Does this qualify as needing assistance to engage face to face?

Hi lauren

Yes it all helps,

This is what the DWP guidance say about Mixing with Other People

This activity considers a claimant’s ability to engage with other people, which means to interact face-to-face in a contextually and socially appropriate manner, understand body language and establish relationships.

Activities 7 and 9 are not mutually exclusive. If claimants require support to engage with others under activity 9, as well as communication support under activity 7, then their needs must be considered under both activities.

Notes:
An inability to engage face-to-face must be due to the impact of impairment and not simply a matter of preference by the claimant.

Social support means support from another person trained or experienced in assisting people to engage in social situations, or someone directly experienced in supporting the claimant themselves (for example a family member or carer), who can compensate for limited ability to understand and respond to body language, other social cues and assist social integration. Most claimants with sensory impairments will be able to fully engage with others independently, however they may score on both activities 7 and 9 if, for example anxiety arising from their impairment means they reasonably require social support to engage with people generally.

Behaviour which would result in a substantial risk of harm to the claimant or another person must be as a result of an underlying health condition and the claimant’s inability to control their behaviour.

When considering whether claimants can engage with others, consideration should be given to whether they can engage with people generally, not just those people they know well.

If an individual cannot reliably complete an activity in the way described in a descriptor then they should be considered unable to complete it at that level and an alternative descriptor selected.

Gary