Ok who wants to swap £2500 a month in benefits for my husbands MS and my epilepsy, narcolepsy and fibromyalgia.

[bluebirdblackbird]

Well according to a lot of people on here we are on a good thing.

the 20 seizures I have in a week, chronic pain and night terrors, losing my memory after a seizure, pissing myself, hallucinations. They are all great fun. Not to mention the amount of times I have been accused of being drunk after a seizure.

or there is my husband. Diagnosed with progressive MS. Cronic Pain, shaking, cronic pins and needles, weakness in limbs plus losing mobility. Had to give up his teaching job 4 months ago after gradually reducing hours.

Not to mention the judgement when we use a blue badge because we look ok in that moment. And apparently labour are going to find us both work. Yippee cant wait to meet the employer who is going to take us both on. I am sure pissing my chair on a reg basis won’t matter to them or the losing counciouness at least a couple of times a day.

i am just fed up of yet another they are on benefits and get money and it’s not fair stamp stamp stamp. The bastards have saved up for a holiday- it’s not fair. The bastards have a mobility car but they look fine, OMG- they have got new carpets or a new sofa.

since I am guessing they none of the moaners would actually swap places with us if they could then STFU.

oh and that pip that is easy to get- my husband gets lower rate for both and that is despite providing all the evidence and appealing so we are off to tribunal. He can’t even dress himself most days and he can’t hold a pan safely or manage his medication plus many other things. If he stays on the points he is on he will lose his pip completely under these new labour proposals.

but most people know someone who’s friends, aunts, nephews, stepdaughters, cousin twice removed who lied and got it. I was taking to a lady in a wheelchair who does not get any mobility component of pip at all.

In many cases though there aren’t any additional costs.

I never said they would be awarded DLA just for that but they are parts of the assessment. They help towards meeting the threshold for when DLA is awarded.

Your younger son sounds like someone that is undoubtedly in need of additional support and I'm not talking about these cases. There are lots of kids though that operate in a grey area though. Where they are behind in some areas but where is the threshold where the state steps in? I currently think it's too low and we catching lots of essential quite 'normal' behaviour in these assessments.

two full time working adults wouldn't be taking home less than 2.5k per month.

Well if someone had no additional needs, that could be eased/improved with additional aids in their life...they won't get PIP. It's an insanely invasive and difficult process, they aren't handing extra cash out like sweeties, despite what the Daily Mail might peddle.

That's not the implication. Everyone deserves nice things. Every single person deserves a liveable wage. When I talk about nice things, I'm referring to the rhetoric that people on benefits should only buy the cheapest food, or not have a TV, or never order a Costa. Small luxuries. Funnily enough disabled people have had to campaign over the years. Disabled people are a scapegoat, and the problems with cost of living is not their fault.

Working people should afford nice things too. Every single person working full time should be able to work with money to save for property, to go on holiday, etc. NO ONE should be scrimping and saving. We are not a poor country. The government always manages to conjure money when needed for things like war.

I'm a mental health nurse. I join my union, and I strike for better conditions and wages when the time comes. It's not the fault of disabled people that I need to do this. It's the fault of people in power, and unequal distribution of money which significantly favours the top 5% of earners.

Anyone who truly believes disabled people are responsible for the cost of living in this country has been taken in by garbage from the media.

It is very hard to get things like PIP. Most claims are rejected. Most people who claim PIP GENUINELY need it. I would know, because I sometimes help patients with the evidence.

I can't imagine being so spiteful that to think just because I would also like a higher standard of living, we should take money away from the disabled. £2.5 between two people is not even two lots of minimum wage.

How odd with no medical evidence 🤔

Quite!
It's not against the people who deserve it, so to speak, it's about the fakers and how some on benefits get more £ than a full time worker.

How someone is struggling in this country and a war faker gets a 4 bedroom house first in queue.

Not happening now, but I remember a girl I worked with deliberately getting pregnant for house.

Her mum had done the same years before and that's all she aspired to at the time.

It's the system to blame.

Solidarity to all struggling on this thread. ❤️

Unfortunately I think there is a sustained campaign of "othering" and propaganda being ramped up to see if "the problem" will take care of itself. It's psychological warfare, similar to the efforts during Covid, and thanks to the Internet it's far more insidious and dangerous than we could possibly imagine.

The new bogeyman are the "economically unproductive" - and within that, we have multiple ethnicities, both sexes, and the disabled/vulnerable. It's genius really. And it's history repeating itself.

There will be spluttering of "hyperbole" and "no-ones advocating camps" but these days there's more than one way to skin a cat. Make people feel ashamed and worthless and grind them down. Not seen any "it's selfish to have children if you / they are disabled" posts here, but there's been some on other threads.

The world economy is designed for the richest. The way we are heading, the biggest worry is that those kept in line with "jam tomorrow if you don't question the hands that feed you" might start directing their ire in the wrong direction - upwards. Hence the concerted bait and switch.

Just keep on doing what you're doing. It's going to get pretty messy, but if kicking the crutches out from under the crippled is your bag why should you be denied? After all, you're poor too... Ironic that this is supposed to be a Christian country.

Bwahaha.

"Lots of people (me included) are raising children that have challenges. Children that could probably qualify for some diagnosis if you really pushed it."

Having a diagnosis doesn't mean entitlement to DLA since it is given on care needs.

