Question about Income Support and Full-Time Disabled Students

borgmanjayce

I've been offered a place at Liverpool John Moores University to study a Foundation Year in Computing this year before doing a actual degree next year.

For the past 15 years or so, I've been suffering from Grand Mal Epileptic seizures every few months or so which are mainly under control but which can be triggered by various factors including stress, overheating or flickering lights.

I'm currently claiming in DLA and JSA along with the Disability Premium as I receive assistance from my Aunt and Uncle with things like housekeeping and travel as they're concerned about my health and they're amongst the only immediate relatives I have living in the same area.

I've been told by a Benefits Advisor at my local council that I should be eligible for Housing Benefit depending on what funding I'd be claiming for when I do go to univeristy (In this case Maintenance Loan, Tuition Fee Loan and Special Support Grant) and the fact that I'd still be claiming DLA for the foreseeable future as my Epilepsy is a permanent medical condition.

I know that I won't be able to claim income-based JSA with the Disability Premium attached to it any more when I do go to University but according to the direct.gov.uk site, I supposedly can claim Income Support in place of JSA with Disability Premium but I don't know if I could claim it as someone who'd still be claiming DLA or not.

If anyone can answer this question for me, I'd be very grateful.

dmg24

Are the JCP aware that you only have seizures every few months?

borgmanjayce

Yes, my local JCP are aware of the frequency of my seizures (in fact, my advisor is actually an epileptic himself so he knows what I'm going through!) and they don't seem to have any problem with me claiming low-rate DLA at all (and yes, I went through the proper procedures to claim DLA including the tests), although there have been occasions when I've had seizures a week apart due to hot weather on both occasions, and I almost had one yesterday at church triggered by the hot weather until I managed to get things under control thanks to some of the worshippers who know that I'm epileptic.

I can understand where you're coming from and I don't know if you're trying to insinuate anything; dmg24, but legally I am officially classified as disabled according to the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) as Epilepsy is a permanent condition, and although I don't have to notify the university that I'm epileptic, I've already notified them about my condition and they've promised to help me out where possible as I don't want to end up having a seizure in front of my lecturer and classmates and they're wondering what's going on because I didn't have the courage to tell the university authorities.

You probably don't suffer from Epilepsy or have a friend or relative who has the condition, but believe me when I tell you it's not a pretty thing to go through when you have seizures, especially if you live on your own with just a dog for company and you try to stop the seizures from happening but 9 times out of 10 you can't. It's not fun when you wake up from a seizure with aches and pains all over your body and your tongue hurts from you biting it and you're so tired, you just want to sleep as long as possible.

I have had seizures in all kinds of places over the years including my local Catholic church, a hospital, outside my own home and 10 years ago, I had a seizure in the bathroom which scared my late grandmother senseless and I was told later that she was in a near-fit of worry because of the way I was acting... In fact, the paramedics had to inject me with a shot of adrenaline to get me out of my seizure, it was affecting me that badly!

At the end of the day, I admit there are times when I wish I had a normal life and didn't suffer from seizures and there have been times when I know I've been turned down for jobs because of my medical condition even though I've notified the interviewer that I'm epileptic, but I know they can happen at any time and I can't control when they happen.

In the meantime, please allow me to point you in the direction of some links to clear up some misconceptions about Epilepsy.

Epilepsy Action link to information on Disability Discrimination Act
Wikipedia entry on Epilepsy
Epilepsy.com (Information Site)

I hope this will be of interest to you and to anyone else who may think that epilepsy is nothing to worry about, but you should be worried especially as it can kill people in certain cases.

dmg24

I asked a simple question - I have no idea where that rant came from!

borgmanjayce

I apologise for the rant, but there have been times when I've been told by some people that I shouldn't be claiming DLA because epilepsy supposedly isn't a disability because it's not a physical disability although it's classified as a disability under the law and it just p*sses me off. At the end of the day, I'm lucky that I have my family and friends to help me out with things. (On another note, this is one reason why I really hate the hot weather as the chance of getting a seizure goes up quite a bit due to getting ones from my body overheating too much)

Oldernotwiser

That was a major overreaction to a basic request for information. Take a deep breath and start again.

Edit: Oh good, you have!

Any means tested benefits will be assessed on your student finance. I don't think anyone here would question how serious epilepsy is.

Indie_Kid

You can't claim income support (new claim) for a disability.

von

You cannot claim Income Support as a disabled student any more. You will need to claim ESA for which you will have to submit medical certificates.