To be taken aback this woman is getting DLA?

[lesley33]

Was talking at work with the receptionist about the changes to DLA and the move to PIP. I am worried about how this will negatively affect some people. However I was taken aback when the receptionist said that she would lose lower rate DLA which she got for depression.

I know she had depression a couple of years ago. But since then she has been in work every day and always seemed fine at work. I know people can be depressed and seem fine, but really if you can manage to work with depression then surely you shouldn't be getting DLA?

Just to say she is a very honest type of person and I am sure wouldn't have lied to get DLA. She hasn't been off sick. And what sticks in the throat a bit is I know there are other colleagues on low wages who have honestly struggled with mental health problems during this time such as anxiety and depression.

And I know you can work and get DLA. I just think if your disability is depression and you can work fine then you shouldn't get DLA. I am her manager so I know she has had no sick leave and there are no special measures in place to support her.

Of course it's made up MrsD, just like my autism is. And it's all our fault that the country is going down the pan.

Oh, yeah - the sheer blind panic when DS1 can't be persuaded to leave school - while he's screaming that he never wants to go to school ever again and school should be demolished, and made worse by people offering to help or cheer him up because he cannot mentally deal with any more stimulation than he's already getting from within... then the repeat of the behaviour later that week because he's got "stuck" in a pattern.

All because someone he couldn't deal with was sat on the table he wanted to sit at for lunch, which meant he was unable to eat his lunch. Not helped by the fact that it was hot in Autumn and it's not supposed to be hot in Autumn and he was Very Angry about that, since he hates any extremes of weather, especially unseasonal ones.

A world away from an NT kid in a strop.

I know Very Angry and "it's the end of the world because" some minor factor has changed.

But it is a cataclysm to children who find the world very frightening and who need order and consistency

DS was off school sick yesterday so I brought out a Gruffalo activity book which I had been saving which had a mistake in it. There was a "match the shadow to the animal sticker" and one was missing

It was incomplete and wrong and he became absolutely hysterical, was sick, broke out in blood blisters so enraged and upset was he.

He can walk, talk and sing songs like many four year old children but he can not deal with life in the way that NT people can. I fear for him.

That said, I am hopeful that one day he might find work with horses or on a farm. Up at 3 in the morning and ready to work? No problem

chandellina you're assuming we have no right to be independent adults. We don't want to be dependent on our friends and families - relationships can be destroyed by that kind of pressure

ouryve & Idonot The stress you are under is enormous; the fact that you function at all is a major achievement without having somebody breathig down your neck for every penny

Thank you very much for that understanding comment Julia! I tend to forget what we as a family do in daily life to avert shut-down in DS and we also can't ever do anything "special", such as go away for the night or on holiday. Life is very restricted, and this impacts especially on our NT older daughter.

I have been trying to learn to drive for over a year but it is so very difficult to learn anything when you average four hours interrupted sleep per night and have done for almost five years.

Creamola - that's bollocks about Australia. They have a strong welfare system here, including extra help for indigenous populations. Medicare provides a lot of healthcare free, although some things still need to be paid for. But there are provisions made for the more needy.
In fact, when schools went back at the beginning of this week, it made the news that the buses for the disabled students hadn't arrived, so none of the disabled students who relied on them could get to school. Scandal! Uproar! (as there should be, I might add) Politicians apologising, bus companies explaining, things being done to ensure that this was sorted asap.

Don't talk out your arse. Things aren't a bed of roses here either, but they're not in the state that you suggested.

And who gets a free house anywhere??

