Autism and ATOS medical assessments

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I have to have a medical in August. They say their staff are widely trained. Would they be? Really? How do they deal with autistic people?I do not speak much and certainly not to people I don't know. Also I make no eye contact with people. How is that going to be viewed, they probably will just put me down as ignorant or rude.I am asking my social worker and someone from my autism group, like a keyworker, to go with me.Has anyone gone through this, what are your experiences? What people are saying on the link is very scary, thanks. 

Things people are saying about ATOS medicals...

http://forums.hexus.net/general-discuss ... sment.html

http://atosvictimsgroup.co.uk/tag/atos-healthcare/

I won't go into detail regarding my own assessments; I've had 3, two of which were horrific and a more recent one which was, well, alright. Some assessors stick rigidly to the script - which is very bad for people on the spectrum as the questions are confusing - whereas others will expand on each question in order to get a more accurate response. Which type of assessor you get will probably determine whether or not you end up going to a tribunal for appeal.

My advice is as follows:

- You should go into this assessment with the assumption that you'll probably fail it and thus have to go through the aforementioned tribunal. This might not help you directly, but it will help you prepare for the outcome should it happen. You are absolutely right, and well within your rights, to ask someone to go with you. Make sure at least one person does.

- You should also arrange (or ask your social worker to make) an appointment with the Citizen's Advice Bureau. They will have at least one person who is experienced with ATOS and the WCA who will help explain the process and how best to present your condition at the assessment.

- It is a good idea to request in advance that your assessment be recorded. As you already have an appointment, I would submit this request in writing immediately. This will probably delay your assessment, but will be critical should you need to appeal.

- Finally, and most importantly, don't get too worried about the assessment or about the decision. You will have a very strong case for appeal, and you will get free representation for the tribunal - again, talk to your local CAB about this.

In case you missed it, in May this year a panel of three judges ruled that the WCA discriminates against claimants with mental health problems. Although this has yet to result in significant policy changes, it should carry a lot of weight in appeals for those with ASDs.

I wish you success with your assessment, and sincerely hope you get one of the more pleasant agents of evi.. I mean ATOS.

Thanks to adifferentname and in answer to the above, I found this related article in The Guardian.

http://m.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/f ... y-benefits

As I have two other disabilities, one of which would score 15 points on it's own, so would qualify anyway but what we don't understand is the DWP have all the information, diagnosis etc and have had since about 1997 so what do they think is going to be achieved from an interview?

It is an eye-opener, I had heard about cutbacks, I have had some in my own care plan but did not realise just how devious and ill-intentioned the system is and quite obviously discriminates against people with disability both mental and physical.

I would strongly suggest that you insist on a recorded interview, so they can't lie about what you said in the interview. I went for one of these a few years back and they basically put down the exact opposite of what I actually said to them.

I actually worked for Atos ten years ago - not in the healthcare division but processing credit card slips, they were a horrible company to work for. if they could find a way to abuse the rights of their workers they would do so. We were all on one day contracts that were renewed day by day. They did this so that if we were off ill, they would not have to pay sick pay. And if they wanted rid they could sack us anytime they wanted with no notice, simply by not renewing the next days contract!

While I was there they got into trouble with the banks because they managed to lose £millions in credit card receipts through incompetence.

So all in all I'd say to watch your back with them, they are not a nice company.

I had an ATOS assessment in April.
The doctor asking the questions was a surgeon by profession. He was very nice and polite, but he failed to ask me questions for which he provided answers on the report.
For this reason I would suggest that no matter what the outcome, you request the report breakdown from the DWP.
As previously stated by others, taking at least one person with you is essential in case you need to dispute anything.
My outcome was pretty middle of the road. I was moved from ESA Support Group to the Work Related Activity Group, losing £20 a week. The estimated return to work was 18 months, which was actually a bit much in my opinion. However it revolves around my currently awful living situation and how quickly I can fix it. Regardless, I am appealing the decision because it is based on incorrect information. It has been two months since they confirmed receipt of the appeal with no further word yet.
I'm sorry that I cannot give you any further advice or positive outlooks. Hopefully the above will help you to be prepared both practically and mentally for what is to come.

