Descriptor F (8 points): Cannot prepare and cook food

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  • poppy12345
    poppy12345 Posts: 17,846
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    50Twuncle wrote: »
    Surely if someone is unable to stand up for more than a couple of minutes - how can they "cook" ?
    Then using a perching stool will help. Being unable to stand will not score you 8 points in this activity.



    If a perching stool doesn't help then you need to explain why it doesn't help and why you need assistance. You won't just score 4 points for needing assistance, if an aid will help you do that activity.



    PIP is about how your conditions affect you and not about someone else. When you do fill in the form you need to concentrate on how your conditions affect you. You've had lots of time to do some research and read guides, use that to your advantage and gain some knowledge because this will help your claim.



    Just looking at the PIP descriptors and thinking "yes, i should score X amount of points" but when you take a closer look you may find it's not possible to score as many points as you think.
  • 50Twuncle wrote: »
    Surely if someone is unable to stand up for more than a couple of minutes - how can they "cook" ?

    By this reasoning all those otherwise healthy people who are completely unable to stand (due to paralysis or amputation, not through illness) 'cannot cook', even though they can sit in a wheelchair or transfer to a seat, with a suitable height work surface and have no problems preparing and cooking the food.


    poppy, those are all excellent points.
  • 50Twuncle
    50Twuncle Posts: 10,763
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    By this reasoning all those otherwise healthy people who are completely unable to stand (due to paralysis or amputation, not through illness) 'cannot cook', even though they can sit in a wheelchair or transfer to a seat, with a suitable height work surface and have no problems preparing and cooking the food.


    poppy, those are all excellent points.


    There's a lot more to cooking than being able to sit at a work surface - for example reaching up and taking things from kitchen cabinets - and knives from drawers !
    Our kitchen is way too small to even fit in a wheelchair - irs more like a narrow corridor !
    Yes - I do use a three legged petching stool - but that does not let me move around because I would have to stand up to drag it around
    Or are you saying that indvidual circumstances are ignored ?
  • 50Twuncle wrote: »
    There's a lot more to cooking than being able to sit at a work surface - for example reaching up and taking things from kitchen cabinets - and knives from drawers !
    Our kitchen is way too small to even fit in a wheelchair - irs more like a narrow corridor !
    Yes - I do use a three legged petching stool - but that does not let me move around because I would have to stand up to drag it around
    Or are you saying that indvidual circumstances are ignored ?

    From the guide:
    It assesses ability to open packaging, peel and chop, serve food on to a plate and use a microwave oven or cooker hob to cook or heat food. Serving food means transferring food to a plate or bowl

    I see the point you are making, but the test is pretty much 'can you do it with everything at waist height?'. Whether you choose to store things in cupboards or leave them out on the side so they are easily accessible is not their problem, to put it bluntly! It's about the effects of your condition on your physical and mental functioning for the basic steps of the task.

    I do sympathise because it seems not to consider reality, but theoretically any external circumstances could be changed (even though generally not practical to do so, of course) whereas the internal effects of a condition cannot be. That's what PIP is about.

    Btw you can get rolling stools, though I don't know if any of them go tall enough to replace a perching stool. Our kitchen could certainly not accommodate a wheelchair either.
  • poppy12345
    poppy12345 Posts: 17,846
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    50Twuncle wrote: »
    There's a lot more to cooking than being able to sit at a work surface - for example reaching up and taking things from kitchen cabinets - and knives from drawers !
    Our kitchen is way too small to even fit in a wheelchair - irs more like a narrow corridor !
    Yes - I do use a three legged petching stool - but that does not let me move around because I would have to stand up to drag it around
    Or are you saying that indvidual circumstances are ignored ?
    You should score 2 points for the perching stool because it's an aid. As you can only score points once for each activity then you won't score anymore points than this.



    Reaching into cabinets or drawers is not part of the descriptor.



    My advice is still to have a read of this link i posted above.
  • :eek: do you mind if I ask how on earth they justified that?!


    I didn't ask, to be honest. My son also didn't receive full points for the budgeting question, even though he cannot identify all of the coins in current use. He cannot add apart from the most basic of sums - single digits are ok for addition, but more than that and it's a struggle. He doesn't understand the value of anything, so as far as my son is concerned, a TV could cost the same as a tin of peas. He did receive thirty points for care and 22 for mobility, and a ten year award, though, so I didn't want to rock the boat.
  • poppy12345
    poppy12345 Posts: 17,846
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    My son also didn't receive full points for the budgeting question, even though he cannot identify all of the coins in current use. He cannot add apart from the most basic of sums - single digits are ok for addition, but more than that and it's a struggle. He doesn't understand the value of anything, so as far as my son is concerned, a TV could cost the same as a tin of peas.
    Same as my daughter, she can add single figures using her fingers but anything more than this and she can't. She can identify the coins but only because it states the number on them, otherwise she wouldn't know. She doesn't understand the value of money either and didn't score the full points here. She scored 2 points for descriptor B.
  • poppy12345 wrote: »
    Same as my daughter, she can add single figures using her fingers but anything more than this and she can't. She can identify the coins but only because it states the number on them, otherwise she wouldn't know. She doesn't understand the value of money either and didn't score the full points here. She scored 2 points for descriptor B.


    My son can't see the numbers on the coins clearly enough. He's hit and miss, particularly with 5p and 20p. I gave examples and sent supporting evidence, but it obviously wasn't enough. He didn't need a face to face though, and has a decent length and appropriate award, so it's better than a lot of people have.
  • minimad1970
    minimad1970 Posts: 6,157
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    poppy12345 wrote: »
    You should score 2 points for the perching stool because it's an aid. As you can only score points once for each activity then you won't score anymore points than this.

    I use a perching stool but scored 0 points.
  • Alice_Holt
    Alice_Holt Posts: 5,921
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    I use a perching stool but scored 0 points.

    If you use a perching stool as a consequence of your disability / illness then 2 points should have been scored.

    However if you use a perching stool out of convenience, 0 points is correct.

    Did you explain the need for an aid (such as a perching stool) on your PIP2 / AR form?
    Alice Holt Forest situated some 4 miles south of Farnham forms the most northerly gateway to the South Downs National Park.
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