What counts as disability?

serenity2012

mc67 wrote: »

treborc
It angers me you think because people don't need a walking aid they should not be using disabled spaces, what a load of mince. Not all disabilities are visible , and it's nobodys business why they are in a disabled space, if they have been awarded a disabled badge, they are entitles to use it it. Are you going to tell someone who can hardly breath or has to use oxygen to get around that they are not entitled to use a space because they don't 'look' disabled:mad:

Oh, and by the way, I use two crutches, occasionally a wheelchair or mobility scooter but I would never judge anyone else who used a badge.

What they said:T

BatOutOfUll

Hello,

My doc, Consultant and me say I'm Disabled (Cauda Equina, SCI Incontinent etc)

The DWP say 'no' and made me appeal and this will take 18 months.

As the criteria for Tax Credits/Blue Badge/RailCard all rest on me getting DLA I don't go out much as I can't afford Taxis to get me into town and I've broken the castors on my Wheelchair through going down kerbs, level crossings potholes etc. (I live 1.5 miles from town in the country, down a track and used to Wheel myself in!)
Ordered new Castors from the USA but they will take weeks to come. I have to go out with spanners in my bag to tighten up my castors or they would fall off


So if and when I get DLA I'll be investing in a new Chair and they don't come cheap. I don't think people realise how much a Lightweight Chair is and Wheelchair services will only provide a bog standard NHS jobbie which is only good if you have an attendant. (I don't)

BatOutOfUll

Deb1978 wrote: »

I became disabled last year after being admitted to hospital as an emergency as I lost the use of my legs and all feeling. Basically I couldn't do anything had terrible back pain which resulted me being rushed to surgery as an emergency after 2 weeks of test.

I am still trying to get back to normal but have been told that my feelings in my legs may not return. I still have dead leg and feet. No feelings in my saddle area either. Its amazing just by two discs compressing on my nerves can cause so much damage. I have walking trouble as well as I had to learn to walk again sometimes I have to use a walking stick as I have had a few falls recently just lose balance sometimes.

I had a relapse beginning of this year and was rushed to a private hospital in London to have another MRI scan to check things were ok.
I have alot of scaring there. But so far all seems ok.
Just need to try and get back to normal as much as possible which is hard to do as I have incontinuce and winter is the worst time for pain in my back. Sometimes I am in bed.

I wish people stop judging us if we don't look disabled.
Like the saying says DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER.
I would rather they ask what is wrong with me as it is a rare condition not many doctors have heard of it or any health professionals.

Sorry for long post its something I go through day to day when out walking with my stick even when I park in disabled bay till they see me place my badge they look away.

Cauda Equina? If so you have my sympathies, I've chosen to use a chair now as my last fall resulted in a broken hip I CAN walk but only on a good day when my feet 'let' me
I spent 12 weeks learning to walk (using a different muscle group) but if my feet are numb I aint going anywhere by foot that day


Take Care


Batty

Imdebtfree

Hi all
my son, age 27, started this year with a limp following going for a run. Then he started having partial seizures where he loses control of his left leg. His limp became dragging of his foot, and inability to bend his leg. He had an MRI in june, which found a brain tumour. He is now classed as having epilepsy so cannot drive, has several seizures a day, and basically has little feeling in his left leg, although has sensations which can be painful and unpleasant most of the day. He is taking anti convulsant medication. The tumour has been debulked by surgery, and he is now having daily radiotherapy for 6 weeks, but has been told this is to prevent things getting worse for a period of up to a year, and will not improve any of the current symptoms. It is grade 3 cancer.
As he lives with me, I am taking him to hospital daily and he is now claiming esa, but he does not leave the house without me, even going to the local small supermarket is a trial. He uses walking sticks to balance, but finds getting in and out of the car difficult, and is very unsteady on his feet. In the last week, once in the shop and once walking from the drop off point at hospital to the clinic, he has fallen, and has had to remain on the floor for 10 mins until his leg calmed down.
At the moment he is opting out of society - choosing not to leave the house unless he has to and then for as little time as possible. I hope in time as he adjusts to his new situation, this will improve.

So - would he be classed as disabled? Should he try to get a blue badge or PIP? Any advise gratefully received.

Errata

His local Macmillan nurses will be able to help him claim what he needs and is entitled to eg Blue Badge, PIP etc. His GP, oncologist or specialist cancer nurse attached to the oncologist can refer him to them.

Indie_Kid

Parva wrote: »

Simple answer. No.

Actually, it is. Under the Equalities Act, cancer is classed as a disability from the date of the diagnosis. Also, it's not the diagnosis that matters, but the problems arising from the condition which dictates whether its a disability.

One thing that really annoys me is, I have a disabled persons bus pass because my visual impairments mean I can't drive. When I went to renew it, I was told I can drive and that wearing glasses means my vision is corrected. Except, it's not. On a good day, I can read a number plate at around 15 meters. But not the plates which are white. I have been told for the last 6 years that I will never be able to legally drive and not sure that driving with hypersensitivity to light and noise is a good idea.

In the end, I had to get the local hearing and sight centre involved. I was not pleased that because of the wording changes, (we're now sight impaired and not partially sighted) I had to fight to get a bus pass. Yet, I know someone who has a bus pass because he's dyslexic. Yet, he drives.

