Can I get PIP because of my Aspergers?

I overheard someone mentioning PIP and did some research. It says that you can get some help if you can't cook.

I have Aspergers and because of the way it effects me, I am too afraid to use the oven because of the flames, and I am too nervous to turn the switches and press the ignitor in case I started a fire.

At Uni, all of my halls are catered, but at home, the only meals I eat (besides eating out) is microwave ready meals, as when I try to make things like scrambled eggs, they always explode in the microwave.

Could I get any help?

It depends how it affects you. You're extremely unlikely to get it just because you can't cook a meal.

If you're at uni, they will use that against you. Actually, they use absolutely everything against you.

Really? Who are 'they' - when I applied for DSA, SFE were very helpful. How do the people who administer PIP differ?

I have quite a few other difficulties - mainly due to social interactions etc. I find it so difficult to make friends as I struggle with complex social skills.

Uni is a struggle - I have put on 4 stone this year alone with the stress, and became very suicidal in my first attempt due to feeling overwhelmed, but I just see no other future for myself outside of academia.

They are the DWP and ATOS. They're completely different to SFE and DSA. SFE and DSA will do anything to try and help you succeed at uni. DWP and ATOS will do anything to deny you benefits. Even if it means lying and contradicting themselves.

Ah I see - I wish that everyone in the world would just be nice.

I am very worried about applying, as I worry what my GP and people would think of me if I got rejected. I would be so embarrassed that I think it would actually get me down. On the other hand, I think, if you don't try, you will never know.

I worry that people will hate me if I apply, but get rejected.

There is a section of the PIP application form which deals with whether or not you can physically cook a meal because of the effects of your disability and points are awarded depending on what you can or can't do, but I don't know if this section alone will give enough points for an award. Have a look at the application form in full and then see what you think about applying. If you do go ahead, gather as much medical documentation/evidence as you can to support what you've written on your form. This has to be specific to you, eg your doctor's reports, rather than articles etc.

Please don't think people will hate or judge you for applying. If you don't want people to know, don't tell them. Good luck with your application, if you decide to go ahead.

There is a knack to filling in the PIP forms and using the correct wording on each of the descriptors to say how Asperger's effects you.

Firstly you need to gather evidence from your GP for a claim and make an appointment to say you are going to apply for PIP and tell your GP how it effects you on a daily basis so your notes have that evidence.

One thing, as a mother of a son with autism, I fill in People's PIP forms regularly and they tend to underestimate the impact their condition has on them and not put too much detail in. Make it as detailed as possible. See a Welfare Advice worker for their help if possible at a Citizens Advice Centre if you still have one...many have been cut by local councils due to lack of funding.

Have you definitely got a specific diagnosis of having Autistic Spectrum Disorder? That is the starting point. Many do not and the DWP advisor won't look at it without a firm evidenced diagnosis. Many people with Asperger's Syndrome put just that on the form. Instead use the term "I have Autistic Spectrum Disorder" . I have noticed over time just how many people with Asperger's get turned down when they put Asperger's Syndrome on the form...DWP advisors automatically think you are very high functioning to the point you need no help. You are on the autisitic spectrum so say so!

The cooking descriptor is not enough to be awarded the standard component of daily living allowance. You need to look through the forms and see how each of the descriptors effect you personally.

An excellent resource with examples for filling in the PIP form is Benefits and Work

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk

You can get free access but if you pay the £19.95 yearly payment you will not regret it and have access to a whole lot of PIP resources that could help you. Preparation and research is the key to filling in a PIP form. I allow myself a week to slowly fill it in bit by bit for whomever I am helping and will use extra sheets and go into great detail.

Please please please ensure you firstly reply on time, Once they send you the forms you get a very tight 3 week window to reply and when sending your forms back, send them by signed for recorded delivery as so many get lost and you then have no proof they have arrived at the DWP.

They will then either call you to an assessment centre for a face to face appointment to assess your disability themselves or in certain areas they will come to your home...it depends entirely on the area. You can have someone with you who for support. You can record the assessment if you tell them when making that appointment and they have to facilitate this.

