MSE News: Half a million could lose disability benefits

~Chameleon~

nannytone wrote: »

i live in a ,arket 'town'... population around 10,00. our 'town' is the largest in the area. the next significant town is 9 miles away ( chesterfield)
of course we have shops. a small co-op , a bakers, a greengrocer and a butcher...as well as a hardware shop and a few 'odds and sods' shops.
we have the 'toem park' which has a leisure centre. the school use it ( our school is the major school in the area and pupils are bussed in) that is where the gym is located. it isnt some swanky set up. just a room in the council run facility with a few excersis machines.

the fact that my flat is right at the centre of the 'town' is exactly what makes it suitable for someone with a disability

You've more or less described my nearest town, 4 miles away, and that actually contains TWO gyms, a council run one which the school also uses and a smaller privately run one

Our village, one of three in a 450 square mile area of farmland, has a population of around 1,200 and the nearest major town/city is 18 miles away. We've only just had ADSL2 introduced to the village and don't stand a cat in hell's chance of ever getting cable or fibre optic services!

I'd call that pretty rural :rotfl:

nannytone_2

we dont have cable or fibre optic either. until recently we received free broadband because the service was so hit and miss. all properties here have electric ( obviously) but very few have a gas supply as gas pipes were only laid to one end of the 'town'. ( i use the word town very lightly. all of the people that were born here still refer to it as a village)

dori2o

mazza111 wrote: »

Dori I visited my old friend from school yesterday. She types with her thumb knuckle, as her fingers are hooked. She's in the process of trying to set up voice software, but it doesn't really like the Scottish accent :rotfl: There's no way she could even work from home.

We got to the bottom of the problem with her money. Seems the WRO or social worker who filled out the ESA50, delivered it by hand to the DWP :wall: Along with her sick note for a year and her letter from the GP to say she couldn't attend the medical centre. They've received her medical certificate. So between it being handed into the DWP ( I know, would have been better going to ATOS themselves) and DWP sending it to ATOS, it's been lost. She's now waiting with no money until her social worker can get out to help her with the form again

Such a shame.

I'm probably the same hon, my pc is on all the time, and if I don't close down it will show that I'm online, even when I'm not

I hope she gets it sorted soon. Just more stress that can easily be avoided. It really doesn't suprise me though that something has been lost and ATOS are involved.

If only managing employment, on top of managing health issues, was as easy as casually using a internet forum.

mazza111

No idea why they took them to DWP in first place tbh. You would think they would have known that the form and letter would have went to ATOS and the med cert would have went to DWP. And that's supposed to be professionals helping her.

Luckily she's got her DLA to fall back on. Just means she can't go out in the meantime

sunnyone

mazza111 wrote: »

Dori I visited my old friend from school yesterday. She types with her thumb knuckle, as her fingers are hooked. She's in the process of trying to set up voice software, but it doesn't really like the Scottish accent :rotfl: There's no way she could even work from home.

I have similar problems, I have several diffrent conditions which affect my paws, Im due more surgery soon, so typing is very difficult for me and voice recognition software dosnt understand my voice as Im deaf so my voice is very "flat"

mazza111

sunnyone wrote: »

I have similar problems, I have several diffrent conditions which affect my paws, Im due more surgery soon, so typing is very difficult for me and voice recognition software dosnt understand my voice as Im deaf so my voice is very "flat"

Daft bit with her is, she can straighten them with her other hand, so probably some ring splints would sort her out with at least a couple of fingers and give her some use, but she can't afford to buy them with her money being stopped. We arranged for OT, physio and welfare rights to come out to her next week, hopefully she'll get something sorted

sunnyone

mazza111 wrote: »

Daft bit with her is, she can straighten them with her other hand, so probably some ring splints would sort her out with at least a couple of fingers and give her some use, but she can't afford to buy them with her money being stopped. We arranged for OT, physio and welfare rights to come out to her next week, hopefully she'll get something sorted

She should get them via the hospital, what is wrong with her hands, are spilnt the only thing that can help her?

mazza111

sunnyone wrote: »

She should get them via the hospital, what is wrong with her hands, are spilnt the only thing that can help her?

No idea hon, think it's to do with the neuropathy. The only way she can straighten the fingers is to manually do it with the other hand. But I can see from looking at her hands that even something as simple as splinting them would enable her to use them for something like typing.. They are all doubled in 2 atm, they aren't sore. To me it seems like she's not getting the help she needs in all honesty. But I don't see her often, so I could be totally wrong. Feels like they have done the adaptations she needs and then forgot about her. One of her wrists is starting to curl under too, they gave her a splint for it, but it's an adult size small, and still drowns her.