Really entitled to nothing?

rogerblack

sarahRJ wrote: »

who says that although she is deaf she is fit for work. So, after he looked through the forms, he decided not to apply for her.

The guidance notes, while useful, are not the actual law.
http://www.sense.org.uk/content/esa-descriptors-determine-whether-you-have-limited-capability-work

Lists the actual descriptors she would have to meet to get ESA.

Firstly - is deafness her only disabilty - nomatter how minor.
If it is, in principle points might be gotten if she for any reason has difficulty communicating to strangers, or understanding them.
Can she safely cross the road?
Has she had accidents due to the deafness?
Can she get around OK?

It is important that the above is wearing her aids as she would normally.

In principle, simple deafness if the person manages OK is not qualification for ESA, if they are not managing, it might be.

sarahRJ

Gwylim - I don't know what her dad has filled in but I used a benefit checker on gov.uk that's where it said she could claim ESA, which her dad then said she can't claim.

From what I understand with the childs savings it not a huge amount - she's been putting away a small amount of money each month for the last couple of years. It's in his name, but she's on the account as the adult.

There were savings in an account in her partners name, she can't get to those as they are now part of his estate and will end up in trust for the son.

Indie_Kid

Your friend really needs to ignore what her dad is saying.

I'm sure that the job centre can do benefit checks. Or at least give your friend an idea what she's likely to be entitled to.

Mojisola

Indie_Kid wrote: »

Your friend really needs to ignore what her dad is saying.

I'm sure that the job centre can do benefit checks. Or at least give your friend an idea what she's likely to be entitled to.

And she needs help to fill in the claim form to explain her situation properly or she probably will be turned down.

McKneff

It is as simple as going to the DWP, they are the ones who will advise her on exactly what she can claim, and if you noticed I said 'Tell her to Go to' so that she wouldn't have to get someone to ring for her.


And she is not getting good advice from her parents or the CAB.


I am confused too about her deafness, surely if she has hearing aids in her ears then these enable her to hear. If they don't, then why is she bothering wearing them.


I used to play hell when a teacher said 'we make allowances for your daughters eyesight because she wears glasses' Madness.... if she is wearing her glasses which she never took off apart from bedtime then she actually had 20,20 vision.....

Savvy_Sue

McKneff wrote: »

I am confused too about her deafness, surely if she has hearing aids in her ears then these enable her to hear. If they don't, then why is she bothering wearing them.

Oh if only it were that simple ... with either glasses or hearing aids!

Your DD may have had 20:20 vision with her glasses, but for some people even the best glasses don't give that result.

And hearing is even less likely to be fully restored by even the best hearing aids: they are aids, not replacement ears. Depends on what the problem is, but if, for example, there is damage to the little hairs inside the ear canal, then some frequencies can be completely lost and gone forever. Which means bits of speech just vanish. The aids can improve, marginally, the areas which are left or slightly 'down', but some damage just can't be improved.

Many people who wear hearing aids are still unable to use the phone, sometimes a better phone would help, but not always.

rogerblack

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Oh if only it were that simple ... with either glasses or hearing aids!

Your DD may have had 20:20 vision with her glasses, but for some people even the best glasses don't give that result.

And hearing is even less likely to be fully restored by even the best hearing aids: they are aids, not.

This is very much not the issue with ESA.
Anything close to 'full function' will in general not get you any points whatsoever.
You have to be actually unable to do things in a reliable manner to get points.
To get points in one area without any other disability, you may have to be almost unable to do that task.

Savvy_Sue

rogerblack wrote: »

This is very much not the issue with ESA.
Anything close to 'full function' will in general not get you any points whatsoever.
You have to be actually unable to do things in a reliable manner to get points.
To get points in one area without any other disability, you may have to be almost unable to do that task.

Not disagreeing with you. But McKneff seemed to be suggesting that hearing aids would enable someone to hear as well as glasses enable someone to see, and that if they didn't, there wasn't any point wearing them. However the hearing aids may make the difference between not being able to hear AT ALL, and being able maybe to hear an individual conversation in a quiet room if it's repeated three times.

The OP's friend may not be sufficiently disabled by their deafness to get ESA, but still be unable to function well in the hearing world - they can't, for example, use the phone. The fact that the friend is receiving DLA indicates to me that the loss is fairly profound - either that or there are other issues.

GwylimT

McKneff wrote: »

It is as simple as going to the DWP, they are the ones who will advise her on exactly what she can claim, and if you noticed I said 'Tell her to Go to' so that she wouldn't have to get someone to ring for her.


And she is not getting good advice from her parents or the CAB.


I am confused too about her deafness, surely if she has hearing aids in her ears then these enable her to hear. If they don't, then why is she bothering wearing them.


I used to play hell when a teacher said 'we make allowances for your daughters eyesight because she wears glasses' Madness.... if she is wearing her glasses which she never took off apart from bedtime then she actually had 20,20 vision.....

I have 75% hearing loss in one ear and 85% in the other, hearing aids increase my hearing by around 20%, but of course hearing aids very rarely deliver clear sound and often don't enable you to differentiate between different sounds. The joys of measles.

Her teacher was simply doing their job correctly, those using glasses suffer more eye fatigue, they also often find it difficult to read black on white for even short times, I certainly wouldn't complain that a teacher was meeting the needs of my child.

sarahRJ

I don't know what the percentages of her hearing loss are - we talk about other things than exactly how much she can hear. Like we talk about other things than what my glasses prescription is. Is more likely we'll talk about what's the latest illness the kids have got.

What I do know is that without the hearing aids she hears nothing - depends totally on lip-reading. With the hearing aids she can hear some noises - but still nothing behind her and no low / soft noises. She needs to lip-read even with the aids in, needs to follow individual conversations so doesn't do well with group chats.

It took us a long time to become friends - I talk fast, she found it difficult to follow, but we got there and now she's one of my best friends ever.

She's lost her partner (husband in all but legal view) in a very sudden way and is now struggling with all the forms and details that comes with that. She says herself her reading and writing aren't brilliant but she's doing her best.

I don't know the benefits system anymore - the last time I signed on was nearly 20 years ago and it was Job Seekers allowance then. I thought she was getting duff advice and wanted a bit more information before I went to her family and said they were wrong.

Thank you for all the helpful advice I've been given. I'm going away now to speak to her and see if I can help or at least get her to ask someone other than her parents.