to think that cuts for disabled people doesn't seem to have the cool factor or whatever that the student thing had?

[daisy5678]

or why are the papers so strangely silent on the issue?

If you agree that cutting disability services and financial support is wrong, please come to


www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_campaigns/1126669-Stop-the-Abolition-of-DLA?msgid=23240953#23240953

[shimmerysilverglitter]

"why arent more non-disabled poeple protesting? on this thread its the same old few names."

Because they don't CARE Riven they simply do not care. Combined with fact that still, today the majority of people would prefer not to have to deal with SN people in their every day life. Its not "nice" is it so lets just pretend that it isn't happening or ignore them until forced to confront it. This is apparent from the four years I have been on MN where with monotonous regularlity someone starts a thread whinging about a SN child (usually ASD/Aspergers) and then loads of people steam on to tell their story of what they have had to suffer at the hands of some usually overgrown and aggressive ASD person. Can you imagine someone coming on and telling of a "problem" that pertains to race and then everyone charging on to TOP their stories with their accounts of negative experiences with people of a different race? But this is fine, there is no outrage, apart from as you say they same old names and occasionally someone who really seems to want to be informed.

I despair I really do, people do not want to even have to think about people with SN, since ds was diagnosed I have realised how marginalised they and those of us who care for them really are. How many stories have we heard on here about people who cannot make friends or have been dropped as soon as their kids were diagnosed? and those are our friends and family! We are only one step away from sticking them all back in asylums "out of the way".

As for these benefits, ds has his award until 2013, I know they will be stopped then, his own family don't believe he has it, so how the hell am I going to convince some unsymptathetic assessor? so really it has started now because I save every penny I can for when the benefit is stopped. If I sound hopeless, it is because I am.

[marzipananimal]

I think most unaffected people simply know nothing about DLA rather than not caring at all. I used to work giving benefits advice (including disability benefits) and totally share the outrage expressed on this thread, but before I started wrking in this field I'd never even heard of DLA.

I would join in with a protest/campaign/whatever if possible but I don't really know how to go about it (and have a small baby so a bit limited in what I can do).

[Deciduousblonde]

I never said I wanted DLA to cease! ffs I have a disabled daughter, why would I? I have been advised by my daughters consultant to put in another claim.

I'm not lying about my friend, but maybe she is lying to me! all I know is that the school only mentioned her son might have ADHD and she was on the blower immediately. She tells me she hasn't yet seen a consultant, so yes I do find it strange considering I have had years of seeing them before a diagnosis was reached..yet she appears to have DLA without even a sniff of one.

[ILovedYou]

my son's social worker mentioned this to me over a year ago. In his opinion thses cuts WILL go ahead.

can we organise a protest her?

get names signed here, a day where we all get together?

COME THE FUCK ON

no action means they will get away with it

[HappyMummyOfOne]

"why arent more non-disabled poeple protesting? on this thread its the same old few names.

Because they don't CARE Riven they simply do not care"

Everyone will be affected by cuts and reforms to get us out of this debt, people only tend to notice if it will affect them or a close relative. The student protest had more support as millions of people hope their child/children can go to uni. The CB cuts for high rate tax payers were mainly opposed by those the cut would hit, those that were keeping their CB wouldn't be interested in the main.

As DLA is non means tested, perhaps people dont see it as a major cut as its not the only source of income and high earners can claim it. The fact that ESA is abused by many means that all sickness/disability benefits are seen as one and I would imagine the fraud rate on ESA is high.

Looking at the link to the proposal, I can see why it needs reform. A 30% increase in claimants in the last 8 years and the soaring costs means it has to be looked at - the same as all other outgoings especially as not reforms have been carried out in years. The reform is just a proposal and may not go ahead, change in details etc. They seem to want to keep the benefit and it will remain non means tested so basics are the same. Assessing payments based on the amount of outside support seems realistic if cuts need to be made as the support is there and being used.

[OutrageousFlavourLikeFreesias]

Being very cynical here, but I wonder how much of it is because most journalists will have been students, but almost none of them are disabled / caring for someone with a disability?

And YANBU, YANBU, YANBU. A society which doesn't support and care for its most vulnerable members is a disgrace.

[NinkyNonker]

My mother had to fight tooth and nail for dla despite only having one leg post cancer, and has to go back every however often. As if it might have grown back in the interim or something.

[poppyknot]

I think that the fear of most people is that a lot of people claiming it at the moment will be deemed ineliglble.

And the removal of the DLA from those in care homes proves the willingness to remove it from people who need it.

[BreconBeBuggered]

I have to take issue with 'I imagine the fraud rate for ESA is high'. Why would you think that, HappyMummy? If the fraud rate is actually known, rather than misrepresented in the press, then all these fraudsters would be being prosecuted, wouldn't they? The goalposts are being changed for those claimants just as they are with DLA. I don't think it's helpful to set one lot of claimants against another. And the two aren't mutually exclusive in any case.

Outrageous, I think you're spot-on about journalists having been students.

[PaisleyLeaf]

People need to contact Maria Miller before the consultation ends on 14th February.

DLA Reform Team,
1st Floor, Caxton House,
Tothill Street,
London,
SW1H 9NA

or e-mail: [email protected]

(There's an interview here)

[madhairday]

I see that this still has a relatively low number of posts for AIBU. Where is everyone on this? Riven I'm inclined to agree with you, just too much apathy.

