PIP Assessment, Mobility

Hi,
My wife was born with Spina Bifida, To cut a long story short she was awarded DLA (Higher rate) and SDA for life... which no longer counts for anything obviously!

She is Due to be assessed (ATOS I assume, we are in the South East) some time in 2015, but having read the guides I strongly suspect she will no long receive the Enhanced rate of PIP.

The most annoying thing is, she *can* walk 20 metres, she could even walk 50 or more ON A GOOD DAY, On a bad day walking around the house can have her in agony. She is VERY prone to falling as she is unable to flex her feet & has very little sensation in her legs.

The worst thing is that she has spent her whole life dealing with this pain & fighting to not let her disability rule her life , she is a pro at bottling it up, and I can see it in her face when others don't, I have very often seen her cry when she thinks no one is looking. It's crazy at this point it feels like she is being punished for her determination.

Anyway, I am not trying to give you a sob story here! My question is, when she goes for her assessment, should she simply present herself as she is and hope the Assessor realises that she is in pain? or should she even object to trying to walk the distances as she knows it will cause her pain?

Hope you can understand what I'm asking here!

Thank you for your reply Gordon. The chances are my wife will be in pain from travelling to the assessment anyway, so she won't be 'fresh' for their tests to say the least.

I suppose its a case of her accepting she has to swallow her pride for once. very difficult after nearly 50 years of doing the complete opposite.

Thanks again for the help!

One of the nasty things about this process is the way it forces us to focus on our limitations whereas we usually try to do the opposite

Indeed! The whole thing is very disheartening, I know how my wife's mind works and if you tell her to walk 50 metres she'd make a point of walking 51 and then pay for it with days of not being able to get out of bed. I suspect the same is true of many disabled people. I don't know how to even try to tell her not to be a martyr.

The whole process stinks

Well, we have finally been called in for an assessment next Wednesday - Which I am a little puzzled over, as we have not submitted an application? I assumed an application would come first.


One thing that has been on my mind (and I HATE that this process has me looking from a "score points" perspective) But on the journey planning part of the Mobility section which I initially didn't think would apply to us -

Since posting this originally my wife has had a total knee replacement on her right knee, and her left knee is getting worse by the day. despite the fact that her knee op has healed well and was a success, a combination of the other knee, and her ongoing back issues has led to her using her crutches full time, and she now has a wheelchair for longer trips.

Now, the point is, she still manages to fall even over with the crutches! and in fact I worry about her MORE because she is more "pendular" and cannot put her arms out to stop herself! Also she is unable to kneel so when she does fall, is unable to get up without my help!

Does this constitute the 12 pt descriptor? i.e. she cannot undertake a journey alone 'safely'?

Thanks in advance for any help!