“Visit our office at the top of three flights of stairs to be assessed for disability funds”
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was apparently doing this a few years ago. They would book people in for appointments in an upstairs room and put out of order signs on the lifts. Anyone who made it to the room was automatically denied their benefits.
I say apparently because I didn’t personally know anyone who went through that one. The office that I had to visit had a car park, but no spaces near the door. I was dropped off by the door while my wife parked the car, but another person drove themselves and walked from the car. Their claim was denied, based on the distance they walked.
It’s too true. Yet the person who has a spouse (to help them get to the appointment) can lose benefits because of their spouse’s income.
That’s the position that I’m in. I get PIP, the non means tested disability allowance, but because my wife works, we’re not entitled to anything else.
I can’t really complain, as we’re doing better than a lot of people, but it doesn’t exactly feel great knowing that we don’t qualify for any other help.
Of course not taking into account that sometimes you can push yourself harder if you really must, but you will pay for it later. Like having to recover in bed for hours or days later.
“Make an appointment to get help for your condition that makes it difficult to keep appointments”
Last time I went to Canada, my roaming wasn’t working, so I called customer service from another number and I was told I should call from the phone number having problem instead.
My friends and I recently took the Cat-Q test, which is a questionnaire used to assess how much one “masks” autistic traits. We took it casually because one friend brought it up, then compared results with each other.
But while filling it out, every one of us had to stop and consult each other because of ambiguous questions. We also found the design of the answers (which are all ranges from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree”) to be difficult to work with. There’s no official explanation to clarify vague statements, and the responses we wanted to give would’ve varied depending on context. One friend (the one with the most psychology training) said to “fill it out as if we hadn’t acquired coping mechanisms yet.” Which makes sense, but isn’t stated anywhere on the questionnaire.
We’re autistic, damn it - the psychologists designing a diagnostic tool for us should know full well that without clear directions, we’re going to struggle to fill out this sort of form. I understand it’s just a tool, possibly one used during bs insurance situations, and thus is designed to benefit someone besides us. At the same time, there are so many simple ways this questionnaire can be made less stressful for the people who fill it out, that it’s almost insulting to keep it as-is.
Honestly, my takeaway from that test, was that that was the point. If you struggle to complete the test, you are on the spectrum, regardless of the actual answers you give.
- Spoken as someone who struggled with the test only marginally less than his partner, specifically due to masking/coping methods learned growing up with family that don’t believe mid-high functioning autism is real (I have a cousin who struggled with speech early on, whose speech therapy consisted of being smacked in the mouth and told to speak properly - damn did that kid learn to mask fast).
Don’t forget your wallet, none of this is free…
That reads like someone trying to get an ADHD diagnosis.
:(
yeah been there, well, still am, my doc told me to make an appointment with another doctor to check if i can take stimulants… that was nearly a year ago :) it already took me several years to even try to get a diagnosis
to add insult to injury, the “two hours away” is by car
Fuck this is pretty much applying for SSI in Amerikkka