Thank you. I will do that and also get my S/W arrange appointment with CAB, that will probably delay things for a few months, it is my right to ask for the interview to be recorded I understand, even though it is unlikely I would answer questions anyway, my attention is very poor and added to that if I felt fear or the person was horrible I know I would just not interact at all.

Yes, on what adifferentname wrote, if others are going to write about experiences of ATOS here then we don't need any personal details, I can say I am ASD (HFA) and have asthma and another medical condition etc but keep to the point about the ATOS and DWP and how best to cope with what seems to be an attack on our benefits. I am honest to say that actually I would rather have more in the way of care than money. We need money to survive but my point is that there have been so many cutbacks already in social care, this is just as much a serious issue.

You need to take someone with you. They assess you from the moment you step into the centre. It would look strange if you claimed "I can't go anywhere without someone" and turned up to the assessment by yourself.

I second asking for the assessment to be recorded.

I was lucky that I didn't need a face to face (I had to basically argue that putting me back to work is going to cause depression, meltdowns, a lot of physical pain, etc) but had to wait about 3 and a half months for them to make their decision.

Stupidly, you can be assessed by any medical professional. There was a report today of someone with mental health problems being assessed by a physiotherapist. As someone with rare and complex medical conditions, I need to be assessed by someone who actually knows what they're doing.

True but ridiculous. I would need to be seen by someone experienced in the autism field, not by a beauty consultant. Anyway, most psychiatrists couldn't diagnose an orange.

Surely if you are able to go there on your own, you're a liar if you then claim you are unable to?!

not only a liar but breaking the law to.
anyone who acts more disabled than they are deserves to go to see the back hand of justice in court,frauds are part of the reason why accessing unemployment through disability benefits is becoming a big problem for genuinely disabled people,even going as far as to making it completely inaccessible for some.

squonk,
try to avoid reading all the horror stories online,most people will talk about when something goes wrong but never about when things go right.
add to that,there are a number of resentful little shts who use sockpuppets on the likes of 'money saving expert' to make out each time that they have been turned down for something stereotypicaly acutely severe to cause anxiety in genuinely disabled people in an attempt to put them off getting something they cant get.
ATOS are a bunch of wannabe doctors who probably won their masters degrees in a raffle,but its really not worth stressing before have seen them,get it over and done with; then do whatever after the outcome.
contact DIAL if need proper help with disability benefits.
woud recommend reading posts on the blog; benefit scrounging scum- http://benefitscroungingscum.blogspot.co.uk/ -the name isnt abuse at people on benefits it is a piss take at what we are called,have known the writer of it in the disability community for years,she has done a lot of stuff on ATOS and ESA.

Not always a liar though - many people do have good and bad days. On my good days, I am able to go out alone and get to my destination with no trouble. That's rare though.

I had an assessment with ATOS last summer. At that time I hadn't been diagnosed as an Aspie and was there for longstanding problems with depression and anxiety. Needless to say, my trip to ATOS did nothing to help those conditions but I was lucky enough to be placed in the WRAG...

I would reiterate a couple of things that have already been stated here. Firstly, take someone with you to the assessment. If you turn up by yourself having managed to leave home at the right time, and having coped with the stresses and demands of public transport/organising a taxi etc. you run the risk of failing the assessment on that basis alone. Secondly, ask for your assessment to be recorded. This will probably delay the assessment as apparently that there aren't enough recorders available, and there are limited number of ATOS 'healthcare professionals' who are willing to be recorded. I've also heard stories (on the dwpexamination site I think it was, would put in a link but I can't as this is only my first post...) that because of the unavailability of recorders, assessments can be cancelled or rearranged at the last minute. If this happens, you must request that the new assessment is recorded also, because your previous request won't be carried over. Many people have been caught out like that... If they insist that they don't have a recording machine available and that you must attend anyway, your only option would probably be to record it yourself surreptitiously on a dictaphone or a mobile. This is obviously not ideal but IMO having a recording of some sort is absolutely essential.

