PIP Interview

Well, it's been and gone. Basically I was repeating to her what I had written on my form so I suppose that offered continuity and confirmation. My main issue is with mobility but as the bulk of the form and interview focused on areas of lesser concern I think I can cheerfully prophesy my being refused. I repeatedly stressed that I was in continual pain, which any move aggravated and which the aids did little to mitigate, but as I can pass their arbitrary tests with 'ease' I am not confident in my higher rate DLA being transferred.

One thing I have never done is time myself for doing the day-to-day activities they wanted detailed: I start getting dressed then at some point I finish, I start peeling a carrot then at some point it's done. If you are due to be seen I advise timing how long some activities can take on both good and poorer days. I made sure to use my hand gel (stressing the immuno-suppression), mention one of the buzz words du jour - anxiety - and I had to move around a lot as the seating was woefully inadequate: I did the majority of the interview seated on my rollator as I am taller than 5'. Rollators offer temporary seating, they are not built with comfort in mind. :roll:

I don't envy them their role, I have very different difficulties to someone on the autistic spectrum or someone with Parkinsons but we are all lumped together. My assessor said she was a trained nurse and she was hampered by having her left arm in a sling due to a severely strained shoulder: we had a good chat about how ineffectual pain relief can be for chronic as opposed to acute conditions.

I purposely did not research the experiences of others as I did not want my view coloured by the experiences of people who are not me, do not have my conditions, history, attitudes and coping strategies. It was not unpleasant; yes it was tiring and stressful in some ways but my interlocutor was personable which helped. As is the norm I was there on time and we did not begin until 20 minutes later, apparently she was preparing herself. I call that rude and unprofessional and should I need or decide to go to appeal that will be mentioned as it caused me more physical discomfort than necessary. DD