PIP for an eye condition?

THAAWT

Hi,

Just after a bit of advice really, my son has had vision problems ever since he was young (17 now) and has worn glasses for a long time. Particularly in one eye he has a very strong prescription. Also has Astigmatism.

Up until recently I hadn’t really thought too much about it as he just wore his glasses to school etc, although he did get picked on as one eye looks a lot bigger than the other through the glasses. He is very paranoid about this.

We did pay for thinned lenses, but to be honest because it is so thick it doesn’t actually make that much difference and adding on £50-60 each pair of glasses to do this wasn’t viable as he constantly looses/breaks glasses.

He cannot read signs without getting super close without wearing glasses.

If he closes one eye his vision is super blurry.

He needs to get within 1m of a registration plate to read it without them.

But now, its affecting him in more and more ways. He really wanted to become a life guard, but his eye condition has stopped him.

As a hobby he enjoys gaming, but wearing headphones and glasses, he was getting sores behind his ears (we tried numerous different headphones and they didn’t make a difference)

If he takes his glasses off after about half an hour, he is constantly rubbing his ‘blurry’ eye as obviously its trying to work harder without glasses.

We’ve had to get a bigger screen for him to play on.

He sits really close so he can see the screen.

Its actually affecting so much more than I realise now I’ve written it all down. Its also affecting him as its stopping him doing the things/job he enjoys doing.

We have talked about contact lenses. But they are a definite no. He shows a few signs of something (can only wear certain socks, nothing can be touching his neck i.e. t-shirt collars are all stretched etc so putting something in his eyes, he just can’t bear the thought of)

Is it worth me applying for PIP for him or is this not something that would apply for him? (I was thinking it would help as he's now going to have to pay for glasses etc, it could help with the cost of the thinning lenses, bigger screen and more things he's going to need)

Any advice much appreciated

elsien

Most of the daily living descriptors  are not going to apply - Have you read to see what these are?  It doesn’t really matter about diagnosis or labels, it’s more about the impact on his ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. So his sensitivities to certain materials, unless that is part of a much bigger picture and  difficulties in other areas, it’s not going to be relevant. 
Gaming probably doesn’t count as a daily living activity. The fact he is disqualified from a job that he would want to do is also not relevant. 
Glasses don’t count as an aid/adaptation so if he is managing everything with his glasses on then he’s probably not going to get any points. Although you say his vision is incredibly bad without glasses because the glasses correct it then again without the use of any other aids, he’s probably not in PIP territory.

You might find this helpful in terms of Pip and eyesight. 

https://media.rnib.org.uk/documents/PIP_Toolkit_2024.docx

Danien

No sorry, unless he has other issues, poor eyesight treated with lenses isn't going to qualify.

As an example I wear oxygen and get sores from that, but alone the sores wouldn't qualify me, and even using oxygen constantly wouldn't qualify me unless I meet enough descriptors to get at least 8 points for daily living or mobility.

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/personal-independence-payment-pip/pip-points-system

HillStreetBlues

With glasses, if he doesn't get help with costs in any other way, you should ask the optician if he's eligible for an NHS complex lens voucher

THAAWT

Thank you both very much for your advice, much appreciated

THAAWT

HillStreetBlues said:

With glasses, if he doesn't get help with costs in any other way, you should ask the optician if he's eligible for an NHS complex lens voucher

Thank you, ive not heard of this so will ask, thank you again

Muttleythefrog

Agree with above... it sounds unlikely. And I would always advise against applying for PIP speculatively because of the demands and stresses it can place.... recommend people thinking about a new PIP claim to assess against the criteria (linked above) and see if they would qualify in their view because it can be a battle to get accurately assessed or get an accurate decision.

peteuk

I agree with @Muttleythefrog,  for the condition you mention it is highly unlikely he will score enough to be awarded PIP, and that given the difficulties the questionnaire and assessment can cause, its a lot of pain for little/no gain.

Theres nothing stopping you from looking at the activities and then applying them to his situation.

Can he cook a simple meal for one (using hob only), can he feed himself, does he dress himself, can he take a bath/shower…

Is his eyesight corrected with glasses?

kkkklinky

Agree with all comments above.

PIP is a stressful process for those that are "eligible". It's great that you have asked for advice and not just put in a claim. Unless you believe he would score enough points from things like cooking, dressing etc I would advise against claiming.
Check the descriptors online.

poppy12345

The glasses are there to correct his vision, why does he take them off. My elder daughter wears glasses due to very poor vision and she also pays to have the lens thinned due to them being so thick.

When she takes her glasses off, anything beyond in front of her face is very blurry in both eyes and she can't see to read at all without them. She only takes them off to go to bed, have a shower or put her make-up on. She's perfectly healthy and would not qualify for PIP because it wouldn't be possible to score enough of points needed. 

KxMx

I know you mentioned trying various headphones, would Bluetooth ear buds be a useful suggestion? You can get ones that are fully inner ear, so no sores behind the ears with those or conflicts with glasses. 

Do investigate help with the cost of glasses

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/opticians/free-nhs-eye-tests-and-optical-vouchers/