The (not so old) Crocks Cafe

SingleSue

Arggghh, I hate it when they do that Tobruk.

There are other doctors there but I am going to see what the physio can do, maybe if I tell her how bad things are, she may be able to refer further. Must admit it put me on a downer last night, made worse by eldest not being the most sensible online and making the laptop go eek! Oh and rearranging his local physio appointment from after school tonight because he has revision extra lessons to next week during school time.

That means that on 3 consecutive days next week I am taking him to appointments, 2 at the big hospital (30 mile round trip) and one locally and that is before any of the other boys things, my parents or my study is taken into account....going to have to really pace myself or I will find myself not able to move by Wednesday.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Sorry, another long post!

SingleSue wrote: »

Jojo - Eeeekkk....3 hours writing is going to be fun with arthritic hands! Strangely, my worry at the moment is arriving in time and not getting held up in traffic..sounds weird but that is the sort of thing that really freaks me out even though I always make sure I have oodles more time than needed, it still stresses me out.

That bit always bothers me too - I've arrived at an exam venue 3 hours early, just so I know where it is, then holed up in a Starbucks/Pret for ages just reading a paper from cover to cover, then still buckled and gone and sat outside for far too long!

I don't know how long your exam is for, but thanks to an ergonomic pen supplied by CWTA [waves], it was a lot easier than it would have been otherwise, as I focused on the getting there rather than the actual exam process. I wouldn't have managed more than about one more paragraph by the time they said to stop writing.

If your hands really suffer, or your exam is in late October [shiver], I would even look at battery powered gloves, like the ones designed for fishing, where there is a warmer built in (and they do socks like it for anglers and bikers too, also great for Reynauds people), or get a couple of the chemical hand warming packs ready, crack one at the start of the exam and allow a couple of minutes to hold it and do a few exercises whilst you read the next question through the course of the exam.

I'm wearing cycle gloves (£3 from ALDI) at the moment just to type because my hands are really not happy one bit in this weather. They're not ideal for this, but if I didn't, this would be practically unintelligible. (well, more than usual, anyway!)

And there is always the possibility of requesting additional support from the OU in respect of your condition, whether through a DSA or just from the Meeting Your Needs link, much like you do with your DS1 for his GCSEs.

******

Sometimes, I wonder whether it would be useful for the OU to have a mini website devoted to exams, including such things as these - I noticed on the course website afterwards there were a lot of people I could visualise hyperventilating whilst they typed that:

1. they did the wrong questions;
2. nobody had told them to write their PIs on the answer booklet;
3. nobody could tell them they started the course in 2008 rather than 2007;
4. the invigilators should have had a list of the course start dates for every person attending and an individual list of exactly what questions they were supposed to answer;
5. that the invigilator was speaking to someone three desks back for 5 minutes, which made it impossible for them to answer a single question for the entire 3 hours;
6. that the questions asked stuff that wasn't in the textbook/that their personal copy of the textbook was the only one in the country that must have been missing the 5 chapters questions were based upon;
7. that the tutor hadn't told them they had to read the textbook during the course;
8. that the pass mark was so artificially high (40%) that it was obvious that everyone was going to fail and that the OU is responsible for their failure to gain a perfect grade without opening the textbooks or attending tutorials and that
9. The OU were a bunch of robbers as their life was over as the OU scampered off with a big sack marked SWAG, containing all the money they had paid for the degree, and that if they were to sit outside the OU office and everyone were to pretend to slit their wrists at once, that the OU would have to give them all distinctions to avoid bad publicity :mad:


I dread to think how those people would have reacted if they had to complete the exam in constant pain, were suffering from severe mental illness (rather than its-not-my-fault-I-screwed-up-itis) or were dealing with any of a thousand things which fall within the parameters of disability!

******

[takes a deep breath and wanders off to do some more of the latest ECA]

[everyone else breathes a sigh of relief ]

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

TOBRUK wrote: »

[ On top of that I had a letter from DWP last tuesday saying I was getting a visit from a 'compliance officer' on Friday, and it didn't explain why or what it was about!

The chap turned up and had a letter from a section of IS department about an overpayment! I couldn't understand why or how this was possible but when he read all the correspondence I'd received from IS and DLA he said he would report back but didn't think there had been an overpayment.

He told me that I should let them know of any changes of DLA etc in future - the thing is they did know of changes because I'd received letters from the IS office about the increase of IS due to DLA changes!! Not only that but I had just received a backpayment of the increase so if there had or has been an overpayment it is down to them!

What a waste of time AND making you feel as though you may have done something wrong when you hadn't! I've only just found out that a 'compliance officer' is another name for a fraud officer! I'm glad I didn't know this before hand or I would have been worried sick. He was an odd chap and he hardly made any eye contact whatsoever.

Anyway, hope everyone's feeling fairly good today, but don't you think it's a bit cold this week or is it just me?!

What a PITA! I've had 2 visits - one when the ex was caught claiming for DD when she lived with me - he only got caught because I had lost my job and started claiming for the first time. And one from housing benefit - I assume that someone had told them I had a boyfriend living with me (when I didn't). Just gave them his address, he happened to be there when they appeared at the door, so he gave them the rest of his details and I never heard any more about it.

