Benefits

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[By benefits,am mean income support,incapacity benefit,Disability Living Allowance,SSI,SSD etc not....the other kind].

What benefits are WPers getting for their ASD related impairments and/or comorbids,how easy was it for self to get them [whether through someone else or through self],and what do think of benefits in general?


Am get high rate care/high rate mobility of Disability Living Allowance,income support,enhanced component,and severe disability.
It has always been easy enough for family to get them on behalf [who got them without help],then as an adult-staff [who got them with council help]-never been turned down once..apart from with high rate mobility-the DLA worker who was looking at the forms the staff sent, said am couldnt get HRM due to not being a wheel chair user which was rubbish as am lived with people who got it for non physical reasons,five refusals off that idiot,and one tribunal later [did not go but had two representatives who know self well including one from the council,and own LD nurse]was awarded HRM under two criterias [severe behavioral difficulties and severe mental impairment, usually people get it under just one].
Most of it goes on things to do with care,disability aids that are not covered by funding or NHS,and will be going towards a motability car soon [hoping to get a small engine vauxhall zafira life...though keep swapping on which one].

do not like the stereotyped view of people who get benefits in this country,and too many seem to class all benefits as the same,so judge an innocent disabled person getting disability benefits,exactly the same as non disabled people who are just lazy and get job seekers benefits but dont actually seek jobs.

Maybe with the new changes they have made to the UKs benefits at least,which will be giving less disabled people basic community work to do [otherwise they will have their benefits lowered],this may give a better rep to benefits recievers overall,but won't be any good if they start putting people in unsuitable situations.

That's a compelling question, KingdomOfRats.

At University I do need accommodations in order to function. Since I'm partly/functionionally mute I usually write, not speak. But since Disabilities Services (at University, which is via ADA) is at best lousy, I have to naviagate around this and I'll not have my autism be regarded as deterimental since I cannot verbally present. Coincidentally, I just received in the mail today a Text-to-Speech device for my NEO but I'll need an 'ok' from the Dept and faculty; others will need to acclimate to a mechanized voice too.

My senses are enhanced/sensitive and I can become overwhelmed, to nearly disoriented from sensory stimuli - such as fluorescent lighting.

As far as benefits: This makes ASD individuals function better, in theory. That's why they exist. But getting the necessary accommodations (or benefits, in certain cases) can be problematic and I'm lousy at advocating for myself. Then implementing accommodations is another realm - yikes.

Like you stated, I think one of the worst deteriments is misinterpretation by others. I don't consider autism in terms of 'level of functioning.' KingdomOfRats: I read your posts and I do have commonalities with you, certainly. Such as sensory and other ways; Autistm is a heterogenous group and we are all individuals first. Suitable environment is vital for ASD individuals too, but neuro/psych disorders can be harder to accommodate, apparently, since our 'disability' or special needs may not be readily recognizable, but they DO exist! Stereotyping and those preconceptions by others are hard to break....sigh. Maybe that Autistic naivety and/or vulnerability can render me vulnerable for those who are unscrupulous.

Just wanted to mention, Stephen Hawkins (a favorite physicist) is in hospital very ill - he has ASL and cannot speak, confined to a wheelchair, and one of our finest physicists! Look what he can do, despite his circumstances!
PS: Hope you can recover, Dr. Hawkins.

KingdomOfRats - great if you could an auto, I hope so. Good luck, friend.

I would qualify for a disability pension and a low income health care card (ie medicine now costs $5 instead of $20)

However, even though I am casually employed for ~20 hours a week around uni and earn *below* the minimum wage for adults (there are youth penalty rates to encourage big companies to hire young workers), I earn too much to actually receive any government money.

Thus I have not bothered claiming it as I can't be bothered reporting my income every week to be told its too high (plus the whole I don't wish to be discrimiated against by future employers, banks etc by disclosing it)

i get SSI, and iam under permantently disabled under my mothers name, she also gets money for me, I dont know the exact amount but she gives me 400 a month, last year she only gave me 300, but said i earned another 400. when we went to go get them, they had to do a mini assesstment of me, and it was so faster then i expected, i walked in, they asked me a couple questions, then i left a couple days later we were recieving ssi, ssdi, the works.

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