Yes you do get points it’s under the mobility component regarding being not being able to get to unfamiliar places with out help they denied him because he doesn’t have a cognitive diagnosis thereby him not having enough points to get the enhanced mobility meaning he will lose his car if we can’t get them to change with the mandatory reconsideration. He was diagnosed with MS in 1988 and has had a Mobility car for 20+ years.
Yes it does it’s a terrible illness tried to explain at the f2f assessment about fatigue she didn’t want to know then reports that he said he was fatigued but didn’t look tired
Why do we have to fight for everything ? We have paid our taxes . We didn’t want to have MS . People who make these judgments regarding your husband who apparently didn’t look tired enough need to live a week with MS … We save the government millions as carers but they refuse to acknowledge this and refuse to offer help … maybe due to the low lifers who fraudulently claim to be disabled when they are not hence causing genuine disabled people more hardship …
My husband with all his diagnoses (see #16 above) was marked as standard mobility, he can’t walk more than 20meters without serious problems. F2F was, as is common, an insulting experience. I was offended for him. We appealed on the mandatory reconsideration, I wrote a 12 page letter of objection. They overturned the decision. You do need everything diagnosed to stand a chance. The assessors have poor knowledge of all conditions and are totally unsympathetic. My husband was purposely marked down and all information provided was ignored, all deliberate, as this impacts on mobility vehicles and even disabled badges.
Professional health staff, including GPs have little experience of MS as the numbers of patients affected is relatively small. The staff manning the assessment centres generally have little experience of MS and may never have treated a case. We were lucky we saw an OT who understood the condition. Carers have to go along with the information to inform them! Fight on sadly. Educating the DWP could be a role for MS Society too. What are they doming about this?
Hi I’ve just joined the forum looking for help on this topic. My brother has MS and in recent years his moods have become very extreme. He lives alone and over the years has become very isolated, his difficult behaviour seems to have driven any friends away. I think he also felt and feels very proud and stubborn so doesn’t want to be seen as weak or unable to walk well etc. He has closed down emotionally and socially and is so very hard to spend time with. I feel deeply for his situation but also find him hard to talk to or spend time with as he’s so aggressive and hurtful. My mum has Alzheimer’s and she is the only person he goes to see but every time he does he upsets her, she doesn’t always remember why or what caused it but always knows she feels upset when he has been to visit. I worry for her and also him, I agree with some previous comments that there seems to be some very similar behaviours to dementia and he also lacks complete empathy for anyone. Often says very hurtful and insensitive things but has no awareness of the impact of this. Just not sure where to go with this, I don’t live locally but visit home once a month to help with my mum(different countries not just down the road). I visit my brother every time but absolutely dread it and also have to pick myself up after the event. If I have a question in all this it’s how I can help him to get help. I think he is very depressed but no one wants to go near him which also makes him angry and fuels his paranoia. He has always refused help since his diagnosis. He won’t talk about feelings and the closest I’ve got is when I persist about how he is, if he’s in pain, is he sleeping ok etc? Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can persuade him to see his doctor or speak to someone about how he is now? Thanks L
it sounds like you are in a very tough corner. You will (in my opinion) need to be careful that your efforts to do the right thing do not end up causing you or other family members harm. By that I mean that you should put your efforts into getting some professional support. Maybe you can speak with your brothers GP or surgery, if not you might need to speak with social services with regard to a vulnerable adult. Professionals will be used to dealing with complex situations and have more things in their “toolbox” to help. You have a lot to deal with so getting a bit of support in one area will free up your time and resource for you or another area. If you spread yourself too much you could break and everyone loses. This is of course only an opinion based upon next to zero knowledge of all circumstances so I apologies if I am talking rubbish.
One of my favourite stock notions is , how would you advise a friend in a similar situation? And, if the boot was on the other foot , how would you want your brother to help you?