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NHS or Private diagnosis for claiming PIP?

NAS74266

We have 20 year old twins who we suspect have Aspergers.  We have been to a private psychologist (found from the Directory of Chartered Psychologists) who has undertaken a part assessment and diagnosed them as having  Aspergers. The twins firmly dispute her diagnosis but at present they sleep all day, are up all night, rarely leave their bedroom and are not succeeding in any attempts to progress with their lives.

My question is would a full diagnosis from a private psychologist be eligible supporting information for claiming PIP or would we still have to undergo a diagnosis with the NHS before completing the mandatory PIP assessment.  Obviously to go private is a lot of money and we don't want to spend that if we have to end up going down the NHS route. 

Has anybody had any experience of this or have any advice please?

Our local authority is Hampshire County Council if this has any bearing on the answer.

  • Hi, PIP accepts all evidence. It does not have to be from the NHS. If you or someone else is their carer write a detailed letter confirming what type of help they need for the 12 activities covered within PIP. Also PIP is not awarded based on diagnosis but on the person's difficulty managing those set activities. So prove how difficult it is for them to do these activities. 

    If you have previous info from school, special educational needs, dyslexia etc provide all that. If their GP knows them and is willing, they can also provide a letter detailing their difficulties, meds etc and that they can engage. 

    I suspect a problem you may have will be getting them to attend the assessment, some are phone based because of covid. Some people with autism don't realise their full restrictions and therefore may say, for example, 'dress and wash without problems' when as the parent of an autistic teen know that we prompt them for hours, days to do simple tasks. basically they can say they can do something because they can dress, but the  reality is may be only do it once a week. But the assessor notes down that they confirmed they can do it. Also sometime people with autism struggle on the phone or at face to face appointments, so say what they can do all the 12 PIP activities just to get out of an extremely awkward and sensory overloading situation.

    If you can arrange to be their appointee for the benefit, this will probably help their case. Also provide as much evidence as possible including diagnosis report.

    Also get them to apply for Employment support allowance or Universal Credit. This might be the first benefit to claim as it will be awarded quicker, in my opinion as well as PIP. PIP can use the evidence from the other benefits assessment to help support an award to PIP.

    If for some reason you are not successful on your first application, you ask for it to be looked at again ( a reconsideration), if this is not successful, the next step in and appeal with HMCTS. Its not as scary as it sounds, plus they are very likely to award for autism and it will be back dated to the date of claim.

    I you are their carer then you should also apply to the DWP for that, even if you are working as it helps with National insurance contributions for your pension later on. 

    Good luck. 

  • My daughter has recently received her report. We discussed PIP with the psychologist who diagnosed her, and he said she should apply ASAP. He explained how hard it is, and you are refused a few times first ( knowledge from his patients experiences). So, the evidence should be sufficient.

  • PIP has nothing to do with the LA, it is in the realm of the DWP. 

    You have to ask yourself whether they're being enabled by you as their parent. If you did nothing for them, would they really not do ANYTHING for themselves? 

    If the answer is yes then PIP isn't going to solve that. I'd arrange for social care assessments (which ARE via your LA). That being said, THEY have to consent to that as adults unless they lack mental capacity, and then theyask have to agree to any support recommended to them. 

    I'd do absolutely nothing if I lived at home and had no reason to accept any responsibility for my life. I presume you pay for their food, utilities, Internet, roof over their heads. The fact that you care enough to post here tells me that. My mum couldn't have cared less, so needless to say I had to sort my own life out.