What is 'standard' though? That's my point. It's hugely subjective and there is a huge range of 'normal'. There is also a huge grey area where the majority of peers might have a skill but a substantial minority haven't mastered it yet. Lots of adults (arguable most) for example have some kind of disordered eating so is this normal or an additional care need?

That’s simply not true. Th re is no need to show additional costs as part of a pip application

I guess when it affects there ability to navigate life independently
My oldest also has some issues ,he's not academic at all
He is also an insulin dependent Diabetic
But he's independent and would never meet the criteria for PIP.

Presumably you can claim it but not actually take the money, like claiming but not taking child benefit gets you pension credits?

To my knowledge you can’t claim it but not take it, the money is used for supports and therapies that she needs. I work full time for a very accommodating employer and pay considerably more in tax than she receives so I’m not going to sweat too much about it.

The idea though that if you receive any kind of state support you shouldn’t go on holiday, run a car, have anything that others might not be able to afford is ridiculous. People make choices about how they spend their money regardless of where the money comes from. They make choices about work, where they live and how they spend their time. That means they will prioritise different spending and budget accordingly - which is fine.

No, but I think we know that this is the area where claims have exploded and it is also an area where no definitive tests can be run to diagnose people.

I’d give all my benefits up and the “free car” in a heartbeat for a normal life. I’ve been physically disabled since birth. Very visible disability and one that seems still very much ok to laugh at and generally be obnoxious towards. I’ve been treated as a freak show so often. I can’t wipe my own bum, had to have a special toilet put in to clean me, so I struggle to go on holidays etc as I can never be properly clean even in the mishmash ways that I try. I spent my childhood having so many surgeries, some 12 hour ones! Only for it to go wrong and end up with a life changing injury.
Despite all this I did manage a career for as long as I could and I have one DS, wasn’t planned, spent weeks/months of my pregnancy trying to convince ex dh, family etc that I was capable and worthy enough to be a mother and my child was worthy enough to exist. Spent most of his life proving that he’s not a carer for me, and hiding from his school peers in fear of him being bullied due to me. Spent 17 years in a toxic violent and abusive relationship believing this was all I was worth and how lucky I was to have bagged myself a normal man, frequently screamed at how on family days out he was also mocked for being with someone like me. All this whilst my siblings are in lovely marriages and have really successful lives. I could have been them without this disability, yeah the £2k a month is fuck all and if there was a reset button for my life id press it and come back “normal”.

Of course you're right, this is true for anyone on benefits, disabled or not. Just don't be shocked though when resentment builds if people believe that their taxes are being spent on luxuries that they themselves can't afford. Ultimately we live in a democracy and this will lead to change if the majority begin to feel this way.

I assume that is for OP and her husband so two people. Not comparable to a single person's salary.

In times of war the government doesn’t just ‘find’ the money though, it borrows heavily so that future generations have to pay it back.

in non extreme times as war, the government tries as best as it can the balance the books so it pays out as near to what it takes in. (Which is usually fails at but it tries).

so remember in all this it is the working people who often have little themselves that have to cover the cost of all benefits. Arguing that people should be paid more so they pay more taxes is ultimately inflationary so benefits will also go up and so forth. The fact is the working population can only sustain paying for a certain % of the populace to be on benefits or the whole system breaks.

I'm sorry, 2.5k a month is so little for 2 people, I can't imagine anyone would be rushing to swap places 💐

@Zippidydoodah She's tried a lot of medications. The only one that worked stopped her from feeling anything at all. She still had the intrusive thoughts constantly, but she didn't care about the outcomes anymore. She didn't care if she died or if I died or her sister. She also didn't feel joy or happiness. She said it was like being in an emotional fog. She would rather feel the constant fear than nothing at all.

The meds she is on now makes the thoughts slightly easier to cope with and the dread in her stomach feels a little less but it's still there and there are still days when her mind runs away with itself and she can't function because she knows something dreadful is going to happen to her or someone she knows.

We've finally found a counsellor she clicked with, and that's helping her slowly. Again, she still has the thoughts and fear, but she is starting to be able to manage them better.

Most children can be a bit picky with food but not to the extent of starving themselves or having a meltdown if the packaging suddenly changes.

Most children are potty trained by a certain age.

Most children can talk by a certain age.

My 9 year old can't walk. It is standard that 9 year olds can walk.

The criteria for PIP.is that you can't independently care for yourself ,need help.with del ,care cooking ,cleaning etc ,
So. If a person with disordered eating can independently do everything for themselves they wouldn't meet the critrria.

I think this is it. We need higher wages and perhaps rent control. Not sure how to achieve either of those though.

It absolutely is outrageous that highly qualified and experienced professionals often paying a student loan back are leaving with only 2500 a month with the way everything else is so expensive . And I know many full time workers don’t even get that.

It’s no wonder people are turning against each other unfortunately.

So what you’re saying is that someone who is disabled doesn’t deserve a reasonably decent standard of living. £2500 a month for a couple isn’t a lot these days and l would imagine it includes rent/council tax concessions. Disability benefits are paid at a slightly higher rate because there is significant cost to living with a disability.

I was talking about DLA and what can be included. Chances are that an adult with disordered eating may have also been a child/teen with disordered eating. Therefore the prompting to make good choices, reasonable meal sizes etc are going to apply to an also lot of kids and young people.