Hello Again, I DON'T Know if it's JUST Me DESPITE Having had my BI, Medical Evidence to Back It Up, my Job Centre STILL INSISTS I Attend "Back To Work" interviews/ reviews, despite telling them of my short term memory problem. One Doctor from ATOS deemed though I was "A BIT Forgetful" There is NO reason why I can't work. Initially, my 28 year old Son laughed , Then he got angry stating "This Doctor ought to spend an afternoon with you, Then he see if he thinks you're a bit forgetful."
If IDON'T Attend my appointment I get my benefit stopped UNTIL "They Deem I have jumped through enough hoops And I Do ACTUALLY Have a Genuine problem, Before my ESA is reinstated.
Am I the ONLY One who has to go through this DAMN procedure Or Does Everyone?
Would love to hear some feedback/ advice, Thank you
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Janye
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One of the "benefits" of ESA is that you can be put in thr "support group" and not have to go througj the job club nonsense.
The best thing would be to go to an advisory service (CAB, headway or mind etc.) And get them to support you completing the ESA 50 form which isnt the easiest and may take sevral visits to complete.
Online guides are available but the advisors will have access to these
It took me three years of legal wrangling to be put in the support group of ESA. Are you in the WRAG of ESA then?
Did you appeal the default decision of the fake Drs Maximus employ?
You could use this to your advantage and go to their silly little work focused interviews, but really play on your brain injury, turn it on so that they become exasperated with you and realise that you're in the wrong group and should be in the support group.
This government and their social cleansing, with their ridiculous WCA is not fit for purpose!
I feel for you I really do, like I say it took me three years to get put into the SG of ESA, and it very nearly finished me off!
Hi Janye, yes you will probably a have to jump through their hoops. I was told that medical evidence is not proof that you cannot work as doctors/consultants are not trained to determine whether you can work or not so all the written medical evidence in the world is not going to help.
The forms have to be filled in correctly, that is, you have to write what your worst day is like. I remember the difference between my first application and my second one was incredible.
I could walk 50 yards and go up and down stairs etc but not repeatedly, that was the key. I might be able to tackle a flight of 12 stairs but not another then another. I could walk probably 100 yards but then not 200.
You have to fill the form in as if it's your worst day ever, and explain just how those short term memory problems affect you on a daily basis.
I too would have been a nightmare in the workplace and would never have passed a risk assessment. I was granted ESA on appeal, but then I retired 2 months before it needed to be looked at again so did not pursue it but would have if my pension had not kicked in.
Take some advice and fill those forms in correctly, it is not in our natures to admit the problems we have, we want to be as normal as possible so will gloss over the issues we have to appear the best we can be.
I have incontinence problems too and have to know just where the toilets are, I have to limit my fluid intake and be able to visit said toilets at least once every 2 hours, but I never mentioned this, too embarrassing as an adult but how silly. I would have mentioned it had they not seen sense but even my GP does not know this!!!! I can manage it myself😬
Yes, that is right about your worst day. Whenever I get a form about the DLA or the ESA I hand them to my mum to fill in.
I can't be wracking my brain trying to understand their crappy mumbo jumbo. I've got a brain injury to look after :).
But I have looked at some of the questions on the forms and some of the questions could be "Can you make a cup of tea?". At first, the answer to that would be "Of course I can, I'll go and show you", but that would be a big no no. You might not be able to make that tea the next day or the day after because it happened to be one of your bad days where you might not be able to do a lot with yourself. On my worst day, I would not even be concious.
The DWP used to send DLA forms to me all the time and my mum got annoyed with having to fill them in. A couple of times I would have to see a doctor too. I have problems with my walking balance and the doctor once got me to walk across the road of the cul de sac I live in, in the dark on a Autumn night! This DWP malarky are mental. Like I said in the other comment, they're all money-grabbing bastards and full to the brim with greed.
Well for one thing, my balance can change day upon day. One day could be good and one day bad, as you would guess. Also balance could be better getting around in the day as I can see more of where I am going. Trying to walk, on my own in the dark can be a chore. I usually hold on to a family member.
One of the questions on the DLA form once was to take a ten minute stroll and count how many times I lost my balance. My mum counted, Firstly, I lost balance walking out the door. By the time I made a few paces I had already lost balance five times. In total I lost my balance or would unintentionally sway off over 100 times in a ten minute walk! Depending on the day, I could lose balance just by standing on the spot.
The housing tax we pay is to go towards maintaining the area around you so maybe if the council stuck to that, made all the pathways perfectly straight, (I know that would be a very gruelling and time-consuming thing to do but they should have thought about this years ago), then maybe I wouldn't have so many wobbles.
Anyhow, one day my mum got so frustrated in the end having to repeat herself on the forms time and time again and she added to the form that I had a brain injury and I will not fully recover from it and after she said that they have put me down as an indefinite disability and I have no forms at all for quite a few years now. The only thing I might get from them is updates to how they pay me or cold weather benefits or something like that.
It's good that they no longer send me forms as it is a complete waste of time and a complete waste of trees and it also does not put unwanted stress on both me and my mum.
Not everyone has to go through the procedure, I haven't gone through it... YET. I should think sometime soon, my time will come.
To put it bluntly, ATOS, the DWP and the government are money-grabbing bastards and will do anything to line their own pockets, even if it means discriminating the disabled. They are the lowest of the low.
The job centre still insist you go get a job! To put it plain and simple, they are not you. They haven't been through what you have had to go through and the ATOS doctor said you were "A BIT forgetful"!! What a joke. You can't sum up a persons disability in a number of minutes or hours and in a number of visits, you just cannot do that. You would have to be under total servailance for them to understand everything, which is not comfortable at all and it isn't normal. I thought ATOS had been sent back to frogland but obviously what I read was wrong.
This world is getting crueler and crueler by the minute.
Take care and I really do hope your benefits do not get cut,
I had similar problems which dragged on for months. I believe it's a secret agenda by this evil Government hoping disabled people commit suicide because we are useless to Cameron and co. I emailed my MP about this and about two weeks later the problem was resolved.
I am also wondering if these cases are illegal under The Human Rights Act
Ah yes, the lovely Employment Support Arses, as they are fondly known in our house ! I assume you have been put in the work related group, rather than the support group. Yes, they do expect you to engage in work focussed activities and interviews. The system plays with weighted dice these days - many people who would not be capable of performing efficiently or safely at a job appear to be deemed employable by this incredibly informed and empathetic government ( please note - irony ! )
Attend the interview - hopefully your issues will become apparent during the course of it. As others have said, advice from CAB or Headway may help to clarify if your symptoms ought to put you in the support category instead. I wouldn't be too worried - with the thousands of 'healthy' applicants for jobs, it is unlikely you will be viewed as no 1 employee material by employers if you were to state your problems on an application !
I have some memory and concentration issues but was able to carry on a little cleaning job - I think the repetition was useful. Unfortunately, a relapse has worsened my physical deficits which has ultimately caused me the loss of this job. I would be happy to take on a few hours work, besides my little self employed job ( no health and safety to worry about, can go at own pace and take breaks, working for my neighbour ) but finding someone else who accepted my disability combo and needs would be tricky !
jayne the esa group youre in, benefits only last for 12months before requiring another assessment.
not all assessors are doctors, youve got nurses, paramedics etc who really arent trained to assess certain problems.
you need to take someone with you its important you dont go on your own'
first question .....how did you get here......my son brought me otherwise i may have forgotten where i am.........is the assessee capable of planning a journey....no so for your 1st question youve got 4 of the 15 points needed
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I am nervous, job-wise
Unusual day....
AARGH.
