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my autistic son denied any award
- maverick47
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6 years 1 month ago #215899 by maverick47
my autistic son denied any award was created by maverick47
my son was moved from an indefinite DLA award to PIP in march 2016 he was awarded the enhanced for care and standard for mobility until february 2019 ( i wanted to challenge the mobility component as my son has a service dog he will not leave the house without but my son found the whole assessment process so traumatic he refused to go any further) - however in February 2018 we were sent a review i filled it in taking into account the increase in difficulties in May 2018 we got a letter telling us that he would have to attend another assessment in June 2018. we went to the assessment and from the moment we were called in it was hell on earth. The assessor said she would be asking my son some questions when i tried to explain that because of his autism he will not communicate with strangers i was dismissed with a patronising wave of her hand in my face and told that if my son did not talk she would cancel the assessment and stop his award. She then complained about not being informed that my son would have his service dog with him. i knew from my sons reaction that it was not going to go well. She questioned him relentlessly i could see by his behaviour and his service dog reacting to him that he was becoming more and more agitated and distressed but this woman was relentless every time i tried to intervene i was told she was asking my son the questions and then just outright ignored. she would not allow me to help my son and would not let up on the endless questions repeatedly stopping on his washing and personal hygiene to the point where my son just stopped talking even though my son was not speaking she just carried on typing away whatever rubbish she decided to put down for the assessment. when the assessment was over i got my son back to the car (he considers it a safe zone when we are out) as quick as i could i had not gone 10minutes down the road when he told me to stop the car and he got out and threw up such was the level of stress this cow of a woman put him under. It was days before I could get him to go anywhere and calm him down.
today we received a letter telling us my son was getting 4 points for " prompting from another person to undertake a journey to avoid causing significant mental distress" and zero for everything else!!!!!!! So not only has he been refused support for the future he has lost the remaining 7 months left on the current award as they are cutting his payments off immediately. the lies told in the assessment report are staggering the fact that they can do this to someone leaves me lost for words - that they can blatantly lie without conscience and ruin someones life without consequence is beyond any comprehension of decency. my son is in bits and already stressing out at the thought of tribunals because for him and the injustice served to him i have to fight this. if there is anyone on this forum who could give me any help and advice i would really really welcome the help - i have not had to do this before so wandering in the dark at the moment
today we received a letter telling us my son was getting 4 points for " prompting from another person to undertake a journey to avoid causing significant mental distress" and zero for everything else!!!!!!! So not only has he been refused support for the future he has lost the remaining 7 months left on the current award as they are cutting his payments off immediately. the lies told in the assessment report are staggering the fact that they can do this to someone leaves me lost for words - that they can blatantly lie without conscience and ruin someones life without consequence is beyond any comprehension of decency. my son is in bits and already stressing out at the thought of tribunals because for him and the injustice served to him i have to fight this. if there is anyone on this forum who could give me any help and advice i would really really welcome the help - i have not had to do this before so wandering in the dark at the moment
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- Gordon
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6 years 1 month ago #215906 by Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gordon on topic my autistic son denied any award
L
The first stage to challenging a Decision is for you to request a Mandatory Reconsideration, this needs to be done in writing to the DWP, within one month of the Decision, to the office that dealt with your claim, have a look at our PIP MR & Appeal guide for details of the process, the PIP area also has template letters that you can use to make the request with.
www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/pip
You should contact the DWP for a copy of the assessment report if you have not already done so, I would phone them but again follow up the request in writing. Once you have the assessment report you will have a better understanding of how the DWP Decision Maker has come to their conclusions and will then be able to argue against them.
Your primary task is to show that you meet the criteria, there are many reasons you may have failed, you need to address each of these but don't get bogged down in criticising the assessment report unless you can clearly show that it is incorrect, it is a lot easier to argue the facts of the situation;
"the assessor recorded that I walked 50m, I did but they have failed to document that I had to stop every 10m for a rest due to breathlessness"
than their opinions
"based on my observations of the claimant walking I believe that they can reliably walk more than 200m.
When you have a better idea of the issues with your claim, come back to the forum and we will do our best to help.
Gordon
The first stage to challenging a Decision is for you to request a Mandatory Reconsideration, this needs to be done in writing to the DWP, within one month of the Decision, to the office that dealt with your claim, have a look at our PIP MR & Appeal guide for details of the process, the PIP area also has template letters that you can use to make the request with.
www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/pip
You should contact the DWP for a copy of the assessment report if you have not already done so, I would phone them but again follow up the request in writing. Once you have the assessment report you will have a better understanding of how the DWP Decision Maker has come to their conclusions and will then be able to argue against them.
Your primary task is to show that you meet the criteria, there are many reasons you may have failed, you need to address each of these but don't get bogged down in criticising the assessment report unless you can clearly show that it is incorrect, it is a lot easier to argue the facts of the situation;
"the assessor recorded that I walked 50m, I did but they have failed to document that I had to stop every 10m for a rest due to breathlessness"
than their opinions
"based on my observations of the claimant walking I believe that they can reliably walk more than 200m.
When you have a better idea of the issues with your claim, come back to the forum and we will do our best to help.
Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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