Going out? confusion, cant grasp it

Dribble

There's no clear definition of what following a route is, it's not going to the corner of your road and it's not going from London to Leeds, perhaps a god example would be going from your home to the local shops. It can be on foot or by car, the principles are the same.

So you need to be able to understand where you are at any point in the journey, you need to be able to work out what you need to do next, you need to be able to deal with diversions or blockages to your route. The route must be navigated safely, so for walking you must be able recognise and go to safe places for crossing the road, for driving the equivalents would be taking notice of road signals, such as traffic lights, one way streets, give ways, etc.

The DWP consider this to be an issue of cognitive or sensory ability, you have no sensory problems that you have mentioned so you need to show that your cognitive ability can be limited, one of the ways this can be done is by a claimant experiencing such anxiety that they are unable to think clearly any more.

So as an example; if a claimant suffers from colitis or Crohn’s disease they may be too anxious to follow a journey unaccompanied because of fear of an episode of incontinence. If someone is with them then they can help the person to stay calm, help then to find a lavatory and help them deal with the aftermath of an episode of incontinence.

The important thing is that the physical problem leads to anxiety of sufficient scale that it prevents the person from continuing to follow the route., because it is being unable to follow the route that is being considered and not the underlying cause.

Gordon

Dribble wrote: So on that basis Gordon, given the crohns example, can I state then that I can't follow the route of an unfamiliar journey because the fear of my hip giving way or sticking which is agony, whilst Sat or walking causes me such anxiety that I would not attempt unfamiliar journeys unaided or assisted as I would get too anxious and they would have to take over or get me home . Sorry I know I'm being a pain , but I think this question is ridiculous.

You need to concentrate on why you cannot navigate a route as it is this that will score the points.

Gordon

Dribble

It's fine but you need to go on and explain how you are affected when there is not someone with you. A stand alone statement is nothing more than that you need to provide evidence an testimony to support what you are saying, I don't particularly like the phrase but you need to paint a picture of your problems.

Gordon