Good luck with it all. It is a very tricky system to navigate alone, so please get expert help and advice before you send for the forms and during the process.

The name won't make any difference. My diagnosis is Autism. But it still apparently causes no issues despite my evidence stating the opposite.

I wouldn't pay for a benefits and work subscription. You can get the same information free online elsewhere.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you. I have been filling these PIP forms in since 2014 on a weekly basis and I go to appeal tribunals when people are refused PIP with overwhelming evidence supporting them.

I keep records of all those who are assessed and we have noticed a direct correlation between those who are refused PIP who state they have Asperger's Syndrome, as compared to those who state they have Autistic Spectrum Disorder and gain PIP.

Benefits and Work website is used by professionals in the benefits advisory services hugely as well as by individuals. It is held in very high regard and if a person can afford its subscription to enable them to fill in PIP or ESA forms, then we urge them to do so. There is specialised PIP knowledge on this website and many people have gained PIP as a result of following their detailed advice pages.

It depends how it affects you. You're extremely unlikely to get it just because you can't cook a meal.

If you're at uni, they will use that against you. Actually, they use absolutely everything against you.

They are the DWP and ATOS. They're completely different to SFE and DSA. SFE and DSA will do anything to try and help you succeed at uni. DWP and ATOS will do anything to deny you benefits. Even if it means lying and contradicting themselves.

As a previous DWP employee (albeit as a researcher, not the 'job centre' aspect), I would almost 100% guarantee that absolutely nobody will judge you in any way if you apply and are turned down. And certainly not your GP or anyone you know!

It is well known that the forms are not easy to fill in, that people don't always find it easy to provide all the relevant information, that assessments are not always ideal or appropriate, and that decisions can be overturned (hence there is the mandatory reconsideration and appeal process). And I say this as someone who worked in Fraud & Error there, so having seen examples where people do lie and get caught, but also many examples where people justifiably are successful at appeal, are underpaid, or do receive the benefits they are entitled to.

The most important thing to bear in mind is that PIP is awarded not for a condition alone, but based on the impact it has on your day-to-day life. If you do want to apply, and if you want any advice etc when filling in the form, I'm happy to try and help if you have any questions (unofficially - I no longer work at DWP so I can only offer my own experiences! I receive PIP for a mental health condition, so I have been there for myself, though it's been a while since I've seen the forms now).

If you do apply, aim to get as much information as possible from your team/GP regarding the impact of your condition, and go into detail as much as possible about how your Asperger's specifically affects you for each question.

It may be awarded, it may not (and that is no reflection on you, or on the impact of your condition as such - it's just a boundary somewhere where someone has decided what qualifies and what doesn't), but there is nobody who will hate you either way!

If your aspergers affects your everyday life then apply for it!

Both myself and a friend of mine were/are eligible for DLA for how our aspergers affects us and he's going through the appeals process for PIP as they rejected his claim but by the looks of it his decision will be overturned soon. I'm still waiting to be contacted to switch to PIP but you may as well apply and see what they say

There is a section of the PIP application form which deals with whether or not you can physically cook a meal because of the effects of your disability and points are awarded depending on what you can or can't do, but I don't know if this section alone will give enough points for an award. Have a look at the application form in full and then see what you think about applying. If you do go ahead, gather as much medical documentation/evidence as you can to support what you've written on your form. This has to be specific to you, eg your doctor's reports, rather than articles etc.

Please don't think people will hate or judge you for applying. If you don't want people to know, don't tell them. Good luck with your application, if you decide to go ahead.

There is a knack to filling in the PIP forms and using the correct wording on each of the descriptors to say how Asperger's effects you.

Firstly you need to gather evidence from your GP for a claim and make an appointment to say you are going to apply for PIP and tell your GP how it effects you on a daily basis so your notes have that evidence.

One thing, as a mother of a son with autism, I fill in People's PIP forms regularly and they tend to underestimate the impact their condition has on them and not put too much detail in. Make it as detailed as possible. See a Welfare Advice worker for their help if possible at a Citizens Advice Centre if you still have one...many have been cut by local councils due to lack of funding.