I'm entitled to it for depression, but I don't claim it: scared of being regarded by people the same way as the OP regards the receptionist

Pardon....have you ANY idea about the seriousness of UTIs (Urinary Tract Infections)..never mind "her wee stings"....it hurts so much that my daughter literally SCREAMS in pain, has pain in her side, is boling hot and as the kidneys control hormones, when she has a UTI she is different person, angry, volatile, confused, scared etc etc. A UTI can and does cause scarring to the kidneys...my daughter has only 16% function in her left kidney beacuse the utis have reached her kidney and scarred it which is pretty much the same as it being killed off. UTIs can be a sign of Vesicoureteral Reflux whereby you get recurrent UTIs, which dependant on the "Grade", my daughter has Grade 4, which is one below the highest, have differing longevity. My daughter is likely to have it lifelong. As the ureter is faulty on the kidney, so the urine is passed into the bladder and instead of being weed out, the wee, along with bacteria that finds it's way into the bladder is sucked back up and in my daughter's case taken straight to her kidneys. I have to test her urine almost every day to check no infection and if the case of infection , antibiotics which she has now become resistant to. There are only two orlal antibiotics available to her and one intravenous..ooh, not to mention she has needle phobia due to a registrar taking half an hour getting one into her arm and the "magic cream" had worn off and it hurt like hell. She is getting ESBL infections which have been resistant to all but intravenous antibiotics. She has about 12 weeks off school in the last two years. She is now seeing a Clinical Psychologist because it has been a very traumatic four years.
We are awaiting DLA application. Sorry to fly at you....I just wanted you to know how serious they can be and how debilitating they are.....

Haven't read over the 10+ pages of this thread, but just wanted to chime in a little. I'm physically disabled and I work part-time. The work I do pays my rent, bills and food, the DLA I get pays for my medication and physical therapy and helps me curb the worst of my OCD. The process for getting the DLA was very thorough, they don't just give it out without being absolutely certain you need it.

I went through a period of being horribly depressed when I had limited mobility and my parents had to take care of me. I couldn't leave the house on my own and lost all my friends because I couldn't see them. It was a horrible experience and I'd rather have the pain and stress of my physical illness than go through that again.

I don't think you can make a judgement about other peoples disabilities op. My Dh is on the higher rate of dla but works full time. Care to judge about that? After all, if he works full time he can't be entitled to it, right? I suggest you mind your own business.

Zombie thread

But you know there are many many people struggling on a daily basis with difficult lives only managing because of support from families, partners or counsellors. imo DLA is not for this.

That is your opinion.

You do not know how much /if / when this woman is in need. and it is none of your business.

Just read all 18 pages of this and some of you I hope you never need DLA

My sister has 4 kids to look at 2 of them they appear completely normal apart from the 8 yr is still in nappies and is emotionally backwards although extremely clever, my nephews are autistic/ADHD and 1 of which has repeatedly tried to kill himself (to get rid of the naughty boy) and the Austic is of a higher spectrum and in special school the ADHD was also born with over 400 allergies my sister and brother in law cant work incase they are required as all 4 kids attend different schools

My sister is permantly exhausted due to night terrors, UTI the 8 yr old suffers with due to doctors telling her to force her to use the toilet (all she did was hold it in til she screamed with pain)

They could not function with out DLA or CAHMS which 3 attend on seperate days and I would not wish their ailments on any1

Yet she gets the stares when they park with the disabled badge etc and the school mum's talking about her behind her back due to them not knowing the full story as they like the OP obviously don't have enough going on in their own lives so have to gossip

Mmmmmm, some people are able to get benefits because they understand the system, and are able to fill out the forms, while others, sometimes in dire need, are refused. All systems have holes, and they ought to be tightened up given the financial state of the country.

YABU DLA is not easy to get.

Not read everything, but it really isn't all that easy to get so she must qualify.

I have Osteoarthritis in my knees (can't walk without the aid of a crutch a lot of the time), Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (they won't give me the op till youngest is old enough, but it's that bad, I actually nearly dropped him and his arm cracked so loud, I thought I had broken his arm :( I was sick to my stomach for ages and didn't trust myself with him for weeks), also have Pernicious Anemia and I got turned down for DLA. I only applied for it as a cousin said I should get it to get help considering some days, I can't even open a bottle or hold an hairbrush and have to get anyone I can to come help me, but I never thought I would get it.

The fact this woman does to me, means there is a good reason for why she does.