to think that IDS should go out and see how bloody hard it is!

[Dawndonna]

www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/may/14/disability-benefits-slashed-half-million?fb=native&CMP=FBCNETTXT9038

Um, I know a lot of disabled people but don't know any at all who have been awarded life time awards, even my friends son who functions at the level of a year old baby has to re apply every few years so I find his 70% claim a bit

He also has a face I would rather like to punch, he looks like a gormless tellytubby.

Just to add to flangelina above - you can be physically able and still receive higher (or lower) rate mobility. If you are in receipt of higher rate care, have severe mental impairment and challenging behaviours you qualify for higher rate DLA. Handily there was a test case on this. DS1 qualifies (despite me having to argue with the idiot on the DLA 'helpline' who initially refused to even send me the blinking form to apply).

One good thing about PIP is it actually makes this sort of case clearer. I thought ds1 would be at risk for losing HRM (which would be problematic tbh), but from what I've seen he clearly qualifies for the mobility component still.

Apocalypse - I thought for a minute you meant your friends son

But you are right about IDS.

my ds got a lifetime dla award when he was 7 mths old....it was revoked when he was 7, even though his condition never changed

There isn't the money anymore. People need to understand this. It is not the 1950s. We are not a rich country today.

ffs are they going to cure disability?
makes me so angry that they are going to waste money checking people like my dd who will always be disabled.
they really do pick on the most vulnerable. and sadly it will happen.

Josephine.

How would you solve it? You dont think that people with disabilities should receive DLA?

2shoes - not a great use of public resources either, if its clearly a condition that won't improve.

"DLA is awarded and is not means tested, so you can earn a million a year and still qualify for DLA. DLA is paid to cover some of the extra costs people who have disabilities incur."

yes that is why Dscam could claim it.....

Should we do what the Spartans did with their disabled and leave them on a hill?

We are a 1st world country and part of being so called civilised involves looking after those who cannot.

What would Josephine do with my severely autistic ds who will be looked after for life as it is not viable to care for him at home due to his very complex problems and his violent outbursts that put anyone around him at risk and his lack of awareness that puts him at risk?

Take what money we have and do the best with it. Rather than deciding what people deserve and then realising we haven't got the money to pay for it. You can't do the latter forever, no matter how many people complain and protest.

How about going after the tax evaders and dodgers that cost us so much more than looking after the disabled, for a start. There are many ways this government could have recouped money but they chose to aim for the most vulnerable first - instead of their friends.

I would give my DS's DLA back tomorrow if the services that were meant to be provided for him were.

We have had to hire a private OT because we cant access one on the NHS. A private SALT for the same reasons. We are currently struggling because we are not provided with enough nappies.

Yet the Queen will get her Jubilee and her yacht. Trident will be redesigned and we will still send money to richer countries than ours in foreign aid.

Nooooooo vegaceratops, I deffo meant Lain Duncan Smith

JosephineCD Thu 24-May-12 10:17:29
There isn't the money anymore. People need to understand this. It is not the 1950s. We are not a rich country today.

so what is your answer,

I used to work 40 hours a week (up to 60 hours if i took overtime).
But now I am only allowed now to work 2 days a week thanks to my concerned employers & those pesky GPs / Psychiatrists / Neurologists in charge of my care for 3 interlinked chronic SEVERE Mental Health & Neurological problems (now including Memory Loss). I take 13 pills a day to (just about) function.

I fought to keep my job as work keeps me sane (ish) but i admit it's tough even working 2 days a week.
I may have change my job role to a simpler one if my employers decide it's best - since i returned from sick leave i'm still finding it very hard to cope with my job to be honest.

I'm lucky to have kept my job (even with drastically reduced hours) mainly because my employers like me; they know that i'm genuinely disabled & not a but also i'm very good at some aspects of my job.

I'm single with no financial help from family. I have to pay the bills (housing, council tax, gas, electric, water, sewage etc etc). 2 days a week pay does NOT cover the bills. I'm living on credit cards.
Being in receipt of a Disability Benefit (ie. DLA) is the ONLY way that I can access any other benefits.
So i'm applying for DLA with the full support of the Benefits Officer (who says she would find to easier to help if i got permanently signed off); & my doctors.

