So, who is going to employ all these disabled people the government wants to wean of welfare

[Jimisnotmyname]

Really wondering. Not saying it is necessarily a bad thing to encourage those who can work, to work but as a carer for 2 disabled family members, I am hugely struggling to find another job as nobody is willing to give me any flexibility (which I need as a carer) and there are always candidates who do not need the same accomodations I do. I would imagine that many of those currently not in work because of disability or a health condition, will often need a similar level of flexibility. I just wonder who on the the government think will offer jobs galore on these circumstances??

ADHD is a neurological condition that cannot be developed, because of smart phones or anything else. You cannot become neurodiverse, you either are or you aren’t.

Some things can exacerbate the symptoms, but you’d have already had it. Your iPhone won’t have given you it.

Can it be detected by a brain scan?

Or just by self reported symptoms?

Tell me you don’t know how long the diagnostic pathway is without telling me you don’t know 😂.

Honestly.

The idea that anyone would entertain the looooong process of getting their kid diagnosed with a neurological condition, for the sake of DLA/PIP, is ridiculous. It’s the absolute minority of cases that would be fabricated. Very few would go to the mammoth effort.

It's absolutely not hard to get.

I found out yesterday a close family member gets it. He does have a genuine medical condition. But at the assessment he said he couldn't leave the house. He's read the mark scheme used by the assessors which is freely available online so knew exactly what to say at the assessment.

However he's just come back from a holiday to Europe, drives a car, goes out with friends, has a job. Lives a perfectly normal life.

How long is the process? Would it be quicker if you paid privately? Because all the people we know would definitely have gone private.

If there's "no money" how do you propose that PIP is paid in the first place?

Obviously this system is open to abuse. I'd be naive to think otherwise. Anyone would.

Some people, you wouldn’t believe, can’t afford to go private.

My stepson has an NHS Autism diagnosis, that took 2 years to get. That’s his main need and it is obvious. His ADHD diagnosis however, is private, and is medicated privately. He has 2 paediatricians, one that is paid for and one that isn’t.

Couldn’t tell you the cost, my in laws paid the initial costs. But people who, reasonably, don’t have access to that money or help would just have to wait.

Not the kids I know with ADHD. You're in the wrong area. Very easy to get the diagnosis in my region and with self reported symptoms only. Encouraged by schools.

Can you honestly not see that there are other pots to target. I feel the same way about pensioners if that helps.

The funding and budgets that IMO shouldn’t be subject to widespread reform are childcare/education, the elderly, and disabled care.

There are lots of other areas to focus on.

I’m beginning to think you don’t believe in disabled people, at all. 😂

Then report them. Better to report specific fraudsters than to assume everyone is fraudulent and deny those who need and deserve PIP what they need through a swingeing cut.

If it's so easy to get why do 70% of people have to go to tribunal and win? And it's rarely "I was one point off an award, appealed and got 9 points". Many got 0, went to tribunal and got an enhanced award which is 12 points minimum.

Yes of course I think this is a shit pot to target. I don't agree with targeting pensioners or farmers or anyone that Labour have targeted. I massively object to the pandering to the unions and the massive pay rises given to well paid train drivers, paid for it would seem, off the back of the poor. That's Labour priorities though. We are now all in the shit.

If I were a PIP claimant I'd try and get PIP unionised somehow and then they would all be rolling in it...

I know some people can't go private.

My response was to the poster who said it was a long process to get the diagnosis. On the NHS maybe but definitely not private.

All my DDs friends are very well off (private school) and 100% would have gone private.

We went private for her dyslexia and had an appointment within a week.

Thats the system we have in this country, we pay tax, those taxes go to pay for all sorts of things.

I have never called the fire brigade - but my taxes fund that. Why should people who are silly enough to have their house catch fire be funded by the taxpayer eh? They should pay for the fire services emergency call out themselves.

I won't live long enough to draw a pension so why should my taxes go to pay for pensioners claiming now (bear in mind the money they paid in went to fund pensioners at the time)...

I don't have cancer myself, why should my taxes be used to fund cancer treatments?

If you don't like the tax system, or the idea of a welfare state that supports those who need support... I dunno what to tell you really, go live on the Moon where there are no taxes to pay. And fund your own rocket there?

As for that list of conditions...

PIP is awarded on how significantly a condition affects you, not on what the condition actually is.

So a cleft lip is one of the most common facial abnormalities, with 1 in 700 babies born with it. If only 44 people are claiming PIP for a cleft lip, it must have some pretty significant impact on their lives and be very serious, not surgically corrected in childhood...

And those stats only show the dx condition that person has - it doesn't show what other difficulties they have that may not have a dx to go with them.

