ESA50 Form: 2 Queries

I believe my SDA will be reviewed early next year, leading to a move to ESA. The DWP hold a ton-weight of information on me, last updated three years ago when I completed an IB50, but doubtless I’ll be sent an ESA50 to complete. The degree of my disability suggests I ought to be in the Support Group. I could not cope with the WRAG. I have downloaded the PDF version of the ESA50 because I could not fill in the paper version. Two questions:

1) Where are the descriptors regarding conveyance of food to the mouth and chewing and swallowing food? Are they on a different form? Does one have to work this information into other responses or give it on separate sheets of paper?

2) My answers will be long and detailed. They would not fit onto a paper form. About how many typed words does the PDF hold?

Hi Mari,

Conveying food and drink to the mouth is descriptor number 15 on the form - page 23 on our 'Understanding ESA' guide and page 19 on the application guide.

The WCA Handbook suggest problems could be due to conditions like:
motor neurone disease or a stroke limiting upper limb movement;
surgery for head and neck cancer;
disorders of the gastro-intestinal tract.
Severe lung conditions might also be relevant..

The font on the PDF gets smaller and smaller as you put more onto the form. The times comes when it really is not legible any more. It is perfectly acceptable to add extra pages to the form. Don't forget to make sure that each one has your name and NINo on the top and it is a good idea to mark them 'page 1 of 10' and so on.

Hello Mrs Hurtyback,

I must have an out-of-date PDF. The two descriptors I’ve cited are not on my copy. From where can I download a current version? (I am a paid-up subscriber.)

Some of my answers ought to fit into the PDF boxes. I will be appending multiple extra pages anyway so want to get as much as possible onto the form without dropping below pt 9 type.

Hi Mari,

Give me a minite and I will see what I can find.

OK, I must apologise for not knowing what I was talking about!

It appears that there are 2 extra descriptors that entitle one to the support group but are not on the form (and this is supposed to be a fair process??)and the 'conveying food and drink to the mouth' is one of them.

If you can work this into one of the other answers then that sounds reasonable, or you can use the 'additional information' section to detail the problems you have with this.