ESA Medical Assessment

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I'm in the UK and have my Employment and Support Allowance Medical Assessment on Tuesday

I've been on ESA in the past and was placed in the Support Group after the assessment but I came off it last year to take a part time job, which didn't work out, so I applied for ESA again and am waiting to see if they will put me back in the Support Group again.

I'm really worried about the assessment as it was a very stressful experience last time. I got worked up just from sitting in the waiting room as it was an oppressive environment due to some of the people in there being unpleasant types.

Has anyone else had an ESA medical assessment recently?

Hi Nessa,

not had anything like that, but I wanted to say that I hope it goes OK for you. The only thing I have to compare it to, is at the age of 17 having to wait in a psychiatrists waiting room with a load of unstable looking people that terrified me. I got so stressed I was about to walk out when they called me in.

Although I understand why they put people through this, it's an awful thing to go through and I'd be feeling the same as you.

In a way, it probably works in your favour if you feel stressed, because when you are called in you will look tense and a bit wild-eyed maybe, and it will also affect your interactions so they will see you have issues that cause you to need ESA.

Maybe you should even tell yourself to strip back whatever social front you have built up and let them see you warts and all so they can easily see for themselves.

Hopefully someone will post that has been through this. Don't forget, that you have rights to reasonable adjustments to be in place for things like this in law.

http://www.nhsconfed.org/Publications/D ... ng-255.pdf

There is also a self advocacy booklet on the NAS website here: http://www.autism.org.uk/living-with-au ... ocacy.aspx

...which you can complete and give them (maybe fax to the person you are seeing beforehand if you know their name?) with your individual needs for the interview.

Thanks Whirlingmind

I think my worked-up state at the last assessment did go in my favour as I got upset when explaining how the waiting room experience had made me feel and I said - if this happens to me just in a waiting room how do you think it is for me in the workplace?!

I was very angry at having to tolerate some of the other peoples' rude, disrespectful behviour in the waiting room though as surely we were all there because we were ill?!

I overheard this woman and her male partner talking about me and initially tried to ignore them but felt too self-conscious and suddenly looked straight at the woman and she looked shocked as if caught out and she walked out the waiting room not long after that, leaving her partner focusing intently on his mobile. I hate it when people act like this -and I'm past the stage where I'll just tolerate it - the person will feel the full force of my annoyance via my glare if they pick on me like that. I wasn't sure if her partner had said 'Look at her, she doesn't look ill' or 'look at the state of her' but either way I was livid and not prepared to sit pretending I wasn't aware of them while they sat and commented on me!

Then when I came out of the assessment and had to wait while the assessor photocopied some of my medical reports, I saw two women who were probably lesbians looking at me in an amused manner; having a joke about me, so I glared at them and not long after they got up and walked out the waiting room

These people are bullying cowards - they give it out but can't take it back!

Just remembering it all is getting my blood up!

Perhaps I'd be better off just stabbing the first person to treat me like s**t in that waiting room as proof positive I shouldn't be in the f-king workplace! Because that's what will happen if they send me back into it - I've reached zero tolerance level!

Perhaps those as*holes who were looking at you and discussing you, were the actual spongers who shouldn't be getting JSA, and were looking at you commenting that they could tell you had some issue or other and were a genuine applicant. And then when you glared at them they got scared because they wondered if you had some sort of severe mental illness that would make you attack them, so they left the waiting room! Serves 'em right. Teach them to gossip, with their petty-minded judgemental comments eh.

You know, as GPs are supposed to offer people on the spectrum home appointments, it occurs to me that that you are legally entitled to ask the same of the ESA bods...probably a lot of people claiming ESA are, they just don't know it, and they certainly wouldn't volunteer the information to people. Just a thought.

Well, being as I'm a very cynical person, I'd fully expect a fair number of people in that waiting room to be fakers, especially the type who take the piss! I think everyone looks round at others in the waiting room and thinks to themself 'What's wrong with them then?' when there's no physical disability apparent. They will be wanting to know how they compare to the average ESA claimant, as represented by the other people in the waiting room, so as to try and guage whether they are likely to be believed by the assessor.

I actually thought that as the two who were talking about me evidently considered me too simple to be aware of it, when I suddenly glared at the woman, she was shocked as she'd made a categorisation error, to the extent that I wasn't as stupid
as she'd thought I was and she could even have thought I might be an assessor masquerading as a claimant just to try and catch out fakers in the waiting room. I think this woman may have been either a faker or she thought she had a weak claim and she was worrying about it and her partner said something like 'well look at her - she doesn't look ill to me'. Either way, my hard stare really scared her as she wasn't expecting it and she walked out, which I took to mean she had to make a big show of being anxious etc

Then, when we left the assessment room to go home, she and her parrtner were walking back up the stairs to the assessment room and when she saw me, she missed her step - she was evidently that nervous and this pleased me greatly as I think people who pick on others deserve all they get!

My argument is, if you're going to have that nervous a reaction, isn't it a good idea not to provoke people in the first place?!


As far as home visits are concerned - you would need to get a letter off your Dr or a health professional stating you were unable to get to the assessment due to something like agoraphobia and if you can attend your Drs surgery, this will prove you can attend the assessment (that's what I've read anyway)

My own GP wouldn't even put agoraphobia on my Drs note as well as depression as she said I'd been able to come to the surgery!

That's where a psychologist or therapist might come in useful, GPs are so crap it's untrue, you could get a letter more easily on what your diagnoses are from a mental health worker I'm sure.

I've got my Asperger's Diagnosis report and a report stating I've got Paranoid, Anxious and Avoidant Personality Disorders as well so hopefully that's enough for them to be going on with!

I was also sacked form my last job for losing my temper with a bullying cover manager, for which I was suspended and when I disclosed my Asperger's Syndrome they used it as an excuse to get rid of me, saying they couldn't make the adjustments needed for me - most of which I never even asked for. They refused to hold a meeting at my house as the HR manager said she and another manager were 'scared' of me after my conduct at a previous meeting held at head office. All I'd done was say I was worried about people knowing I had Asperger's Syndrome as they might get their knowledge of the condition from Daily Mail headlines about people with Aspergers who'd killed people. In the notes of the meeting the HR Manager reinterpreted this as me saying I might end up killing someone! My own advocate who attended the meeting with me for support said "Shut up Vanessa, you're scaring them and you're scaring me!" So much for advocacy ffs!

So this should be more than enough proof I'm categorically not accepted in the workplace and according to the ignorant NT's not even safe to be there!

Oooh yes. I should say. Might just swing it if you turn up with a meat cleaver in your hand though! (joke!!)

I know - that's the irony!

I'd probably get loads of therapy and support too because as we all know, people in the criminal justice system have far
greater needs than the law abiding

Quite. That seems to be all any institution in this country care about. Like in my daughter's new school, since they found out she's academically able and has a history of not speaking out with problems, they suddenly don't want to give her the 1-2-1 they initially offered. I think this is where the "he who shouts loudest..." thing comes in.

Hey, that's it! Sit in the waiting room ranting! A good old shouting monologue, about NTs! They'll think you're so anti-social that they will probably sign the form and shuffle you out without even seeing you. And it will have the added benefit of any time you do spend in the waiting room, all the spongers will be cleared out pretty sharpish too, so you'll have it all to yourself. You can then gibber and rant with impunity!

(laughs maniacally!)

I hope that things go well for you.

Lol

Don't worry - I will have no trouble ranting if anyone in that waiting room sets me off!

Thanks CockneyRebel