Ophie

Hi

I too have Cauda Equina, I've had it a year now. GP, Pain Consultant, Physio and Neuro Surgeon all say I'm disabled. Whilst I *can* walk short distances on my own, or further if I'm say pushing a trolley every step is torture and will leave me exhausted and almost bed bound. I have foot drop and secondary nerve damage in my affected dead leg. I'm so lucky for it to just be in one leg. If I am going shopping for clothes I have to use my scooter, but I also need someone with me to get the scooter out of the car as it's too heavy for me to lift. The DWP have turned me down for DLA and I appealed which was also turned down, so it's going to tribunal now.

I've had to get a new car in order for me to have some ability to leave the house, fortunately family helped with this. I do have a blue badge and have also had funny looks - although I get more funny looks and people tutting when I'm in the shop and someone gets stuck behind me because I can't move very fast at all.

Anyway, here I sit waiting for a date for the tribunal wondering if I'll have to start all over again and what I actually have to do to be considered as eligible 'disabled'. That's before I even start on the bladder and bowel issues I've been left with and the memory and thinking processes that have been messed with.

Indie_Kid

Ophie wrote: »

Hi

I too have Cauda Equina, I've had it a year now. GP, Pain Consultant, Physio and Neuro Surgeon all say I'm disabled. Whilst I *can* walk short distances on my own, or further if I'm say pushing a trolley every step is torture and will leave me exhausted and almost bed bound. I have foot drop and secondary nerve damage in my affected dead leg. I'm so lucky for it to just be in one leg. If I am going shopping for clothes I have to use my scooter, but I also need someone with me to get the scooter out of the car as it's too heavy for me to lift. The DWP have turned me down for DLA and I appealed which was also turned down, so it's going to tribunal now.

I've had to get a new car in order for me to have some ability to leave the house, fortunately family helped with this. I do have a blue badge and have also had funny looks - although I get more funny looks and people tutting when I'm in the shop and someone gets stuck behind me because I can't move very fast at all.

Anyway, here I sit waiting for a date for the tribunal wondering if I'll have to start all over again and what I actually have to do to be considered as eligible 'disabled'. That's before I even start on the bladder and bowel issues I've been left with and the memory and thinking processes that have been messed with.

You don't need to claim DLA to be classed as disabled. Under the Equalities Act, you're classed as disabled if you have a physical or mental impairment (the diagnosis doesn't matter) which affects your ability to carry out day to day tasks - walking, communicating, etc. It needs to have lasted for at least 12 months, with a few exceptions.

iKit

Ophie wrote: »

...what I actually have to do to be considered as eligible 'disabled'.

It angers me that, for many people living with chronic pain conditions, being considered ‘disabled enough’ to receive DLA and the ESA top-up seems to rely largely on their skills at filling in forms.

I have a number of impairments – Asperger's, ADD, ME, fibromyalgia – but until about 13 years ago I struggled on in my arts job without any assistance. Then, when finally I couldn't manage to walk more than a few yards without a powered wheelchair, a friend persuaded me to apply for DLA to help with the £3500 cost of the chair.

I found my years of experience of fundraising invaluable when researching the criteria and filling in the form. I gave the DWP every single detail, in many cases repeated on every single section, ending up with a 4,000-word claim. They made an award straight away.

In the last six months, after 38 years in employment, I've become too ill to work. That meant tackling the ATOS form. Same procedure again, though: thoroughly researched and written in painstaking detail (took weeks because of my illness). I was placed in the support group without a medical.

My point is this: I'm convinced that I've had such a straightforward experience for no other reason that I'm lucky enough to have the skills needed to navigate the system. They recognise someone who'd be good at making appeals, so they just pay up. There are thousands of people who're in as much pain (and more) as me, who struggle as much to walk as me, who find it just as difficult to look after themselves as I now do, but because they haven't had professional training in such techniques as prising money out of arts funding bodies, their applications fail - or they're made to jump over endless hoops whilst experiencing severe financial difficulties in the meantime. Excuse the language, but that is a sh*t way to assess disability and it makes me furious.

All I can say to Ophie is that if you can't walk more than a few yards at all, or without severe pain or risk of falls, then you qualify for higher rate Mobility Allowance. Sometimes people don't put enough stress on the risks of falling, or of making themselves ill by trying to do more than they are capable of. If you do tend to fall or stumble, don't only record every instance in a diary - record every 'near miss' as well. If you suffer additional pain, or become unable to do more things, by overstretching your capabilities - record what you were trying to do and the effects it had (for instance, the DWP have had to read about my attempts to fetch a few things from a supermarket leaving me in so much pain that I was sick - I make no apology, as it's true!). The more detail you can give, the clearer the picture they get of what day-to-day life is actually like for someone with your condition. The same goes for continence issues and muddles you get into because of memory and cognitive difficulties.

I hope the tribunal decision goes favourably, and I’m sorry that you’ve had to go through all these hoops in order to claim something that you’re entitled to.

iKit

PS: Ophie, be careful of your language too. If you say "I can walk 50 yards, but it leaves me in severe pain", all they will hear is "I can walk 50 yards". Phrase it differently: "I cannot walk 50 yards without severe pain and without experiencing severe fatigue. As a result of attempting to walk 50 yards I would be unable to..." [insert whatever is true].

Your condition is very different to mine, but it sounds as if it has some similar effects. So for instance, if I try to walk more than a few yards it leaves me in so much pain that I can't do anything else that day, and so exhausted that I'm unable to do even basic things like taking a shower the following day. Being able to wash is obviously a matter of fundamental human dignity, and spelling it out on a form is very effective (if rather degrading). If things like that are the reality of living with your condition, though, you are unfortunately likely to have to spell them out in order succeed with an application. The problem is that pain and fatigue can't be measured in a test, so all you can do is to tell the DWP about the effects that they have.

Sorry, I'll shut up burbling now!