Reporting adaping to difficulties - making changes to lifestyle in order to live. — Scope | Disability forum
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Reporting adaping to difficulties - making changes to lifestyle in order to live.

Yadnad
Yadnad Posts: 2,856 Disability Gamechanger
Have a meeting next week with someone that says he is an expert at Welfare Benefit claims. He charges on a no win/no pay basis taking a percentage of the backpay if and when he gets it.
 
One thing that does worry me is what do I say to him. Obviously all of my conditions are up to 38 years old (coming off a galloping horse on to the wet send and landing hard on the base of my spine) with the most recent problem - loss of hearing in both ears being prescribed two hearing aids about 5 years ago and everything else in between.

The impact on my life for all of the issues together is difficult to put into words - do I spit them up?

Also like most disabled people you learn to live with your problems finding ways around the difficulties so as to manage in a different way.

If I tell him that in the main I have adjusted my lifestyle (no longer walk any distance so get a taxi instead) that the problems that did exist are much depleted only because of how I have adapted to them. This was what the OT used to do with me years ago - find another way of solving the problem change the type of clothing I wear, change how I communicate with people, change how I make meals and change how I keep control of my medication etc etc - 'where there is the will there will always be a way'..

Because of these changes am I supposed to explain them all - because I have adapted would it go against me for PIP?

Or do I explain what the impact was before I adapted to them.
 


Comments

  • ricky1040
    ricky1040 Community member Posts: 121 Pioneering
    Hey u put this all very well. Im not sure about this person ur hiring if they want money. But apart from that u need to basically think of every single thing in ur life that is effected by a condition. What u do to help with or fix this. If not able mention this also. You di need that level of detail. And explain your situation as it is the majority of the time. Not some days like this some days other. Think. As a whole what am i like most and only tell them that. Thats my advice bassd on what iv been told and i was successful at appeal
  • Yadnad
    Yadnad Posts: 2,856 Disability Gamechanger
    edited December 2018
    No choice actually I can't cope with a Tribunal on my own so I went looking for someone that could do it for me even though it will cost at least 50% of the backpay from Jan. I didn't realise how many people are out there that can do this type of job but you have to pay them - you don't get anything today for free so I have found out.

    Right so I should tell him what I am like now and not what I was like before I found ways to solve the issues even though the way I do things now takes longer that it took when I was able to do them before I became useless. Before I found alternative ways I couldn't do very much for myself.
    Also I presume I should tell him how much better I feel and am able to do more because of the pain relief I take?.


  • CockneyRebel
    CockneyRebel Community member Posts: 5,209 Disability Gamechanger
    You should tell it as it is, the good, the bad and the ugly. What happens when you remove your coping strategies ?
    We all have ways of adapting just so we can get on with life but this should be taken into account. For many of us normal does not exist but you need to get your normal and compare it to an able persons normal
    Be all you can be, make  every day count. Namaste
  • Tardis
    Tardis Community member Posts: 214 Pioneering
    It is about how you are now, not 20 years ago.  Some coping strategies are sustainable adaptations and others have a cost (in terms of ability to manage later on, or in other areas of life).  Take the activities of daily living, and describe the difficulties you have.   For example, with dressing, you might have made simple adaptations to your life to enable you to manage this.  Explain this.  For another point, like engaging with others, the coping strategies you use in order to manage this (which you clearly do) probably have a knock on effect on your ability to cope for the next few hours? days?  Explain this too.

    Did you manage to contact oldestrocker?  He wants 50% of your award to help you?  Just make sure he gets you a longer award!
  • Yadnad
    Yadnad Posts: 2,856 Disability Gamechanger
    edited December 2018
    Tardis said:
    It is about how you are now, not 20 years ago.  Some coping strategies are sustainable adaptations and others have a cost (in terms of ability to manage later on, or in other areas of life).  Take the activities of daily living, and describe the difficulties you have.   For example, with dressing, you might have made simple adaptations to your life to enable you to manage this.  Explain this.  For another point, like engaging with others, the coping strategies you use in order to manage this (which you clearly do) probably have a knock on effect on your ability to cope for the next few hours? days?  Explain this too.

    Did you manage to contact oldestrocker?  He wants 50% of your award to help you?  Just make sure he gets you a longer award!
    Thanks, that was the bit I was confused over. I have to explain to him how I am today (or was when I filled in the review form back end of last year)
    That's OK then. But if I explain that I can now do things because of the way I have adapted my lifestyle then that will obviously go against me.
    Take bathing, I have a social services provided electric bath chair/riser. Because of that bit of kit I now no longer have difficulties getting into and out of the bath.
    Same with toilets. They also provided two toilet frames and raised seats (one for downstairs and the other for upstairs. Because of that I am able to grab the frame whilst cleaning myself whereas before it was either my wife holding me or hanging onto the wash basin which eventually came away from the wall. Because of those aids I can now toilet myself.

    No I didn't - it would be an almost impossible task trying to find an accountant that works in and around Canterbury who goes by the pen name of Oldestrocker.

    I asked some of my colleagues including one who is responsible for Social Care if they knew of someone that could possibly help me out.  
  • Tardis
    Tardis Community member Posts: 214 Pioneering
    Yes, if you are only able to do those things with the use of aids, then you should get points for needing aids.  If despite the use of aids you still need assistance much of the time then you should say so.
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,352 Disability Gamechanger
    Tardis said:
    Yes, if you are only able to do those things with the use of aids, then you should get points for needing aids.  If despite the use of aids you still need assistance much of the time then you should say so.
    If assistance is needed then you must explain why you can't use the aids. Points will be given for use of aids if they think you can reasonably use then, rather than needing assistance. You must given examples of what happened the last time you attempted that activity with the use of an aid and why assistance was needed.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.

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