To wonder about blue badges

[CrohnicallyEarly]

And how severely affected your walking has to be before you qualify for one?

I have MS and my main symptoms are neuropathic pain and numbness and stiffness in my lower limbs. This worsens with exercise.

I can walk short distances at a normal speed but would then need to stop and rest.

Over longer distances my walking speed slows dramatically, I can walk a mile in one go but it takes me 40 minutes. As the numbness takes over my feet and ankles I have to really concentrate on lifting my feet carefully so I don’t trip over my toes. My limit for sustained walking (with short breaks) is 2 miles, after that point my legs hurt too much to continue, my leg muscles tighten up and I would need at least the rest of the day to recover before attempting to walk again, I would have to be careful not to overdo it the next day too.

How do they actually assess your walking ability? Do they look to see how far I can walk ‘normally’ (as in, without too much pain and at an acceptable speed) or would I automatically be disqualified because I can walk a fair distance (albeit slowly and carefully)

Would it go against me that I don’t take anything specifically for the pain? As it’s neuropathic, normal painkillers don’t work. I’m used to the baseline level of discomfort and simply try and avoid triggering it too much.

it does really depend on your council

my boys have 1 each(they are 9 and 15),had it a few years now

both are not physically disabled but have a lot of mental ones and need a adult each at all times

my friend has a child the same age as my oldest and although asd is asd his is more "severe"and she was refused as shes a different council area than us,we were approved first time

from 30th august the criteria is changing i think its the hidden disability scheme so its worth trying

I got mine before I was awarded PIP (the blue badge office were the ones who told me about it

I sent in the application and then received a phone call asking for more detail. It's hard to describe over the phone so I said "if I have to walk across a supermarket car park to the store I then don't have enough mobility to shop and sometimes I can't get back to my car without a substantial rest first. If I can park closer to the shop I can make it round a couple of aisles holding onto a trolley and, after a rest, get back to my car". I wasn't asked to back it up with medical evidence, she awarded the badge and told me about PIP which I then applied for and got the higher amount.

TheQueensCousin

Is applying for PIP the ordeal that it sounds?!?!

Use the online guides, most people recommend the one that Benefits and Work have, you have to buy an annual subscription once to access them.
Fightback4justice charge a monthly subscription.

CAB's is free
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/

The whole pivot point on whether you have an easy time with PIP or a nightmare depends on the interview/examination you have at the stage called the Face to Face interview which is done a few weeks after filling in your form.

This is carried out by a former NHS professional, nurse, physio, OT, now called an Assessor, they work for Capita or ATOS. One company has name-changed but the M.O. is the same.

They will ask you questions about how you cope with daily living and how you get around, very much as it's laid out on the form you filled in. There's also a very short physical exam like how far you can bend, raise your arms, squeeze their hand etc.

It's imperative that you request a copy of that report, so that you know what you are dealing with. Assessors vary, there's a huge scale from fair and competent to ones who embellish and infer that you're not disabled at all and score 0 points for everything.

If you have a good Assessor and you are happy with what they've recorded and the points you've been given, that's great, you don't tend to hear very many of these stories, people don't often praise a system where it all goes right. I sincerely hope this is your experience.

However, if your Assessor has misrepresented what you said or made assumptions like 'Has a dog therefore must walk it at least twice a day therefore has no mobility needs, Score 0 points' when the truth is you don't ever walk the dog because you cannot, another family member always does. With things like that that are blatantly wrong, then you need to challenge the report and that's when you need to be able to provide evidence that the Assessor was wrong.

That Assessor's report is treated by DWP as The One and Only Truth so your challenges have to have a sound base to have any of their decisions changed.

There are 2 steps for that, Mandatory Reconsideration where your case will be looked at again by different officers at DWP and they may change the assessor's points score, or failing that, you can ask to go to Tribunal to have your case heard by a Judge, a medical expert and a disability expert. I don't have the current stats to hand but believe around 70% of cases that reach Tribunal are overturned, so it's definitely worthwhile.

Don't be put off, the whole system seems to be designed to discourage you from applying and appealing. It can be easy, it can be average or it can be one of the most demoralising experiences of your life which can take over a year to resolve.
All I can advise is don't be afraid, do not give up, do not become disheartened, try not to be emotionally upset, easier said than done I know.

DH had a Blue Badge He had to give it up when he was asked by the council to attend an appointment in a different town. Hes just not up to travelling that far Hes not travelled out of town for years.

I have had a blue badge for nearly 12 years, I have Fibromyalgia, ME/CFS, Osteoarthritis, PTSD, Depression & in the middle of being diagnosed with Autism. I can walk a bit & when I first got my blue badge could walk a lot further than I do now. Under the new rules you can also get a badge if you have mental problems like anxiety, panic disorder, memory loss. Conditions like Autism & ADHD are now also covered. I would send a copy of your letter of diagnosis & if you already get PIP a copy of your entitlement. If you haven't already applied for PIP, I would apply, if you have a local MS association or group, ask if they have a welfare rights worker who can fill the forms in & attend any assessments with you. They know the best way to word the answers to get across how bad things are for you.

