ESA tribunal success or not as the case may be

[jackwabbit]

My son who was diagnosed as having Dyspraxia back in the late 80’s had to go to a tribunal yesterday because the department of works and pensions said he was fit to work after his work capability assessment, (he scored zero points) this was despite him going to the assessment on crutches, after braking his ankle & having what looked like a TIA (mini stroke) just before the assessment date. Well he was very anxious & stressed about going & kept insisting he would rather go without any benefits than go to the tribunal. He was feeling physically sick for most of the journey & his legs were buckling as we were called in to see the judge & doctor. THe outcome was they not only upheld his appeal, but they have also awarded him the higher level with support allowance, he was awarded 41 points despite scoring zero on the work capability assessment, that’s a big discrepancy!
Like most people with Dyspraxia he has never wanted to admit he was having problems but some how for the tribunal we had persuaded him to tell all.
So if anyone is in a similar situation please do be open & honest about your condition & follow it through to the end, after all it’s not your fault you are this way & for us there is now light at the end of a very long tunnel.

[jackwabbit]

Well we may have won the tribunal but the ESA department are still dragging their heals.
Rang them today because we haven’t heard anything from them since the tribunal, they said they haven’t had any information from the tribunal & these things take time! We have now sent them a copy of the tribunals findings & if we don’t hear from them after a couple of weeks we’ll be chasing them again.

[jackwabbit]

Here we go again!
A couple of months ago he had another self assessment form from DWP which I filled in for him listing all his problems, it was sent back with a copy of information about adults with dyspraxia & the letter from Guys hospital when he was diagnosed. We also told them of dates that he could not attend a work capability assessment due to me having to go into hospital for an operation & there was no way he would be able to get there himself. So when did they arrange the appointment for? The day I went into hospital so we had to rearrange the first date. On arrival at his assessment they kept us sitting around for 2 hours before telling us they would have to re-arrange another appointment. They didn’t realise the problems I had trying to get him there in the first place due to being highly stressed & after a lot of persuasion they finally saw him on that day.
We have just got the result back & low & behold he has scored zero points again!
How the hell could the tribunal award him 49 points last year (47 of these points directly related to his dyspraxia) whilst these so called medical experts award him zero?
He is an absolute wreck at the moment & flatly refuses to go through all the stress he went through last year going through tribunal.
Do they know or even care what they are doing to him & other like him?


We are now out of idea's of how to help him now, we are trying to get him signed on to job seakers allowance again but whether or not we will be able to get him to the intaview I don't know!

[jackwabbit]

Well we managed to get him to the first interview (not without a lot of stress) then on Friday morning he came down with visual disturbances, banging headache, & loss of feeling down his arms. We managed to get him in to see the doctor & he can’t understand why he was taken off ESA allowance & was absolutely mad about what they have done to him. The doctor said he is officially depressed, probably brought on by what the ESA dept have put him through & wanted him to go on anti-depressants. Our son doesn’t want to go on them because the side effects are likely to make him feel worse for the first few weeks until he gets used to them.
Sunday night he was so bad we took him to A&E, they kept him in over night doing tests & are referring him to a TIA clinic once again, last time they couldn’t find anything conclusive & our GP has said he doesn’t know who to refer him to because there isn’t anyone in our area dealing with adults with Dyspraxia.

Just had a phone call from the hospital, they have made an emergency appointment for this Wednesday.

[Tom fod]

Hi your experience really sounds nightmarish. Must admit I don't know how system works at that level as my dyspraxia is fortunately just a painful thorn in my side that isn't always too noticeable.

At one time I used to work at a centre that assisted people with disabilities and dealing with the benefits system to ensure they didn't lose out on their benefits just for merely expressing an interest in work. The system is set to No and the rules are a minefield with very little room for a commonsense approach. Being fair to all seems to mean being unfair to everyone especially to those who are most vulnerable.

I'd make an official complaint to the DWP and write to your MP and David Cameron detailing your experiences.

Please pass on my best wishes to your son.