There are plenty of sites out there offering help and advice for getting through ATOS assessment. If you haven't already, you might like to try TheFullFacts and BenefitsAndWork. But as a general tip, when answering questions on the EAS50 form and during the assessment you must say what difficulties you face performing the everyday tasks they present you with, and how doing so affects you. For example, in my assessment I was asked how often I went to the supermarket. A basic reply would have been that I went only went once a month and the rest of the time I just used my local corner shop, but the full story is that I always went to supermarkets at 8am (i.e. when they opened and were therefore quiet) or to 24 hour supermarkets during the middle of the night (when they were empty). Going at any other time caused me extreme stress due to the sheer amount of people around me, the noise, hustle and bustle etc. and it would take me days to recover after such an experience. Even after my early morning/middle of the night visits I'd still need several hours of peace and quiet to recharge. Also, I would only go my local shop at times I knew it was going to be quiet (i.e. mid morning) to reduce the stress I faced. So, always answer questions as fully as you can and if you can't perform an 'everyday task' safely (i.e. without undue stress, danger of meltdowns etc.) and/or cannot do it reliably and repeatedly, you must say so.

Finally, ATOS are having a bit of trouble at the moment (just google "Disabled benefits claimants test: Atos reports found 'unacceptably poor'" and "new-decision-undermines-atos-medicals" - again, I"m unable to post direct links ) so if things start getting you down, you can always have a bit of a laugh at their expense...

The difference between ATOS and the DSA assessments is crazy. With DSA, you don't get paid, but Student Finance England (or equivalent) cover "disability related costs" for you. At my assessment, it was decided that I needed a laptop to access special software, a notes recorder, and an electronic personal organiser.

I later found out that the "personal organiser" is going to be an iPod touch, and they were also prepared to pay for me to live in en suite accommodation, which I neither need nor requested. Oh, and I turned down the offer of help learning to use my computer, but they have still paid for 9 hours of training at £70 per hour

I don't understand why the government is throwing money at disabled students but doing all it can to leave disabled adults on the scrap heap.

People have already said most of what I was thinking of saying. I cannot stress enough the importance of going with someone. I've had 2 assessments now (I'm on ESA primarily because of fibromyalgia and ME/CFS rather than Aspie issues, although they play a part too). The first one was horrendous but the second time I knew what to expect.

- You won't be called in at your appointment time, it'll probably be a good hour later (appointment time: 11:45am; called in: 1:10pm) and they WILL be observing you in the waiting room to see how you handle not being called in at the time you were given (they have a long list of people each day that they can't possibly get through all in one day as they're relying on about 50% not turning up, so often if you have an afternoon appointment you'll get a phone call around lunchtime to tell you they're running behind so they have to rearrange, and they assess how you react to *that*, too). My second one, even though I knew I'd be called in late, I almost had a panic attack in the waiting room
- They usually won't read supporting evidence (though make sure you've got as much of that as possible, such as DLA letters, psychologist/psychiatrist reports)
- I drove (the centre's about 10 minutes' drive from my house and it's a nice easy route) and they were watching through the window how I assembled my wheelchair etc
- If they try to cut you off before you've finished explaining, be firm and say very clearly, "Please don't interrupt me because I haven't finished explaining and if I don't explain you can't write an accurate report"
- They'll try to be really nice and put you at ease, lull you into a false sense of security
- Some of the questions are deliberately obscure ("What do you watch on TV?" can be interpreted to mean you can sit and concentrate of X period of time depending on the programme)
- If you want a recording they WILL delay the assessment and they WILL try to force you into backing down and giving way on the recording because recordings will expose their lies - I requested a recording and the woman on the phone bullied me into not bothering with a recording
- Don't try to covertly record the assessment - if it's found mid-assessment the process will be stopped and they'll chuck you off ESA for a while; if you succeed in getting it recorded without them finding out, because they didn't give permission for a recording it's not admissible in court
- If you're struggling with something, tell them, don't try to hide it; they say it's all about what you can do rather than what you can't, but the reality is that if you play something down they'll pretend it's not an issue.

That's all I can think of for now.

Feel free to PM me about it!

^^^^^ Thanks, I have.

It is also my right that the person interviewing me must be trained in the autism field and specifically Aspergers. And they would also need to prove the interview person's qualifications.
I mean, someone with mental health issues as said before being interviewed by a physiotherapist is not acceptable.

If I did something wrong and broke the law and was interviewed by the police, then by law I would have the same right to have someone qualified to attend any interview.

So are going to cancel it for all the reasons given and there is not time anyway to prepare for it.