Blind woman denied benefits because she attended DWP interview with help of mother

[SerendipityJane]

Looks like I need to stop helping people. Oh well, at least that's more time to read about how it's all the disabled fault these days.

(I have my own folio of "interesting" encounters with the DWP. I stopped posting them when no one believed them).

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/nov/09/blind-woman-denied-benefits-because-she-attended-dwp-interview-with-help-of-mother

So it sounds like her PIP was awarded but the ESA assessment found she could maybe do some kind of work?

I had a TIA (mild stroke) a few years ago, and had a similar "assessment". I was a driving instructor, with little use of my left arm or leg, at that time. Their decision was that I was fit to work, which I obviously was not. It is just plain crazy.

@Miley1967 if they're going to say this they really should be ready with a list of suggested roles she could apply for. I have a blind friend who works but despite a degree, a comprehensive understanding of Access to Work and a great Personal Assistant, it's been immensely difficult to find an employer who will accommodate her and even now it's part time.

I don't want to write anyone off but realistically what jobs would you suggest for this lady?

A dead body can be used as a draught excluder if you really want to abuse the word "work".

Absolutely disgusting but alas not surprising!

Maybe if she had identified as a blind cat and wore a tail she would have qualified... The world is fucking nuts...

That’s obviously daft. The whole thing needs a re-think and some people who have congenital conditions need to be not assessed again.

But the people to blame are those who try to claim benefits which they don’t need.

I agree, what would be really productive is if they could work with employers who had opportunities that people with these kind of disabilities could apply for if they’re going to suggest that work is out there.

The DWP would probably point to the shortage of HGV drivers

Ds is getting towards the age of me having to apply for pip for him and things like this really scare me.

the system, like so many others, is so broken

Yes exactly, there needs to be more support for disabled people to get into work. I think the new government is looking at this though aren't they. Agree it's certainly not easy.

God almighty. I have a blind relative and the CONSTANT battles he has with DWP about his capacity to work is absolutely diabolical. He now runs a radio station completely DJ'd by the blind, but pays for the running of it himself out of his own meagre benefits. Still living with his parents in his late 30s. But he can't get an actual paid job DJ'ing for any radio station. He's actually paying out of his own shallow pocket to work, he WANTS to work, but nobody will actually employ him. But DWP keep putting him through the wringer saying he should be in paid work. But they don't offer up anything he can realistically do.

It's a joke

I knew someone who had a stroke that severely impaired his vision. DWP insisted he could go back to work. He was (had been) a crane operator.

When my best friend was in end-stage heart failure and still in pain after unsuccessful open-heart surgery, she had her benefits revoked because she walked the seven steps from her chair to the front door to let the assessors in herself. There was nobody else to let them in, and if she hadn't answered the door she would have been sanctioned. She had to go through a horrendous appeal process that caused her so much stress and frankly nearly killed her.

The job centre no longer helps you find work. There used to be schemes but they way you get a job has changed with a lot supermarkets jobs (cleaners etc) which is now done by agency or it is all online.

I saw a cartoon which was a man talking to St Peter who says 'unfortunately you can't come in the DWP has said you are fit for work's

Work*

I think it’s ridiculous to say that because her mum helped her get there then she could work. She is not just blind but has other conditions including being hearing impaired. I have a blind colleague who works full time and is entitled to Access to Work and has reasonable adjustments. However, she doesn’t have all the other conditions that this woman has and is able to live independently without a carer

My dc has learning difficulties and is 'fit for work'. Trying to get someone to employ them is another thing. It's only taken around 10 years for them to manage to get a part time job on a zero hours contract.
They had lots of 'help' from DWP on different schemes that was supposed to help people get into work, but they were all pretty much useless.

There is a huge gap in the system, isn’t there?

The woman in the article may well theoretically be able to do some kind of work (I think there are very few people who would genuinely not be able to do something if sufficient adjustments were made), but there aren’t the employers who’d take her on.

There needs to be some kind of intermediate system for people who perhaps aren’t completely medically unfit, but are realistically not employable due to illness / disability.

What a sorry world we live in when a blind, partially hearing person is told they are fit to work. Not only that, they saw her in person, having had to be accompanied by her mum.
I go through the process every few years for my DS but this is the first year applying for PIP and I'm dreading the result.

I have a friend who is a PA for a blind lady who does work full time. I used to work in a hospital, and there was a blind lady there too who had a guide dog.
So, being blind is not a barrier to all work. There is a lot of tech available now that would enable blind people to be in the workforce.
Of course, the issue here is some one who is blind and has not been in the workforce for a long time, or even ever, so no references, training etc. And you can't force someone to give them a chance when there will be countless other qualified people wanting the job anyway. I think they have been let down by being told they will never work so early on in their life. It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

When mobility allowance was introduced in the late 70s, my mother applied. She had had Rheumatoid Arthritis for many years and her knees had more or less given up. She was called to an assessment. I drove her there, hauled her up the 3 steps at the entrance and supported her along the corridor. She was refused because she was able to travel to the assessment. An acquaintance with more guile told her to reapply but ask for a home visit as she could not travel. That time she was successful. She was in a wheelchair only weeks later and eventually had both knees replaced.
Refusing claimants for ridiculous reasons is not new.

I am sight impaired and am involved in a networking group for working sight impaired people. Just to set the scene before I tell you why this statement is unhelpful.

Blindness is a spectrum. Someone can be registered blind as they only have light perception, or they could be registered blind because they have a condition like RP which drastically impacts their feild of vision. The latter of these two examples could use a computer screen right up to when they finally loose all their central vision, the latter would only be able to use a screen with a voice over reader.

I am personally registered sight impaired rather than blind, but my visual accuracy is 20/100, someone with RP may have 20/20 vision in what vision they have remaining.

We are all so vastly different, even those with the same condition have different needs. There is also the difference between those of us who were borm visually impaired and those who lose their sight over time.

So just because you know someone who is 'blind' and works doesn't mean its easy for every visually impaired person to get a job, they need support and some people will not be able to find a suitable role in the current climate.

Someone close to me had an in-person PIP assessment where she was required to stand up & walk 7 steps. She told the assessor she had just come out of hospital after a 7 week stay including significant time in Resus & 3 weeks in Intensive Care & that she would struggle to do this but they insisted she try. She collapsed after 3 steps & the assessor said: "Yes you're right, you can't complete this task."

She was finally awarded PIP 12 weeks later. By which time she had been dead for a month.

It took all my self-control not to write back & tell them they could happily keep their money (or rather my money, from my taxes) as helpfully for them she'd been cremated the day before.

I can add to this my own story. My PIP assessment report actually contained the words: "Rain has a PhD & is therefore capable of making a meal."

You couldn't make it up.

PIP assessors should not be insisting that people do anything, during the assessment, they do not have the right to. They may try, but they should listen when the claimant tells them no, I cannot do that, it will cause pain, discomfort....