PIP

[Myadhdusername]

Is it even worth trying?

One minute I think 'I am an articulate woman and am able to explain how my ADHD affects my life and means that I struggle with Daily Living' then next I think 'how on earth do you convince someone that just because you physically can cook a meal doesn't mean you can?'

The forms are so geared up towards physical disabilities it's actually a disgrace. Yes, I can bath/shower alone but leave me to my own devices and will I?

Just in case anyone reads this who hasn't hyper focused on PIP yet - yes you can get it for ADHD, you don't need a diagnosis you just need to be able to show and explain how it affects your life and it's not means tested.

I'm on a few groups on Facebook and months ago I reached out to a charity who can assist with the forms but I just don't know if I have it in me tbh. The percentage of people who receive it after just one application is small I think and having to deal with all of the admin in order to get to tribunal is just ADHD hell!

Any success stories for me?

My PIP assessment (5 years ago, was awarded for 4 years and the renewal came around during a particularly bleak period and couldn’t face it again) was awful.

Full of “If you can’t do that for yourself, how do you do it for your children?” Despite my advocate repeatedly stating that it was an assessment for PIP, for me, and she was not a social worker determining if I was a fit parent or not.

“You don’t live with another adult, so who prompts you?” My friends. Via calls or texts. Or alarms that I ignore. According to her, that didn’t make sense. I said I’d show her my WhatsApp messages, texts and calls logs. She didn’t want to see them.

Ignoring/being unable to fulfil my own needs is very much a MH and ND thing. Looking after my kids is entirely separate, she couldn’t grasp it and was a massive twat.

Her report said “States she doesn’t eat often, but looks well nourished”

I was a stone underweight ffs.

“Well presented”

I was in dirty pyjamas and hadn’t showered for 7 days.

I was somehow awarded Daily Mobility - which I suspect was due to Student Finance funding my taxis to and from Uni - and was awarded Enhanced Daily too when I did an MR.

Do send any reports or letters from any medical staff - they tried to tell me I couldn’t, and that they’d contact them. They never did. Nor did they actually look at the letters from my Psych, my ADHD/ASD Psych (different departments in my PCR), my OT, or my GP.

In comparison, getting DLA for my child with ASD and MH issues was a doddle. It took 16 weeks for them to look at it, they called me and asked who was best to speak to, I told them the MH nurse as he’s better at answering the phone. Got another call 2 hours later to say she’d been awarded High Rate on both elements, for 5 years.

It's really hard to explain isn't it?
Thankfully my dc were older when I applied.
It is typical for me to make food for my dc but not manage for myself.
Or put sunscreen on them and not on me.

Mine were 11, 9 and 3, so not babies, and as I was a student with a timetable that was 9-5, Mon-Fri, I didn’t have to do “much”, anyway!