PIP question

Hi Anneb

You absolutely say that your son can't prepare a simple meal. Putting a meal in the microwave is not the same (although some sneaky assessors try to pretend it is). You are his appointee so you will not only fill in his form, but if they need to speak to you about it - please make it clear as you have done here that he is unable to prepare a meal and don't let anyone try and push you into saying that he can. Remember the, the people who read review forms or even do an assessment with you may have little knowledge of the wide variety of symptoms of autism and OCD, so never assume they will understand. You have to spell it out or speak it out! And don't say your son won't starve with ready-made meals - because the point is he would starve if he had to try and make his own meals - because it wouldn't happen.

Re the autistic obsessions - I understand exactly what you are saying because I have family members with the condition. You need to explain it on your form as if you are telling someone who knows nothing about the condition. You explain they may appear to listen, but they won't be able to take any actions you say; you talk about the hours that he has to spend giving into these obsessions and the impact on him and you. You are an expert here, but if you need additional help, go to the NHS website or any of the reputable autism charities and organisations and always quote what they say. I know you're concerned, but you can do this!

Also, make sure that when the time comes, you have looked at the Guide to PIP claims and reviews. The information you need is from page 128 onwards. There are lots of sample answers which you can use to base your answers on.

Good luck

Hi Anne

You are not alone, it can be very frustrating going over the same forms when you know the claimant will not get any better. If you kept a copy of your previous successful claims form then use that as a template, make any changessince last claim.

Follow BIS advice and also your own advice, if your son will not do anything even with supervision / support. then say so. I always tell claimants everything is either black or white there are no grey areas when completing the forms, I hate the use of the word 'sometimes' which is very ambiguous.

Gary

Hi Anneb,

When I made my application for PIP - I experience a very similar situation to your son, and I wrote on that I just lived on box meals due to the pain that preparing food caused me. I also mentioned that I just use a simple jog dial microwave as some of the more advanced models, can cause confusion, and incorrect method of cooking the meal can sometimes occur. You know, such as 8 minutes on defrost for example, instead of 8 minutes at 100% high cooking mode. Sometimes though, question depending, less information can mean more, as it's open to discussion. That's just my opinion, but good luck with what you decide to write

Chris.