Aides

Hi Jacqui,
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I assume that you wish to know about aids/appliances.
Basically an aid or appliance is something that improves function and helps you overcome the disability that makes any particular PIP task difficult or impossible.
There are a few obvious things; perching stool to allow you to sit by the stove so you can cook. Cutlery with adapted grips for ease of handling. Grab rail to help get you into the bath or out again. A dossette box to count out pills. Commode. A raised toilet seat. Long handled shoe horn. These are the sort of items that can be found in any disability catalogue on the Internet.
If you can't bend down to put on shoes then the long handled shoe horn could mean you can put on shoes without needing someone else to help. The raised toilet seat means you can sit down without slipping or falling again without the need for help from another.
However sometimes disabled people invent things to help them, or repurpose items. So, for example a long handled kitchen spatula could become a long handled shoe horn. If you use the bathroom sink (and many people do, but it is not designed for this!) as a grab rail for the sink or toilet this could be an aid/appliance.
The ready made or improvised item needs to be something that non disabled people wouldn't normally use. Lots of people sit down on chairs or bed to put trousers of socks on, so unless you used these items in a very novel way they won't be allowed to count as an aid etc.
You may not necessary have the item at home. So for example if you don't have a raised toilet seat, and have evidence that you have fallen over several times whilst using the toilet eg because you have poor balance due to a hip injury - this could indicate the need for an aid eg the raised toilet seat. Likewise losing grip on cutlery and not being able to cut food on the plate, again this could indicate the bed for an aid/appliance.
DWP often just award the aid descriptor as it usually gives 2 points. You can get standard daily living with 2 points for aid/appliance for preparing food,dressing,washing, toilet needs. This maybe OK to represent your disabilities, however DWP often award just the 2 points for the aid, but ignore the fact that you actually need supervision. You need to be very clear when writing your claim or review form to explain the physical help you actually need and why the simple aid is not sufficient. So if you are prone to falling whilst using the toilet, but haven't got the strength in your wrists to use the raised seat, it may help but there will still be safety issues.
The aid etc may help you do the task in a reasonable time safely, repeatedly or to an acceptable standard which can include higher levels of pain. If these 4 criteria are met because you can use the relevant gadget etc then you should score 2 points, but if you don't meet all 4 with the aid then you should score a higher value.
Sometimes you can have 2 different problems preventing the task being done properly - so if you have arthritis in your hands and can't peel or chop veg, and you can't stand then more than one aid could be used. However if the 2 problems can't both be solved by an aid, you should score the highest value where the 2 difficulties are equally prevalent.
I hope this helps.
LL26