Tom

[jackwabbit]

The situation is not getting any better!
The TIA clinic doesn’t think my son isn’t having mini strokes, but they was concerned with something they saw in one of his eyes, they thought there was pressure behind the eye putting pressure on the brain. He had an urgent appointment to see an ophthalmologist, this turned out to be another day spent in the hospital having tests. Luckily they didn’t find anything out of the normal, but referred him to a neurologist. In the meantime his doctor signed him off & he had to register for ESA allowance again, the certificate was sent to the ESA dept on the 19/07/11
The neurologist wanted him to keep a headache diary & have a MRI scan. During the last 2 weeks he has had 6 sessions of severe headaches & blurred vision & unfortunately during the scan he had another panic attack & couldn’t go through with it so we still don’t know what the problem is. Today 17/08/11 the DWP have informed him that his claim for ESA has been turned down because they say his condition hasn’t worsened since they declared him fit to work. (What the hell do they know!) All we know they are driving him over the edge & I’m going to have to speak to his doctor later.

[jackwabbit]

The results of his visit to the neurologist are that it looks like he is suffering from a sever form of migrain with aura, probably brought on by stress & anxiety. He was told to try & advoid anything that brings on stress & anxiety (not easy when dealing with the DWP) they are now trying to say that because he isn't seeing anyone about his Dyspraxia he doesn't have it! Our GP doesn't know where to send him for an up to date assesment, neither does his neurologist or anyone else he has seen so far. we have had to go through the appeal process again but I don't hold out any hope of them doing the right thing. Meanwhile he hasn't had any money comming in since 11/07/2011 & guess what? this is stressing him out no end!

[jackwabbit]

Update: 02/11/11
The Department of Works & Pensions have started paying him the basic benefit whilst they review his appeal.

In the mean time his GP referred him to see a psychologist who told him he is not mad but he does have a disability, he would write a report to the GP. The GP then informed us that he now knew where to send him for an up to date assessment (yippee)
That was short lived because last night he rang us saying he had just received a letter from the person he had referred my son to saying “As this person is not a child in full time education at a mainstream school there is nothing I can do” ARGHHH
Here we go again round & round in circles getting nowhere.
So far he has been seen by his GP, the local hospital A&E department, the TIA clinic, the ophthalmology department of another hospital, a Private neurologist, a psychologist & now been referred to a developmental specialist & all baring the last one (who hasn’t seen him because he is a adult) says he has a problem probably Dyspraxia but because it’s not their field they are not willing to put anything down in writing.
All of this is him up the wall & getting him more stressed, which is giving him more sever migraines because he feels no one believes him or understands him.

[jackwabbit]

Here we go again!
Sounds like a song title, I only wish it was!
We have just received a copy of the report being sent to the tribunal services for their consideration. Apparently at his work capability assessment he showed no signs of stress or anxiety, they obviously didn’t see the same person we did in the weeks before & during the journey to the assessment. I had to stop the car 3 times because he was feeling as if he was going to be sick & during the 2 hours they kept us waiting he kept asking me to take him home. They also said he sat still, he had no problems understanding & didn’t need prompting. This is totally different from what I remember, he was trembling most of the time & I had to prompt him many times or answer the questions for him.
They also said that he goes to archery & meets people with similar interests, what the failed to mention was he only goes to archery if we take him & stay with him the whole time. It also didn’t mention that with his coordination problems he can sometimes get very good shots & the next shots totally miss everything (he has even managed to hit the wall 20feet above the target where he couldn’t keep hold of the string)
They also said he rides his moped to his girlfriends & back approx 5 miles each way. He doesn’t have a moped! He has a Piagio MP3 which is a 3 wheeled scooter & over the last 2 years it has only done about 40 miles & was with me riding it for Mot’s.
What was actually said to the so called heath care professional was “ He used to ride to his girlfriends & back once a week & he hated every minuet of the ride because he was alone. Since he has had these severe headaches he was advised not to operate machinery or ride his scooter.

Once again it looks like we will have to go through all the stress & anxiety of going to another tribunal.

[jackwabbit]

Tribunal day has arrived! Our son has been getting more anxious & stressed as each day closer to the tribunal passed.
Just as we were going to leave to travel to the tribunal the phone rang, a voice on the other end said there was no need to attend the tribunal our son had won his appeal & they would be sending the paperwork to us soon.
We still can’t believe it!
I ended up ringing the tribunal services to see if this was normal, they said it can sometimes happens but they haven’t yet received anything. I asked if we should still attend just in case (after all we didn’t want to loose the appeal because we didn’t attend) because the call came from a mobile phone number I can’t even see if it came from Gravesend. The tribunal services said they they couldn't see why somone should ring us if it wasn't true but they would get someone from the Sutton tribunal centre to ring me to confirm this was correct.
Trouble is they can take up to 3 hours to ring back. Im sitting here fingers & toes crossed.