My original PIP claim would have 'heart failure' and 'fibromyalgia' on it, but my current one has Ehlers Danlos, Heart failure, Hypothyroid, cervical and lumbar stenosis and a bunch of other things - because I was affected by the symptoms of these things long before I got the dx!

Help me out here.

If you’re privately funding a diagnosis for either yourself or your children, it’s not likely you’re doing it for the DLA/PIP. Evidently don’t need the money, so wouldn’t be doing it for money grabbing reasons.

Most who pay to go private do it out of desperation and not feeling able to wait, so if they can pay then they do.

But call me naive, I don’t believe it’s so they can claim money they don’t deserve or need.

If I did they would 100% know it was me because it's a relative of DH and it was obvious when he told me about the PIP that I was shocked.

If I was to report it I'd have to wait for at least 6 months but even then DH might suspect it was me.

If I'd somehow found out without DH knowing I knew I'd report it now.

The government’s own figures for PIP fraud is 0%.

The list of conditions for which PIP has been awarded is an arbitrary one, where only one condition is named out of a whole possible bundle of conditions. The DWP say the condition listed should be ‘the main condition’ but the DWP is, shall we say, known for its fuck-ups around PIP paperwork, hence the very high success rate for claimants at tribunal.

Cleft lip can involve the whole palate. Some sufferers are born with nothing between their nose and mouth. I expect those who are claiming PIP are at the severe end or have had limited success with surgery and have associated difficulties with speech, hearing, eating or breathing.

Not to mention the fact that you don't need a diagnosis to claim DLA, it is based on care needs compared to children the same age.

The systems our society have in place currently aren't working that's for sure. Employment, welfare, healthcare, education, travel, tourism, law enforcement, housing, media etc.
Every single one is no longer fit for purpose.
So why do we insist on trying to prop them up? Neoliberal captilism has failed, and with the looming introduction of AI it will start become more and more destructive and deadly. Is this what we want for our kids?
We need a new way of looking at things entirely.
We need to stop viewing humans as only units of profit making labour. There are so many pointless jobs out there for a start. There's important work to done in the world for sure, and it can be shared more fairly, as could resources. There's no need for us all to be fighting each other for 40 hour week jobs that increasingly dont pay enough to live a decent standard of living, just so a billionaire can build a bigger super yacht. Rather than sharing the labour out having double the number of us working 20 hour weeks instead that pay a proper living wage. Freeing up time to be active in the community and care giving. People would be happier and healthier saving so much money for various things we pay through the a$$ for the state to do. (and often do badly).
This is just one idea, it needs a ton of polictal will which won't happen in current climate of governments being beholden to global oligarchs.
Ultimately people see those at the top of the current system, in their lavish luzury, and wish to become one of them. This causes them to continue to support the corrupt system in the hope one day they might benefit too, rather than reckonising how sick the system is and organising for radical change for the benefit of all.
Everyone saying the country can't afford all these benefits is missing the point. The amount of tax taken each year is enormous but so much is wasted! A staggering amount. And so much goes on servicing debt. So much paying massive dividends to the already wealthy.
Everyone saying there are scroungers and scammers should remember that a population that's divided and too busy blaming each other doesn't have time to take down the corrupt ruler.
There are always those who will abuse a system or lie and cheat. It's human nature to respond to incentives and currently there are little incentives for average people to participate in the corrupt system.
To everyone saying there are loads of mythical unicorn jobs out there that are flexible and understanding, I would like to see their evidence? There was someone even suggesting someone get a job as a librarian, as if it were that easy, despite all the libraries currently being under threat from closure and the already working and qualified librarians soon to be out of a job. It's so tone deaf.
Sorry I realise im just ranting now but I honestly despair for the world my kids and possible grandkids are going to inherit.

Employers make it possible. I won't give specifics but we hired someone undergoing cancer treatment and another with 2 life changing physical diagnoses. We are humans. Diversity makes us stronger.

This is so true it will be so risky now taking a chance on someone, employers can’t afford to chance having to pay SSP, if the government covered that then they might be able to chance supporting someone back into work, without it how do you manage?

Education institutions are definitely not flexible. Multiple colleagues of mine have asked for flexible working, even as simple as to just to take a kid to a hospital appointment and it has not always been forthcoming.god forbid anyone ask for regular flexible working.

I worked with someone who was paralysed from the chest down. The company made the necessary adjustments for him to return to work, and in all the time I knew him he never had any time off work other than his holidays. So, I think it’s fair to say that not all disabled people need flexibility. Equally, I believe that many employers would be happy to employ a disabled person for their great work ethic and desire to be treated as just another member of the workforce.