Question about new benefit assessment

vanguard1

The assessment for the "PIP" which is due to replace DLA.

I'm a bit worried by the fact you no longer fill in a form and send it away the person being assessed now must attend some sort of medical.

But what if the person has autism and has great difficulty with communication? Is it allowed for the person being assessed to be accompanied? Is that person allowed to speak on their behalf? Is the person being assessed obliged to say anything at all?

Will you know what questions you are going to be asked and be able to prepare? With the form you could take your time filling it out but if you are at an interview and have questions thrown at you in a high pressure setting you might give answers which might not be the best (then leave the interview thinking "I wish I had said that why didn't I think of that").

rogerblack

A representative will be allowed, but they will want to talk to the person as much as possible.

The questions are liable to be similar to those for ESA.
They will not ask (for example)
'Can you mobilise 30m using a wheelchair or other normally used aids without significant discomfort or exhaustion' (this is not one of the PIP descriptors), but they will ask questions intended to find this out.
These may not seem very sensible, and may have issues.