this for a number of reasons, having more general independence is one example, but also specifically, the potential to get up and be active even in the small hours, which I feel like I can't do now for the sake of consideration in terms of intruding on my mum and step-dad, obviously sleeping at that time.

    These are the kind of things I'm considering in terms of distinguishing appropriate and inappropriate accommodation.

    There are issues beyond travelling on the bus involved with moving with my mum and step-dad.

    Sorry, I've actually gotten really tired now!

    I'm going to go to bed - I hope this post makes sense, I realise now I was writing it while falling asleep!

    Later all. :)

Children
No Data