Disability

[lindanut]

Is Long term severe atopic asthma a disability

[EmmaF91 Community Ambassador]

Definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010

You’re disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities. (The Equality Act 2010 doesn’t apply to Northern Ireland.)

What ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ mean;

‘substantial’ is more than minor or trivial, eg it takes much longer than it usually would to complete a daily task like getting dressed

‘long-term’ means 12 months or more, eg a breathing condition that develops as a result of a lung infection

There are special rules about recurring or fluctuating conditions, eg arthritis. ( gov.uk/definition-of-disabi... )

So for some asthma would be classed as a disability, for others asthma is not. It all depends on how much it impacts your day to day life

Hope this helps

[starveycat]

If you are thinking of applying for benefits, send for the form , and when filled they will decide. Good luck

[Jimmy-Lyden in reply to starveycat]

Ask someone for help in filling the form in, someone with experience in these things. Someone like the Citizens Advice as the ones at the other end tend to skew your answers in ways you would hardly comprehend.

[EmmaF91 Community Ambassador in reply to starveycat]

If you do apply for PIP and feel like you should get it but get denied, you may need to appeal. I did so (with the support of my team) and now I receive pip.

As Jimmy said CAB is the best place to go if filling out the form

[Poobah]

Emma is spot on re the Equality Act, which sets out the criteria in law. There's no register; you often hear people say "registered disabled", but there's no such thing. Asthma isn't specifically mentioned in the Equality Act but it's definitely a condition that could fall into the criteria if it affects someone's daily life long term.

Depending on the context, just because a disability meets the Equality Act criteria, doesn't automatically mean that the individual is entitled to benefits or a blue badge or other services. But it does mean that employers should make the workplace more equitable and public spaces have to be compliant with the Act.

[Logo132]

I would say it would definitely depend on the individual and how their asthma affects them. For example, I have asthma that is currently well controlled with drugs. I’m able to work and don’t consider myself disabled. However, if a person was on several lots of steroids a year and multiple hospitalisations which had a major impact on their life and ability to work, then yes, I think they would be considered as disabled.

[Nutzs47]

I have been told by my ohs department at work that my asthma puts me under the disability act /equality Act also my asthma nurse told me that if I went on to secondary care my employers do have to take my asthma serious and I can ask for workplace adjustments unfortunately I work with one of my triggers but my asthma is managed well under primary care at the moment

[Cal_]

Someone once described it to me as "if you didn't use your inhalers would you be ok"