You say you can walk, but the test is if you walked now, would you be able to do the same walk again reliably repeatedly & safely the same day, plus you say you can't feel your feet so have to look where your feet are, you are at a high risk of falling & may need to hold on to something for balance, plus there is the fatigue, you may be able to go for a walk but then have to go to bed for the rest of the day.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-49502412

There are other stories too, do a search under blue badge

Apply

Badges can be awarded for hidden disabilities

Good luck

It varies on where you live, my boyfriend has one as he has AMC in his feet and hands, so sometimes he struggles with walking and as he can’t support his weight with his hands he needs a car door to be fully open to get in and out.

getting a blue badge can be hit or miss - here in NI they only give them if you are high rate mobility DLA/PIP - so my heart condition doesn't qualify despite the fact that when it's bad I can't walk 5ft and often need a wheelchair - when i complained I was told I should 'park at the back no one ever parks there so you'll have loads of room' - these days I park in P&B and give the death stare to the yummy mummys as I unpack my wheelchair

i might be a bit bitter though lol

I don’t get PIP, I would only get a few points here and there I think (like 2 points for managing medications).

The thing is spoon theory describes my day quite well. I can do all the things on the assessment, but I do have to be careful how many I do in a day. I go swimming once a week, which means I have to pick my little girl up from school in the car, then I manage to cook dinner but once the kids are in bed I rest on the sofa and my shower has to wait till the next day.

It’s made more complicated by the fact I work part time, so some spoons are already allocated/used up.

CrohnicallyEarly

that's a massive issue with DLA/PIP - just because you can do something one day a week doesn't mean you can do it every day - and funnily enough they focus on the days you can cook dinner and not the days you are crying in bed unable to move

I'm a spoon person too. I'm trying to build up my stamina...

At the moment, 2000 steps a day is fine (tired and sore but coping).
If I go over that for several days though, I start to pay the price (a few days in bed).

So I really need to save up my steps!

A close family member has MS, as well as a number of other health conditions that exacerbate it. I helped them fill out the online form and they notified them they were eligible within a week! No evidence needed (could have provided it no problem and we were fully expecting for it to be requested). We were all really surprised how easy it was.

Each council is different but for ours there was a box to summarize the health conditions and then a number of tick boxes to complete about what time of mobility aids you use; how far you can walk within a certain amount of time; how long it would take you to cover a certain distance etc.

Give it a go, answer truthfully (as I have no doubt you will anyway) and see what happens. They refund the fee if they find you to not be eligible.

I get them automatically in our county for scoring 10 points or more in the moving around section of PIP. I've applied for PIP and had a renewal and both times the assessors were lovely and accurate and I was awarded enhanced in both care and mobility both times.

Both my parents have a blue badge
I just filled out the forms and sent a copy of my dad AA and a letter from his doctor outlining his Mobilty problems
Same for my mum

As the numbness takes over my feet and ankles I have to really concentrate on lifting my feet carefully so I don’t trip over my toes.

May I kindly suggest you look at maybe using a wheelchair where and when necessary ? DWs MS started similar to yours, and she insisted on walking as long as possible and it resulted in some very nasty falls. You are already aware that your balance is compromised which makes things 100x worse.

Hope everything works out, and stay safe.

I was told that you apply based on your bad days, not your good days. On a good day I can walk a mile or so without too much trouble. The next day I'd struggle to make it to the bathroom because of what I did the day before. Although I got my badge 20 years ago and I'm not sure I'd still be eligible for one in the UK, who appear to have mislaid their compassion.

I didn’t qualify even though I have erosive RA with proof of erosion, multiple medication (including the most expensive and ‘effective’ medication) with prescription only strength painkiller and requiring steroid injections.
I could walk what they specified, I did it quickly to get it out the way which I think went against me. I also think my age (in my 20s) went against me as people still think I’m an/was too young to have RA 🙄

Most of it though I think is a postcode lottery

Apply again TrollFairy if you can't walk that distance like that every day repeatedly, reliably and in a timely manner.

@DGRossetti you can indeed kindly suggest it, doesn’t mean I’ll listen though!

It’s rare that I actually do fall, mostly I just stumble and catch myself on furniture. The last time I fell it was out of the front door (caught my toes on the ridge that goes across the top of the step) so I wouldn’t have used a wheelchair there anyway. I now make sure I hold on to the door frame as I negotiate the step. It’s just the conscious effort that walking requires now, compared to how automatic it used to be, sometimes I literally have to tell DD to be quiet so I can concentrate on walking.

@BlankTimes I would do but thankfully the medication has worked enough that I’m not like I was prior to going on it.
It does seem like an unfair system and I’m pretty surprised that my medical evidence wasn’t enough to just be awarded the badge (the erosion is in my feet and possibly ankle)