Social Worker Visit for partialy sighted

abitofhelp

Good Evening. I'm hoping someone might be able to help please. My dad was registered as partialy sighted in november last year. he has macular degeneration and is in his mid 70's. he has been told by his dr that there is no more they can do for his sight and he will probally lose it all together in the next two years. he has adapted to the news well as he knows when he visits the hospital now he hasnt got that hope anymore that something can be done. he has now had the phone call from the visually impaired team from social services and now he is starting to panic. he wont claim anything until social services tell him to. from waht i have read he may well be entitled to attendance allowance as it is not means tested. i have told him that he needs to claim the benefit that social service wont do it for him. has anyone been through this please. i think i am correct in saying that they will be checking to see how he gets around the house and outside. the family take care of him between ourselves, he needs supervision when outside so one of us makes arrangements to make sure we are with him. sorry to ramble. i will be at the meeting next week with him. many thanks.

sleepless_saver

Social services might well not help him claim attendance allowance, but if they don't then local CAB should be able to help.

For general help and advice for you as well as your dad, have you had a look at the RNIB website. they have a good section on living with sight loss. Also they can offer advice on claiming attendance allowance.

wiccanlou

Contact D.I.A.L as well as they do home visits to help people fill out forms and also can help with regards to other benefits and allowances.

Social services do more than just check on how he will get on at home they can set up day centre visits, meals on wheels, contact with agencies dealing with sight loss and can also help with benefits. They helped my Nan no end when my Grandad had a stroke and then she suffered the same a few years later.
There is a lot of bad press about social services and from my experience it is completely unfounded in the majority of cases especially when you work with them before there is a problem.

I wish your Dad all the best and hope that his sight stays with him for a longer than predicted and he gets all the help he deserves.

wolfehouse

the sensory impairment team falls under social work but their remit
is much more about rehabilitation.
they can offer to teach mobility and independent living skills,
connect you dad up with groups (in glasgow there is a group called viability who do all sorts of leisure classes etc) and give him some free equipment (talking watch etc)
while they can also help fill in forms this is not mostly what they are about

abitofhelp

many thanks for all your replys. there isnt a probelm with social services comeing out, in fact my dad is really looking forward to it. i have checked out the rnib site all ready , it has been usefull to us. as my dad is in his mid 70's he deals l lot better with people in authority, so any suggestions that social services make he will take on board. where the suggestions i make are met with lets say resistence. he does get bored at home as he is unable to do a lot, he can cope if things are set up for him or things havnt changed. we have made a lot of changes for him. he is also quite independant. there is a gardening group close by i am hoping that once they suggest that he will join, i will happily go along with him to make sure he is settled in. sorry i do tend to ramble, my mother is still alive and lets say whilst she may not be classed as an alchaolic yet she is certainley on her way. he wants her out of the way for the visit so that will be fun. once again thanks for your advice.

gardenia101

I found RNIB to be very helpful for lots of different things & it still ring them every few months with a new query which they always manage to help with. My eye hospital have also loaned me different magnifiers & I got a lot of "bits" from the vision team at social services & my local blind charity, who set me up with a talking book machine. This is wonderful & so easy to use & great with the RNIB talking book library. My local library have also waived borrowing fees on their audiovisual loans & their CDs play in the talking book machine (as do all my music CDs).

My local blind charity have lots of events from trips, coffee mornings, gardening sessions etc.

Best wishes.

churchrat

Hi

just wanted to add--dont forget about the local charities. My dad gets a great deal of help from KAB, a local charity which covers Kent.
Also, Age Concern will send somebody to the house to help with form filling etc.
I hope your parents aren' t too much like mine--they hate taking any benefits at all because "we dont need charity", but oddly, they will accept help from charities.

parents, who'd have em.

abitofhelp

thank you for your replies. i am trying to encourage him to get a talking book machine as i think he will benefit from it i'm hoping that whoever comes out next week will do the same, he will listen to someone in authority. he has been given a slection of magnifiers and special glassses for watching the tv and for outside. he goes a couple of times a year to the low vision clinic. if they suggest activities for him he will listen. yes it will be a struggle to get him to claim any sort of benefit, my mum still works (still in her 70's and refuses to give up) so he is unlilkley to be entitled to anything though i think attendance allowance is not means tested and would certainley help if he needs to get around. he has been a saver all his life so he has a bit put by & a small private pension no mortgage it was paid off quite a few years back. we are lucky in a way i am able to work from home when required which i am doing more of as it stops him being by himself when he comes round to my house(we live close by) many thanks again for your replys.

[Deleted User]

AGE UK will probably help best with the AA application and will usually send someone out to help with the forms,tbh when my dad became partially sighted last year SS weren`t that much help