Benefit cuts will cost the economy.

@Kindersurprising perhaps disabled people can do these things because they get the benefits that support them to live their lives?

Most ridiculous argument I’ve ever heard, but ok.

The facts we do know speak for themselves

The point is, you don’t know the facts.

I don’t really care, the facts speak for themselves. A person who can travel the world, has no physical issues in doing so and studies for a masters, is not disabled enough to need disability benefits. And 90% of the right thinking public would agree with me

Whatever they are it sounds like they can live a totally normal life without the money

They probably have other disabilities that you're unaware of

Well good for you.
You have no idea what this person’s care needs are and what they struggle with. All we know is that they have submitted evidence to the DWP (everything has to be evidenced, they don’t just take your word for it), and they have decided that this person is eligible for PIP.

Yes, kinder is the most special, noble, generous disabled person ever because unlike the rest of us lazy scroungers, she is super disabled but chooses to valiantly struggle through and work 🦸‍♀️and this gives her the right to criticize us lazy, undeserving disabled people who clearly are not as disabled as her, and the only thing separating us is her choice not to claim and our choice to claim.

I am disabled and I could claim but I choose not (yes really). Cases like that are taking the piss. If you can travel the world and do a Masters and have no physical disability, you do not need benefits - end of.

And it sounds like this one doesn’t either

I think some people see free money as hitting the jackpot - not realising that being disabled and getting free money is a Faustian bargain. You lose far more than any amount of money could compensate for.

I did not know that. Learned something new today.

I hope others on this thread did too.

Honestly so weird that people begrudge the families of disabled children from getting some state support to help with the costs of bringing up those children

If a child is on DLA then their nursery/pre school can claim extra funding on their behalf. Schools can also receive extra funding for children with an EHCP.

Well you could say people on PIP who work should have some of their benefits paid to their employers.

Parents of children with conditions like diabetes, epilepsy etc can get disability benefits. They go to school full time, so shouldn’t some of that money be paid to the schools who have to be responsible for them during this time?

Your average working person does not have disabilities to the point they have to rely on state support to live.

You are comparing apples and oranges

They can handle the academics but maybe not everything else that come with going to uni. Getting there, being in lectures, being around people.
Believe it or not, some autistic individuals are non-verbal but still manage to get a degree too.

Applying for PIP is not a fast process. If you have to go to appeals etc then you could be waiting for over a year for your first payment so obviously you will get back pay. It does not mean you did not need it in the mean time.

Or maybe they were really struggling before the PIP, but didn’t tell you about their struggles?

To be honest,I think the government already knows this. But then I don't think that they are really cutting disability benefits in order to save money. I think they are doing it as a way of demonising disabled people,for having the sheer nerve and audicity to expect the state to support them because they are unable to work,or have to endure extra expenses due to their disability. That'll learn them as my DM used to say.

Like I understand it's supposed to help with the costs of being disabled. I am unsure what an autistic university student would spend it on. They are obviously very bright and can handle the academics of their degree. To me if they didn't get PIP for a while and then got awarded the lump sum, that means they dealt with university life well enough without the PIP.

PIP is not an out of work benefit. A person doing a masters degree and managing to travel might only be able to do so because they get PIP. A lot of people on PIP DO work, and are only able to because of PIP.

I have a friend with MS. She uses a mobility scooter to get around when out, and a zimmer frame at home. She has a stair lift. She can't cook at all - she is not physically capable of making a meal. Her son is her carer and he can't work because he is caring for her. She uses her PIP to get a weekly hair wash at a hairdresser.
Up until very recently, she worked. Her PIP meant she could get a car on the motibilty scheme. She needed a big car to get her scooter into. Her car meant she could get to her job.
She loves to travel and up until recently, was going on coach trips and cruises. She has to have assistance when she travels, has to have a bigger room. Some of that costs extra and that is what PIP is for. If her son does not want to go on holiday with her, she has to pay someone to go with her.

PIP is not for essentials. It is for the extra costs that come with disabilities. If my friend was not disabled, she could wash her own hair, prepare and cook her own food, get up her own stairs. She would not have to be paying for help with those things. Her son could have his own job and career and not feel that he has to stay at home with her. He is nearly 40. He has never worked because he has always been her carer.

I know another guy who is highly educated and enjoys trips to Disneyland. He uses a motorised wheelchair, and is on the highest rates of PIP on a 10 year award. His condition will only ever get worse. He also works and can only do so because he gets PIP.

Would you like to be disabled?

ETA I am not disabled, and am not in receipt of any benefits. I do not begrudge disabled people getting money from the state, however, and I am glad I am not in their position.

This. The entitlement, when working people paying those benefits in many cases can’t afford a holiday (let alone to the States) is wild and the reason why the public is turning on you frankly.