Home assesments
#1
Sun, 25/01/2015 - 08:43
Home assesments
I have my ESA assesment next week and my pip in two weeks, I am so nervous . Pip I feel like I easily meet the scoring criteria but ESA seems to be not relevant and I'm not sure how I'll get the required points. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated
thanks
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Call Neurosupport, they can assist with things like this www.neurosupport.org
Well, I am no expert, but my husband and I have been working on his ESA form. I joined Benefits and Work online and have read their ESA Giudes. It does seem much harder to apply ESA to CH which is crazy as all Clusterheads will know!
A letter from the Neurologist might really help and also serious information about what CH is. I have just found out through a freedom of information request that the EBM LiMA Repository, which is what the interviewing Healthcare Proffessionals are given by the DWP to look up the health conditions on, does not have CH on it! Follow the link below to see the letter about this from the DWP.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ebm_lima_cluster_headache
Rightly or wrongly, we see it like this:
Cant do anything reliably applies to everything.
Significantly disrupted awareness or concentration seems very relevant because mental awareness is severely disrupted by an attack. Apparently it is important to stress the cognitive aspects, unable to think, pay attention, focus, connect to what is going on around. Also, how are you afterwards while recovering? My husband can't think for a while after, forgets what was going on beforehand, and is so drowsy he still can't concentrate. Don't be misled by the application form making it look as if you have to loose consciousness, reading up about this it is not so.
Behaving appropriately applies, although I suppose it depends what you get up to during an attack! But in my husbands case we can completely justify that his behaviour during an attack is not of the sort that is generally ok in a workplace, and that it causes distress to the people around him.
Getting around safely, can you see and walk normally during an attack?
Communicating, my husband looses the ability to speak as the attack progresses. And as for telling someone there was danger; he wouldn't even know, never mind be able to tell anyone!
For the stuff like raising your arms, moving cartons of juice, using a keyboard etc, he has explained that 1-9 times a day all normal functioning ceases, physical and cognitive, he is locked inside he attack, and cannot choose his actions.
Are you cognitively aware of hazards during an attack?
Can you eat during an attack?
Hope this is useful.
Harriet.