‘Game the system’ disability benefits

[Tomatochocolate]

WTF
just read a bbc article about welfare reforms

Apparently ministers think that it’s an incentive to claim disability benefits as the incentive is no work commitments on UC. That claimants ‘game the system’

It’s a long process and really hard to get awarded dla or pip. It’s not just ticking a box that says ‘I’m too sick to work’.

AIBU to think this is just horrific

No. Everyone has ‘needs’ - commuting, nursery, private healthcare (like I said I just spent £800 having a thankfully benign tumour removed as the NHS waiting list was very long and it was causing discomfort), cars breaking down, dental work, mortgages going up by £300 with virtually no notice (this happened to us a few years ago!).

You would fund what you needed from your earnings, like other people.

Because I think it encourages people to lean into their MH issues rather than tackle them. It removes the incentive to be independent. Nobody sat in their house in the way you
describe 100 years ago.

@Wildflowers99

Because I think it encourages people to lean into their MH issues rather than tackle them. It removes the incentive to be independent.

Are you fucking kidding me?

My son will NEVER be independent, he is disabled. He isn't leaning into anything, it’s not a choice.

Oh and autism is not a MH issue

Btw I hope you all appreciate you’re directly asking me these things, so I’m answering honestly. I wouldn’t share the above unless asked.

Yes the amount spent on PIP for physical disabilities has not changed, that is fairly stable. The large rise in people claiming PIP is amongst people with neurodiversity and mental health problems.

I think it would. Plus diagnosis is irrelevant anyway as it's based on needs and rightly so. I have an ASD child who probably won't qualify for pip and one who gets the highest compensation of both. Neither have an LD but they do have very different needs.

No, I’m not kidding. I don’t think what I’m saying is controversial - that if you’re able bodied and have no learning difficulty, you shouldn’t be on long term benefits. I’m not saying people don’t need help, hence why I would spend more on MH support, but I don’t think benefits are the form of help in the national interest.

Component not compensation.

Bloody hell, for a start autism isn't a mental health condition you can walk off and follow up with a banana.

Secondly, no, people ended up on the streets and soon dead, or institutionalised - and also with poor life expectancy. They were brutalised and abused.

@Wildflowers99

No, I’m not kidding. I don’t think what I’m saying is controversial - that if you’re able bodied and have no learning difficulty, you shouldn’t be on long term benefits.

How do you suggest my son lives, if not from benefits?

If he’s unemployed then presumably he’s claiming UC.

@Wildflowers99

If he’s unemployed then presumably he’s claiming UC.

He isn't, but you were talking about the fact he should not be entitled to PIP, so what would you suggest a severely disabled autistic person do, if not claim PIP?

Why do you draw the line at LD @Wildflowers99 ? Plenty of people with LD can work and live independently with support. What's the difference between that situation and someone who's autistic and also needs support to live independently but can also work?

Also pip is to help with the additional costs that come from being disabled. Not to cover everyday needs that we all have.

About 20% of people with Autism are in work. I know many unable to work who don't have learning disabilities

How do those people fund their extra disability costs?

If they can’t claim unemployed benefits, then work or rely on family.

By working?

Did you miss the "unable to work" bit?

Why are they unable to work? If they are able bodied and have no learning difficulty?

I think some things said about some people with ASD are nonsense. We went to Disney. ASD kids got a fast pass because they can not cope with queuing, but went on rides with massive levels of stimulation. It just seemed contradictory.

Maybe employers reject them?

Then they can use that as proof of unemployment for the sake of unemployment benefits.

Because 100 years ago people with high functioning autism were in asylums, in the workhouse or dead by suicide. Some more fortunate souls might be able to be self employed and find jobs that for their neurotype.

I wonder whether part of the problem in today's society is we are not geared towards ND individuals, the workplace nowadays isn't geared for those with ADHD, autism etc. Being self employed or working from home or part time work may be ideal for some.

@DaveyTheCavy Not true. How many kids are diagnosed and then parents realise they have the same symptoms as do their parents. People who all worked

@wildflowers why are people with learning difficulties unable to work? do you even understand what a learning difficulty is?

It's dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia....You're advocating for people with those challenges to not work, whilst others with more severe needs should work?

People who don't understand the difference between a learning difficulty and learning disability should probably keep their misinformed opinion to themselves.

Yes they were but the asylums were closed in the 80s and we didn’t see this uptake in benefits for ND until very recently.

How can it not be geared toward ND when we have more working from home than ever?

I forgot to say I would also open massive respite centres for families with profoundly autistic non verbal children. I knew a few families with children like this and their lives are very very very hard. It’s absolutely incomparable to a woman in her 50s who is diagnosed with ADHD but goes on holiday, lives alone etc