Anyone else hate filling in forms?

[elliejjtiny]

So I have dyspraxia which is like a bit of autism, a bit of dyslexia, a bit of ADHD and a lot of clumsiness thrown in. I also have a husband who has autism and 5 ND children. I can handle the childrens various difficulties no problem most of the time but the form filling never seems to end and I'm really struggling. At the moment I am trying to sort out a dla form and an autism assessment form for my 14 year old, an adhd assessment form for my 11 year old. My 7 year old is going to need an ehcp form doing soon and my 15 year old is going to be 16 in 2 months which means an application for PIP needs doing as well.

My 14 year old's teaching assistant keeps emailing me to ask if I've done his form yet and I'm still on page 12 of about 55. The next question wants the name and contact details of every professional who has ever been involved with him. I wouldn't have a clue about half their first names, never mind anything else and I wonder why they want to know about the physio he had in 2008 anyway. But I'm worried if I get this form wrong he won't get his diagnosis and it will be all my fault.

Has anyone got any tips on how to get this done? Surely form filling shouldn't be a full time job, even with 5 children with special needs?

yes, definitely. instant meltdown

Strangely I quite like filling in forms - I say this not to be unhelpful, but from the perspective if I can (attempt) to explain why, it might be helpful to your approach (but please just ignore me if not).

What I find helpful about a form is that it states in each field what they want, rather than having to try to structure the information yourself - because I find 9 times out of 10 in free format, what makes perfect sense to me is not someone else's version of logic.

The thing where people want information going back decades that you can no longer remember is really, really common - most people who fill in the form will be in the same boat. State that it is 'approx' and if you don't have the name just state their discipline,:

E.g. Physiotherapist at X Clinic, approx 2008.
or
Dr. (?) Simons (?) therapist at Y hospital, approx June 2010

If you work from the starting point that you can only give the information you have, and there is no point worrying about what you don't have, that makes it easier.

I see a lot of (financial) forms in my work, which is why I say that missing information is so common as to be unremarkable and often it's held on a computer somewhere that the person reading the form will be able to access if they do happen to need it.

Yes I get really stressed with unfamiliar forms and always need help ☹️

Demand avoidant me, leave it until the very last moment😬

I avoid form-filling to an embarrassing and unhelpful extent, and I found this advice hugely helpful, thank you.

Same, I've never been able to apply for pip or deal with any bills type thing because of it, they are just so overwhelming, especially ones where its if you answer this go to D otherwise go to C type thing.

I'm really glad it was helpful, Annie.

Wepil Have you tried filling in the 'easy' bits first to break down the task and make it more manageable?

I.e. anything you can fill in without thinking first, such as name and address, then second the more difficult bits, and then anything that is really complex leave till last. That means that by the time you come to the difficult bits, a significant amount of the form is already complete so it may seem less overwhelming.

Again, with the caveat that I'm speaking as a form-liker so this might not be helpful to you but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Fellow dyspraxic here. I both loathe forms and am really bad at it. You are not alone.

@BoardLikeAMirror , your posts are incredibly helpful. I think it's actually because you are a form liker but sympathetic to those of us who struggle. Your sympathy comes through in your posts. Thank you!

What I really like about this board is that we know we all have lists of things we can't do at all, things we can do in an unremarkable way like an NT person and things that we do unusually well or with more than usual pleasure. The lists are different for everyone but we all know how we feel about things on our 'can't do lists' even if one person's can't do list is another's do well list.