Zero points in PIP assessment

Thanks for the advice everyone. I have a clear course of action to follow now and that has helped take a lot of the anxiety out of this for now. I'm going to get on the phone on Monday morning and request a copy of the report and then as soon as that comes I'll pick it apart. I feel guilty about it but by my own black and white interpretation of the criteria I did last year I would score enough points for enhanced daily living and standard mobility - the guilt comes because physically I am able bodied and I am intellectually able to have done well in education. The reality is though that all through I have needed to be prompted to get stuff done, change my clothes when dirty etc. Being Autistic and extremely anxious scoring zero points for social activities is also a real head scratcher. It'll be interesting to see how they came to their decisions.

I helped a relative apply for PIP and she was devastated to get zero points. My view was that points was simply an indication that the DWP had not fairly assessed the claim fairly and that she should appeal.
At the appeal stage she was awarded maximum points.
You must go for an appeal.
Good luck.

I think your view is perfect Peawack. When they give zero, when nobody would bother with the effort of applying if they were not certain they should get something, it makes it even plainer that it is DWP money politics, rather than if they give some points which can leave you doubting yourself.
Denby

My son who had a lifetime award of HRC and HRM for DLA received zero points on the transfer to PIP. He was diagnosed with autism age two and a half. At MR he was given four points, at Tribunal he was given 21 points for Daily Living and 12 points for Mobility. DWP couldn't give any reasoning for their decision, they wanted to know if he had ever been able to attend a league football match? (football is one of his interests) Their initial decision hinged on him being able to subtract 7 from 100 (only question he could answer at assessment) and play playstation games.

I received a copy of the Assessment Report today. The justifications used for each of the descriptors are all very similar, and seem to say the same thing while using just enough difference in how they wrote it for it not to be a simple cut and paste.

I'll quote one for you:

9. Engaging with others face to face
They ticked that I can engage with other people unaided.

"Recommendation and evidence used

The evidence suggests he should be able to reliably engage with other people independently. IO he attended for assessment on his own (it was a phone assessment!) and engaged well. MSE found that he was not anxious or withdrawn. Although HOC shows that he has been diagnosed with autism he did not receive a diagnosis until adulthood and has no ongoing input or support. There is no input from mental health services. Medication section shows that he is prescribed first line antidepressant only which is not at the maximum dose."

In other parts they use the fact that I attended a mainstream university to say that I should be able to do things.

Can anyone help with what some of the abbreviations mean, like IO, HOC, MSE, OPD, SOH?

They seem to be using the assumption that people with mental health difficulties will happily seek out help at the first sign of needing it, and that help is easy to access and readily available. In my case there isn't that much medical evidence because a lot of my struggles are undocumented. Its only when things get so bad that my family notice something is really wrong and force me to see the GP that something happens, and even then all she can do is try to increase my dosage or try a different medication and give me information about self referral talking therapies. I honestly don't know how you go about accessing more serious help, my family phoned the local crisis team line last summer when I was particularly bad (suicidal) but because I lived with my parents and brother they were happy I was monitored enough to be safe and gave me an appointment the next week at which a nurse told me (this is the truth) "I think its your autism causing the trouble, and we aren't commissioned to deal with that"

I'm thinking of writing to my GP to see if she could write a letter in support or anything. Apart from that I plan to do nothing for a couple of days while I let things sink in then try and come up with a response over the weekend. I need to distance myself from it for at least a few hours right now as its quite upsetting. All my life I've been told that I "should" be able to do things and gone along with it because I am scared of making a fuss. Before I was diagnosed with autism I genuinely came to believe that I was just somehow lazy or inadequate and although I try to remember the truth it is so easy to just drop back into the black thoughts and self loathing.