I think the fraud rates for ESA can't be that high either as it's also a nightmare form (though not as bad as DLA) I applied for IB and was told I was eligible medically but couldn't get it as hadn't paid enough stamp (had been a SAHM after being told not to go back to teaching by my doctors) So I rely on DLA. I am frightened though, because I just know these 'medical assessments', far from fairly screening out those 'benefit cheats' will be carried out by people ignorant of how a long term condition can affect someone over the long term. I had to send endless correspondance from consultants, physios, gps etc - is it not enough? Surely it's costing so much more to employ these assessors and their little tick lists that say if you can walk across a room you don't need DLA?

[poppyknot]

Maybe one fraudulent claimant found by the DM is actually worth 1000 genuine ones in accounting terms though........

Here's the horror of going through the JSA/ESA hoops. Sounds so easy!

here

[Bramshott]

I think TBH, while most people agree that this is outrageous, those of us who are not personally affected can be unsure about what we can DO to complain. I do feel strongly about protecting the vulnerable, but I don't understand all the in and outs of this (and how it effects disabled children, disabled adults and carers) and don't feel I have enought to contribute to the debate to participate in the consultation.

Clearly those of you with direct experience of the system WILL have things to contribute and the links for how to do that are useful. But for the rest of us, what should we DO, aside from posting here in support of a strong safety net for the most vulnerable in our society?

I don't mean that in a passive-agressive way, I mean it as an honest question. What is the best way for us to help, bearing in mind that for every 10 people who will go out on a march, there are probably 90 more whose involvement will be limited to signing a petition / joining a facebook group / sending off a template email to their MP.

[poppyknot]

That link was wrong

Too many tabs open and trying to read too much.

[GooseFatRoasties]

Not many posters for AIBU. They must be all on the AIBU to think MNers live in a bubble thread denying they live in a bubble.

[poppyknot]

Pre schoolpickup bump.

[donkeyderby]

I don't think it is fair to expect people to be knowledgeable enough to be up in arms about cuts to disabled people. We are such a minority with such a diverse set of needs and abilities (I'm counting myself in here as a parent-carer).

We would be better off channelling our protests via an existing group with clout. Any such group out there?

[superv1xen]

YANBU.

its a disgrace :(

[donkeyderby]

Oh, and one thing we can do on here is keep bumping this thread up so it doesn't disappear. Annoying for some but it keeps us visible....

[curlymama]

This is probably going to sound very cheeky, and I really don't mean it to, but as has already been pointed out, lots of people have no idea about DLA. It might be worth someone starting a thread or using this one to say roughly how much they get, and the extra costs that that money is supposed to cover.

I know it's a very personal thing and many people won't want to do that, or feel like they have to justify the money they get. It is not my intention to make anyone feel like they have to share or justify their DLA, obviously that's nothing to do with me. But if you want people to realise how important that money is to you, then it might be an idea.

Loudlass explained earlier what extra costs she faces because of her disability, and I for one found it very interesting and informative. When people describe exactly what it costs to do very basic things in life that the rest of us take for granted, it's harder to ignore the problem.

Just a thought.

Btw, I did send an email to Maria Miller, but without knowing exactly how people are going to be affected, it's hard to make a strong arguement against any cuts.

[chocoholic]

Is there a standard response being sent to Maria Miller? It would be helpful if someone could produce one. It could be a copy and paste response which people could use if they wanted.

Not everyone (me included) are that good at writing to object about something.

[MissQue]

If anyone has been watching Saints and Scroungers on daytime tv recently, there have been quite a few disability stories, both genuine and fraudulent. The thing that strikes me about the fraudulent claims is that someone has to REPORT them to the DLA people, someone needs to raise the alarm that there is a faker out there claiming benefits for no reason. So I say to any of you who knows about a neighbour with a 'bad back' who digs the garden up, lugs furniture around and stuff while claiming disability allowance - ring them up! They can't investigate if they don't know, and they certainly don't have the resources to go checking up on every claimant to weed out the fakers from the genuinely disabled people.

It's their fault that we have to jump through hoops to get DLA for genuine people, the reason we have to go through the indignity of writing about our toileting needs and work out how many minutes of the day we need to have support (stupid effing question!)

It's one of the most heartbreaking and convoluted jobs I've ever had to do, I've spent days and days filling those stupid forms in, pulling my dd apart shred by shred and writing about all the bad things, all the things she is unable to do, all the things that make her so different from other children her age. I spend hours repeating myself on page after page to answer their nit picking questions, all the while praying that she will still be entitled, despite being severely disabled. As a parent, you spend your time trying to be positive, celebrating the tiniest achievement, trying to forget that your child will never be able to be like their peers, and the DLA form is the one thing which throws it all in your face and rubs your nose in it.

[poppyknot]

Can we at least make a hundred?

[madhairday]

I know MissQue. I cried for days after I filled in the forms and it brought home the reality of the situation.

I'll take issue slightly with what you say about reporting though. Some people have fluctuating conditions that mean they can occasionally move furniture/dig the garden, so its important to know why they are claiming dla before reporting them - we don't really ever know what is going on.