I probably am being unreasonable but i need to vent.....

UpI’m didn’t get far enough in. He’s hugely sympathetic to people on PIP because it’s the system, not them at fault.

OP, can you start retraining, boost your income and your confidence, giving you a secure income for your future.

No point wasting time judging neighbour and their lifestyle.

It won't improve your finances or emotional shortfalls

How many people is that, then?

Yes, exactly!

And if someone on here has xyz condition, no one tells them that they don't have to work because they know people with the same thing who can't.
Yet, if someone with xyz says they can't work, you always get someone with the same, or they know others, who can work therefore everyone with it can.

It's almost as though personal anecdotes were not as reliable an inicator as official professionally gathered data! That's why the people on here moaning about PIP being handed out willy-nilly to anyone who asks for it by posters whose friend/neighbour/cousin's window-cleaner supposedly got it for having a bad back while simultaneously being world limbo champion are always extremely unconvincing.

Everyone I know with it is unable to work.

I say this every time someone starts one of these tedious and predictable disability benefits bashing threads on here but, cheer up OP, you and your loved ones are only an illness or accident away from a serious, permanent and life-altering disability of your very own. When that happy day comes you too can look forward to the tax-funded life of riley all us disabled people supposedly get to live. Until then I guess you'll just have to live with the burden of being able-bodied and getting to live in a world where all public spaces and facilities are accessible to you and where ignorant mean-spirited people don't stand around tutting 'special treatment' about the very basic accommodations which are occasionally made to make it possible for disabled people to do things that many non-disabled people take for granted.

Role I mean role.

Sorry but you are evening very judgemental and nasty. So what that you have to work? Welcome to the real world. I would and so does my husband. It’s EXHAUSTING with 4 very small children. But would I dream of swooping my life for a life of MS? No. You need to give your head a serious wobble and if you are this bothered put her on mute.

A side note. If someone called themselves my “friend” and was thinking this about my disease I would be so hurt

she lives a very active life...goes to the gym regularly

If you have MS then going to the gym is a for or treatment that can improve your life, but not for ever.

If I was in her position I would be giving my kids the best life I can before I am unable to walk or hug them. Before they start to take on the roll of carers.

Oh and she doesn't get PIP and a car, her PIP is reduced by about £60 per week to pay for the lease, she will never own that car.

Sounds like she could work though. Everyone I know with MS works.

I got seconds in when I realised it's one of 'those videos! You've obviously never had to apply for PIP. There's always someone going on about people scamming benefits, in particular disability benefits, as if its the easiest thing in the world to do! But they have no idea how damn difficult it is to actually get ANYTHING if you're GENUINE, never mind if you're scamming. The timy percentage that claim disability benefits that they aren't entitled to is nothing compared to the amount of money that politicians get out of the system for doing very little, except of course, to ignore what their constituents actually want them to do! Cut THEIR wages AND their expenses AND their little 'perks', and that would be a much better saving! And posts like this one, where someone has a truly debilitating condition, and is no doubt struggling immensely with normal day to day living whilst trying to keep life as normal as possible for their children, but because they dare to actually try and give their kids a decent life whilst they are able to, they're vilified for it. I'd guarantee that 99% of people with a debilitating condition would happily swap that condition, AND any extra money that they had to grovel on their knees to get, with any able bodied working whinger! This post, and this video, has made me so damn mad!

Yes, the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) calculates child maintenance based on a paying parent's income, which is means-tested. The CMS considers the paying parent's gross income, other financial circumstances, and other factors to determine how much child maintenance to pay.

OP, comparison is the killer of all joy. Clearly you are negatively impacted by social media so you would feel a lot better if you were not on it. You would feel liberated if you came away from it and focussed on making the best life for yourself and your loved one’s.

Facebook is mainly used by people to show off only the best moments of their lives, but not often their struggles. It’s mainly fakery and pretence. The rest is fake news, propaganda and advertising. Not much on there for good and positive mental health.

I would switch off her posts so that you don’t see them. This is the downside of social media… curated snapshots of people’s lives.

Everyone is different and MS affects people in different ways.
My parent has MS. They worked full time without claiming benefits for 30 years despite the condition affecting them daily. Blind in one eye and walked to work everyday as unable to drive. They often would have to stop part way on the walk.
Despite MS being one of the conditions mentioned in the Disability discrimination act,
when they did try to claim it was rejected twice even at appeal despite at this point there were times they were falling and more reliable on family members for care.
it took a Consultant neurologist letter together with a GP letter and a formal complaint about how the whole assessment process was handled before they received benefits so this post actually upsets me given we had to fight tooth and nail. We also had to fight for a blue badge.
It is now much more recognised and much more research is going into the condition.

Good for her. I bet she'd swap her health for yours in a heat beat.

It's utterly laughable you campaign for disabled rights, sprouting nonsense like this, which actively discriminates against the disabled. No one with a disability believes you. It would be akin to Nelson Madela joining a pro-apartheid group. So, I'm curious? Why do you pretend to be?

You clearly don't and furthermore you seem to be confusing the validity of her PIP claim with the validity of her diagnosis. MS is variable and unpredictable. It's also degenerative, people can experience symptoms for years before getting a diagnosis, a diagnosis which requires meeting very specific criteria - not that this woman's work history is any of your business.

People casting aspersions on the validity of others diagnoses and arrogantly trying to invalidate someone else's disability because they, in their ignorance, don't 'regognise' it, is exactly the reason we need to campaign for disability rights in the first place. On behalf the disabled, please feel to give up your 'campaigning' because yours is very definitely not the type of help we need.

Who are you a disability campaigner for?

Wow & you’re a disability campaigner who clearly doesn’t know a lot about MS. Live one day in the shoes of someone who actually has it, in case your unaware MS is different for all sufferers & of course long haul flights are possible. You must also be aware, that in general, it takes years to get a diagnosis, 10 in my case and sometimes more in other cases. For your information, going forward, the government states that PIP practically has a zero fraudulent rating, unlike other Benefits that are easier to claim.

Regardless of what the person on the OP was doing for 20 years prior to her MS diagnosis, do you not think it is pretty shit for OP to offer up this person to be bashed and criticised... oh, and accused of faking MS too.
Who does that? What do they gain from it?

I know plenty about MS thank you. I also know that not everyone who claims on social media to have a condition actually has it. No one on Mumsnet is party to their discussions with their doctor. OP says they were diagnosed recently but have never worked for the previous 20 years. Well why not? Prior to getting MS what was the excuse for not working?
Disabled people get shafted daily. Benefits are regularly messed about and withdrawn for no reason and the paperwork involved is massive. Accessible facilities are still patchy and frankly rubbish. And we are dealing with the predations of people claiming to be disabled who aren't..it happens more than you think

You really need to update your knowledge of MS, because you've just spouted absolute nonsense. With careful planning, of course it's possible to fly and to go on holiday with MS: there are wheelchairs, you can get assistance to and from the plane, accessible hotel rooms, friends (real ones) and carers to help out so you can rest when necessary, etc.

As a disability rights campaigner, surely you know that there are charities who offer disabled people assistance in planning holidays? Also, are you really questioning whether somebody who has been diagnosed with MS really has it? That's such a disgusting thing to say, shame on you.

I'm with OP. Does this person even have MS? Long haul flights with kids is not something all that doable for someone with MS. It would wipe them out before the trip has begun. The estate I used to live on was full of people who discovered a disability after a lifetime on benefits. Those who know the system, play it well. It's just a fact. And I speak as a campaigner on disabled rights.

Her finances are absolutely none of your business. I really struggle to understand people who are jealous of those with disabilities because they can't work.