Cane and Able: #14 PIP

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PIP - The Personal Independence Payment - is going to replace DLA - The Disability Living Allowance.

It is atrocious.

1) The payment is to support independance - it will not be paid to people in care homes. People in care homes will as a result no longer be elligable for motability schemes which put DLA payments towards the purchase of mobility aids such as scooters and cars. This is the only income people in care homes get, what are they supposed to rely on now? Pocket money from family?

2) The changes are because DLA is confusing and complicated for disabled people to understand. Er... All government forms are like that, and more often than not the disabled who are filling in those forms are the ones who have to explain it to people with the power of attourney. The questions are poorly asked and expected to be quantifiable (Do you need help turning over in bed? How many minutes a night. is actually one of the questions.)

3) The new benefit is being introduced in 2013/2014 and will probably not assess those over 65 or those under 16. Everyone else has to go through the whole process and struggle from the beginning. Whoop de doo.

4) Mobility and Care are the two sections in DLA that contribute towards how much payment you recieve based on the costs incurred - this is being changed to... Mobility and Daily Living. The proposed Pain component from last year isn't going to make it then I see.

5) You will need to be qualified disabled for 6 months before applying and at least 6 months after. This means introducing compulsory health checks regardless of the condition in question, conditions that are automatically qualifying for DLA will NOT be automatically qualifying for PIP - except for the terminally ill. This can go either way. Currently the health checks are 20 minutes of pure bull. They are humiliating and you are treated like a fraud from the moment you enter the building - which I could not even enter without assistance. Let alone reach the paperwork they put on the desk for me which was above my height whilst sat in my wheelchair! I was rejected for DLA in November after having it stopped in September because it had been a few years since I was seen by a government health specialist about my GENETIC DISABILITY. I am NOT going to suddenly get better and if I have to go through this nonsense every other year I may end up homocidal!

6)

That's good, will it be like a jury where a selection of people are gathered from a selected pool? Or the same people deciding for everyone?

Aaaand THAT would be the 20 minutes of having my health insulted by a doctor who has never met me before and more than likely is a GP who has no sodding clue what Ehlers Danlos is. Because I have to take MONTHS to give information to my GP just so they're up to speed on my condition. A stranger is going to screw this over completely. In my latest assessment they information from all my doctors who have dealt with me over the years was DISCARDED in favour of an african doctor who did not even ask me half of the questions and did not even ask about my aspergers.

7) The payment will take into accound what aides the person already has. This means that I will not recieve funding to put towards a wheelchair or a TENS machine... this will be deducted from my payment amd the whole document neglects to even touch upon the fact that this equipment needs maintenance and replacement regularly. My TENS machine uses a D battery to last (if I am lucky) 2 days. The pads last about a month if I am careful. The pads cost upwards of £25 pounds depending on size, I usually have to replace them more often due to the factthey are designed to adhere to 'normal' skin and my skin is not normal (means it feels awesome but even plasters don't stick to me for more than half an hour). My Sorcerer-Mobile needs electricity and I don't even know if that will be taken into account. What about having a boyfriend? My boyfriend helps around the house so much that he'll probably be classified as my carer and not even get the allowance to be one!

8) Failing to report a change in circumstances between reviews = fraud. Despite the previous sentence stating periodic reviews will be required as a person may not notice all the changes in their health. Considering the above this means if I buy anything to help with my health I will have to report it. Replacing walking sticks? Wheelchair replacement or repairs? New adapted computer and software? Where is the line drawn?

9)

THIS is terrifying. As someone who had hours a day of physiotherapy that did not work and incurred more pain than it helped - the government could then demand that I try this again for a 'reasonable' time to keep recieving payments. They could demand tests and appointments and withold payments for refusing. That is just disgusting. It's probably the most sickening thing in the whole reforms.

10) DLA was introduced in a less accessable world. So now there are a few more ramps about the place it's assumed we don't need that much more help? I'm sorry but maybe the people proposing these reforms should get their arses into a wheelchair for a week and travel about. It's just basic. Ergonomically the world is walking, adaptations are made by able bodied people who look at the world from a much higher viewpoint and decide where the access should be, sometimes they call in assistance, more often than not, it's decided by one person who then passes on the building plans, then expect gratitude for being so forward thinking. Forward thinking would be asking what access measures would be appropriate - my high school put ramps outside the building only to the three main exits. Sounds good? There were stairs inbetween inside the building meaning to get to one part to another you would have to go outside - whatever the weather and go up another ramp and then navigate that part of the building while the pavements between ramps had potholes and grass. Banks all have stairs up to their doors - to get a ramp you have to go inside and ask for it... oh wait. FLAW IN THE PLAN RIGHT THERE, BUDDY. Train stations have people with ramps - if they bother to pass the messages on to the correct stations. Then you get treated like nothing but an inconvenience, most stations have a policy that if you are in a manual wheelchair a MEMBER OF STAFF has to push you around and on and off the train. You have to exit a train backwards down the ramp and more often than not they will not talk to you directly - but your carer - who incidently isn't allowed to push you either.

Ugh, Crip Rage Building!