Have you definitely got a specific diagnosis of having Autistic Spectrum Disorder? That is the starting point. Many do not and the DWP advisor won't look at it without a firm evidenced diagnosis. Many people with Asperger's Syndrome put just that on the form. Instead use the term "I have Autistic Spectrum Disorder" . I have noticed over time just how many people with Asperger's get turned down when they put Asperger's Syndrome on the form...DWP advisors automatically think you are very high functioning to the point you need no help. You are on the autisitic spectrum so say so!

The cooking descriptor is not enough to be awarded the standard component of daily living allowance. You need to look through the forms and see how each of the descriptors effect you personally.

An excellent resource with examples for filling in the PIP form is Benefits and Work

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk

You can get free access but if you pay the £19.95 yearly payment you will not regret it and have access to a whole lot of PIP resources that could help you. Preparation and research is the key to filling in a PIP form. I allow myself a week to slowly fill it in bit by bit for whomever I am helping and will use extra sheets and go into great detail.

Please please please ensure you firstly reply on time, Once they send you the forms you get a very tight 3 week window to reply and when sending your forms back, send them by signed for recorded delivery as so many get lost and you then have no proof they have arrived at the DWP.

They will then either call you to an assessment centre for a face to face appointment to assess your disability themselves or in certain areas they will come to your home...it depends entirely on the area. You can have someone with you who for support. You can record the assessment if you tell them when making that appointment and they have to facilitate this.

Good luck with it all. It is a very tricky system to navigate alone, so please get expert help and advice before you send for the forms and during the process.

The name won't make any difference. My diagnosis is Autism. But it still apparently causes no issues despite my evidence stating the opposite.

I wouldn't pay for a benefits and work subscription. You can get the same information free online elsewhere.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you. I have been filling these PIP forms in since 2014 on a weekly basis and I go to appeal tribunals when people are refused PIP with overwhelming evidence supporting them.

I keep records of all those who are assessed and we have noticed a direct correlation between those who are refused PIP who state they have Asperger's Syndrome, as compared to those who state they have Autistic Spectrum Disorder and gain PIP.

Benefits and Work website is used by professionals in the benefits advisory services hugely as well as by individuals. It is held in very high regard and if a person can afford its subscription to enable them to fill in PIP or ESA forms, then we urge them to do so. There is specialised PIP knowledge on this website and many people have gained PIP as a result of following their detailed advice pages.

PIP is based on needs and not diagnosis though. It partly depends on the assessor. Mine was a right *****.

Benefits and work is, from my experience, a waste of money. I can get pretty much the same advice elsewhere for free.

If you can afford to get independent assessments and reports from an independent speech and language therapist and an occupational therapist (assuming you don't already have some pretty recent ones), that would be invaluable (I appreciate that funding this on student means is infeasible and would need help from family unless you have savings)

The NAS site gives useful ASD specific guidance on the points system. It's really like doing A levels etc, all about what the examiners are looking for.

It's an unpleasant business so worth rounding up support. Worth it all if you get it...

PIP is points based. One thing alone may not be enough for you to qualify for PIP.

If you think you might have a chance of getting it, apply. Get evidence, get them to write exactly how your disability causes you problems and why you should be scoring points for each descriptor. Get the form back on time. And then do not go to assessment alone. Get someone else to go with you.

You may well be denied after the assessment. It really depends on the assessor. Request a copy of the report, go through and state which bits you disagree with, and why - then request a Mandatory Reconsideration. Do this within the time period you have to do this. You may well be denied again after that.

Then you go to tribunal. They're more reasonable, and if you're eligible, the decision is more likely to be overturned.

Having a home assessment will make no difference at all. I had one because I can't manage in strange places. I still got 0 points on mobility. I did take it to reconsideration and got full mobility. Bloody ridiculous.

Did you have Capita or Atos? Why are they so mean - it is good that you won your appeal. It makes me wonder how many who were wrongfully denied PIP, but did not understand/feel able to go through the appeals process are currently suffering.