Hi readers, it’s Emily, Kerry and William here, continuing our thoughts about benefits from last week.
Today we start with how stressful it can be attending benefit appointments, like assessment reviews. Getting asked lots of questions can make us feel very anxious, especially seeing the person interviewing us writing or filling in boxes, as we speak. It’s better if they are friendly or reframe questions if they see we’re struggling, but many don’t.
Some of the questions make us think ‘the system’ doesn’t understand the complexities and difficulties associated with having a learning disability. They can be difficult or vague, and hard to answer. For example, we might say yes to cooking a meal, but we also need to be asked if we can turn on the oven or do the shopping. We’d also like to be asked about the volunteering work we do, not just paid work.
Also, our answers could vary depending on how we feel that day. Like, some days we may feel we can do everything (we’d possibly fail the assessment), so it’s probably best being interviewed on a bad day when we aren’t managing.
It can be hard getting to interviews too. I, William, I had to go to Poole for my PIP assessment. Luckily my parents took me. What if they couldn’t?
What I, Kerry, never understood, is why I was assessed every six months growing up, despite having both a physical and learning disability. Why did I need to prove I was still disabled? That, on top of the bullying I got at school, didn’t exactly make me feel good. No benefits people asked how my mental health was!
Next week our final column on benefits, so tune in to find out our parting thoughts!
The writers of the Our View column are supported in their editing by People First Dorset - a charity led and run by people with learning disabilities with support from staff
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