As you say, it's just that someone has changed the payments when your entitlement increased without actually taking care of the evidence that entitles you to that increase, whether it is held in paper form or by ticking a box on a computer screen. Rather than search an office or run a huge computer audit trail, it's a lot easier to just come to you and ask you for the evidence. But they don't make eye contact - I think they're not like coppers, who are also trained in people skills, Compliance Officers are in the mindset of 'it's a fraud, so get the evidence, don't get hurt and get out'.

Although he may have been a person with ASD, and that could all be entirely unfair to him. But my IS compliance officer was the same at first until he realised it wasn't me doing the dodgy, as was the woman from HB for the first 5 minutes after turning up unannounced at my door.

Easier said than done, but don't let their silliness worry you - it'll go and be reported back to someone in the office as their mistake. It probably came up by computer on the 'end of year audit' or whatever it is called in the DSS, or on an individual's performance assessment. So not your problem.



And YES! It's flippin' FREEZING!

SingleSue

I had to laugh at those excuses, if I fail, it will be because I didn't prepare enough or I am not bright enough...although I am waiting for some crisis to befall us just before the exam to make me extra stressed (such is my life).

I do worry about my inability to get to the tutorials, lack of childcare is the main reason but also a car which I only really trust on the little local roads and not the big roads for quite a few miles and lack of funds for the fuel....but childcare is the biggie.

TOBRUK

Hi Jojo, I think the compliance officer could see almost straight away that there was nothing wrong, especially when I handed him all the letters I'd received only in the last 3 weeks from them and DLA and I'm sure someone will be in hot water for not checking my details on their system! I had all the paperwork I thought he might want to see including bank statements etc and when I handed these to him he said he didn't want to see them!

I almost laughed when he asked me whether I'd received a letter about his visit because everywhere he'd been that morning there was nobody at home - no answer anywhere! I expect they were hiding! HA! Gosh, I could never dodge a visit from them!

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

SingleSue wrote: »

I had to laugh at those excuses, if I fail, it will be because I didn't prepare enough or I am not bright enough...although I am waiting for some crisis to befall us just before the exam to make me extra stressed (such is my life).

I do worry about my inability to get to the tutorials, lack of childcare is the main reason but also a car which I only really trust on the little local roads and not the big roads for quite a few miles and lack of funds for the fuel....but childcare is the biggie.

If you have notified the OU that you have some additional needs, you could get the textbooks comb bound (which is easier on the hands as they stay open where you want them to - and they split big books into two sections), contacting the tutor and asking if they could send you copies of any handouts/slideshow/lesson plan they had, could help, they might even agree to telephone tutorials due to your pain/mobility

and a DSA (disabled students allowance) if applied for and approved could provide additional funds for taxis, etc. If you receive help with the fees (I assume this is the case), you already get the part time grant at the beginning of the academic year? I think there is also an additional hardship scheme which may be able to help here, the same part of the OU which provides funds towards computer purchase or for courses shorter than 30 points.

I also use the tutorial finder section of the course website to find whether there are tutorials somewhere more accessible than the ones I am allocated to - usually not, but sometimes I've been lucky!

The_Dragon

SingleSue - when I did OU I was granted an extra 15 mins to complete the exam because of my Chronic Pain - ask the OU what you need/can you have this needed a note from my Doc but part of that was also as I needed a separate room because of my nut allergy - person on the next desk the year before started eating nuts (behind me) and I had an anaphylactic attack!)

jennihen

Rough day at work - why am I doing this to myself?
I thought office work would be easier than physical work!!!! LOL I'm tired and I still ache all over!!!

debbiedeboo

I think every job has its own unique stresses. In the days when I was able to work I gave up secondary school teaching for a couple of years as it was stressful and tiring and went to work as a computer graphics specialists in various investment banks in the city. I thought it would be less stressful and tiring especially as I finished work at 5 instead of bringing work home all the time like in teaching yet I found it just as tiring and stressful and eventually went back to teaching! If I ever am well enough to work again I think I shall stick to my creative work with some reiki thrown in. Wonder if that will be just as tiring and stressful?

TOBRUK

Hi everyone, how is everbody today? Cwta, I hope your flare up is easing a bit and you are able to rest. I seem to be in a countinuous flare up!

jennihen, hope today is a better day for you. Office work easier than physical ... hmm ... I've done both in my time and they bring different stresses. I found that working in an office, the worst thing I found was the b!tch!ing that went on and how two faced some were!

Well, I'm like a drip today - so no change there then! I've only got dressed once in the last week as I ache so much. I was feeling unwell over the weekend and extremely unwell Monday evening and my neighbour told me that her friend had been the same that there was a virus going round! How on earth did I pick it up because I hardly leave the house! I know my immune system is bad and anything going round I tend to pick up but even so ...

SingleSue, how are things today? When is your first physio appointment? I hope it eases the pain for you as you have so much on your plate ... I don't know how you do it! When is your exam? Hope it goes well for you.

Well, hope you all have a reasonably good day.;)