[kdt2402]

Can i just ask, what problems does your son have due to dyspraxia?

Hope they stop being so awkward, get off their lazy asses and get it sorted for him.

[jackwabbit]

Can i just ask, what problems does your son have due to dyspraxia?

Hope they stop being so awkward, get off their lazy asses and get it sorted for him.

He has always found it difficult to mix with people he doesn’t know, to the point he would get stressed & anxious for days before having to do this even with us being with him.
He was bullied a lot at school because of problems he was having with his co-ordination & difficulty in learning anything new, when he left school he felt the job centre was bullying him into applying for jobs that he obviously couldn’t do (due to his lack of confidence or co-ordination)
He later managed to get a job in a warehouse but this didn’t last because they were always picking on him for not being quick enough or being able to adapt to changes as quick as everyone else.
Since then over the last 3 years he has been rushed into hospital on a few occasions thinking he was having a stroke or TIA (mini stroke) After lots of tests they now think it is a severe form of migraine which gives all the symptoms of having a stroke, these last for anything up to 4 days at a time & scare the cr@p out of him each time. The seam to think these attacks are brought on by stress & anxiety & when dealing with the DWP (Department of works & pensions) you get far more stress & anxiety than anyone needs.

[megamum]

Hi jackwabbit
my daughter was diagnosed as "mild clumsy child syndrome" in the 90's, she has 9 GCSE's and a National Diploma in Health Care. she struggle throughout school and college, was bullied for her posture and her naive childlike behaviour. She went to university but it all became too much for her and she left in year two.
My daughter has now been sacked or managed out of at least 6 jobs. Not because she does anything deliberately wrong or maliciaous, just because she is different. She has bee n very depressed, cries very easily, hates change, and her self esteem is so very low 9just having been "let go" again.
I know what you mean about help and diagnosis, the health service seems to think that once you are an adult you have no need of a diagnosis!
My GP has referred her because we have looked at the DANDA site and think she is also on the Autism spectrum scale (possibly Aspergers) which is commonly connected to Dyspraxia. It sounds from what youare saying the your son may be on that spectrum as well. THis was the only way we were able to get a referral for further investigation under the nhs.
We are in the horrible ESA/JSA situation as well, as she is 24 and wants to have her own independent life, but can't keep a job for long enought to save or make any future plans.
I wish you well, and think you should consider taking the DWP to court under the Disability Descrimination Act, or at least use the act to threaten them with.
I know how immensly tiring it is to keep fighting the system and trying to do your best for your child, and hope you eventualy have some success, and more importantly less anxiety ofr your son. All the best !!! Karen

[AlleyCat]

Hi megamum. I am so sorry about what's happened to your daughter, but it seems as if this kind of thing happens to people with dyspraxia all too often. Have any of the employers who fired her ever been told about her having dyspraxia? In my experience, an employer being told about it unfortunately doesn't necessarily mean that they will be more tolerant, but it probably offers more employment protection- at least if an employer forces someone with dyspraxia out of his/her job, there would then be recourse to legal action on the grounds of disability discrimination. The people who 'managed your daughter out' of her jobs were probably poor managers, as good managers make an effort to find out what they can do to get the best out of their employees. It's so upsetting that we seem to live in such an intolerant society. Good luck getting somewhere with ESA, but unfortunately the Government seems to think that anyone who has the use of their limbs ought to be out there working, making no allowances for the intolerance so many employers seem to demonstrate towards someone who takes a bit longer to do things or who maybe doesn't have a 'professional' sounding voice due to conditions such as verbal dyspraxia. The Government seems to be very out of touch with reality, but sadly I have to wonder if all they are really interested in is getting people off benefits, rather than supporting people into suitable employment which will enable them to be independent.

[LuluBoo]

I'm sorry about what you and your son have gone through
it's unacceptable that they have put your son under so much stress
I really don't think that ATOS should be in charge of the Work capability assessments i think trained doctors should