I should qualify now for DLA as i am finding even the simple things in life very difficult to cope with. I doubt if I will qualify for PIP(??) as I have good Mental Capacity despite my health problems. If I don't get it then I will lose my home & my mental health will deteriorate further.

I am very very frustrated & angry because i never thought this would happen to me.
No - one ever does, do they??
I never thought i would have to apply for benefits.
I could never imagine being so disabled mentally & neurogically would affect me in this way - I was once one of those people who thought 'anyone can work if they try hard enough' - well haha on me, i guess i deserved that one!!

Seriously no-one truly knows what life is like when you have certain disabilities if they haven't 'walked in those shoes.'

If you glanced at me on a 'good day' you would see a smart, fashionable, intelligent (ish), 'normal looking' young woman.
You really would not have a clue about the truth & I wouldn't blame you.

To all those who moan about disabled benefits claimants:
a) there are many more claimants because better medications & treatments are prolonging people's lives.
b) Be careful. It could be you one day.

So IDS says giving people money makes them dependent?

Wanker.

It's being disabled that makes me dependent, you prick. I don't suddenly get to walk to the shops for myself when my DLA stops.

I'm not even going to talk about what it does to me as a human being. But let's just say taking away my right, as a taxpayer and citizen, to have my basic needs met, and throwing me onto what charity I can beg from family and neighbours, does not make me independent.

The govt have stated that the purpose of the DLA change to PIP is to cut the bill by 20%.

To now claim that the purpose is to be nice to disabled people is like raping someone and telling them it will help them.

Disabled people will die because of these cuts.

"Counting the Costs 2012 also reveals that stigma associated with claiming benefits for disabled children is rife and taking its toll. The lack of understanding from society about the considerable extra and ongoing costs of raising a disabled child and the contribution of carers is leaving many families feeling judged as living off the state, lazy, work-shy and cheating the system."

one in seven working families with disabled children are going without food

This is before we lose everything next year.

He is a really nasty piece of work.

Strong implication there that the new system is cracking down on fraud because that is what has caused the 30% increase in claimants. FFS.

The main reason for the technical 30% rise in DLA claimants is that the elderly now claim DLA as other benefits are phased out. Yes, there's a degree of genuine rise. But mostly of this "30% rise" is lies reclassification.

The DWP's own figures say the level of DLA fraud is 0.5% - the system is already pretty hard to defraud. The plan is to take benefit away from 16.5% of people getting it already, so even if they manage to catch the 0.5%, that's 16% of people genuinely eligible for DLA who will have it taken away. If you haven't got the balls to announce that sort of cut (and they don't) the only way to do that is to intentionally screw up the assessment process so that they get it wrong more often and tie as many genuine claimants as possible up in the appeals process. Of course it's the most disabled and desperate who aren't able to fight the appeals, and that's where they will make the savings. So this is a cut not just to the disabled, but cynically targeting the most vulnerable disabled. And then you cover your arse by spinning it as a clampdown on fraud.

You'd have to be really evil to come up with that one. Or a politician, I suppose.

That's right. The 30% figure is erroneous in itself. Amended to take into account children's awards and those who are now pensioners the increase in working age claimants is closer to 16% in the last 16 years.

I think the answer is what they are probably planning - to legalize in 'assisted suicide' aka euthanasia (see: Holland).
Or to delay claims as long as possible so that those irritating sub-human disabled types die or kill themselves out of desperation before they can get any money that could be better spent on illegal wars, Jubilees & Olympics with shite mascots.

Me, Paranoid much??

Ps. I'm not saying that disabled people are sub-human obviously. But there are many people (including some of those in power) who secretly hold those nasty opinions.

r3d did you know there is a 'disability hatred' thread on here where some posters are arguing that 0.5% figure is untrue? Despite it actually being DWP figures?

Latara this is without their wish to institutionalise all disabled people. Which will actually cost more than the current system.

Why would the government want to institutionalize all disabled people?

I have to say, I've never really understood how you can defraud DLA. Because every claim is backed up by a doctor's reference, and the DLA assessors send them forms to fill and call them up to check things. I don't mean like a sick note from your GP, signing you off with "stress" or "backache" or some other vague thing you can fake. It's usually a hospital specialist (or in DD1's case, a whole PILE of specialists). And the conditions that you get the high awards for are severe and not the sort of thing you can fake and fool a consultant.