@chaosunsent2322

4 months ago

the whole system is hostile towards claimants; the process in and of itself is extremely stressful and confusing. I have known people who now have PTSD symptoms because of their experiences and full blown anxiety attacks at the thought of going through another assessment. questionnaires are laid out in tick box format for a lot of questions - but what if your condition/symptoms don't fit in the offered boxes? "can you do this thing yes or no?" - where is the yes but with difficulty/great pain box? when asked to provide other information many who are on the spectrum - who have lived with their condition their entire lives often are unaware of what a neurotypical would consider to be "normal" so don't always realise what the questions are actually asking. like when asked if able to pour from a bottle - many may answer 'yes' because it seems simple - but to someone on the spectrum (who my also have some hand-eye coordination difficulty) may think 'I don't know how much I'd get in the cup, but I can certainly pour it out over the floor' - "can you lift a box?" a match box? sure! a moving house box full of who knows what? hell no. then if you get thought the paperwork there's the assessment interview that often requires travelling long distance on overcrowded and noisy public transport to unfamiliar areas miles away from any 'safe' zones for an overwhelmed person to seek some calm. (I saw one that wanted the person to go by a bus and two trains, changing at Clapham junction during rush hour with a 20min wait between trains, which meant leaving their home before 5am and traveling for over three hours to get there for the appointment time, then do the same on the way back - thankfully that person had family and an advocate to tell the assessors where to shove that idea). being able to do things is not just yes or no, what happens if you get overwhelmed while running errands?- that's it you NEED out so the trip is cut short - you might not have been able to get everything you need to get done; not only are you then dealing with the internal chaos of a bad day you now have to psyche yourself up to go out again another day (and spend yet another set bus fairs on top).

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