Atos and autism

[frugal-mum]

Hi one of my sons has autism and is on the highest level of dla for care due to him being a danger to himself and others. He went on to ESA in August as his training came to and end.

 

 

He has now been sent a date for a medical assessment which is next week. We only received the appointment last week (4.12.13)

 

 

Having done some reading around I am becoming more and more worried as my son struggles with the language and can often misunderstand the questions. I will of course be there to help him ( I am his appointee) but I cnaanot help but feel he will be tricked into giving answers that are not factually correct.

 

 

I have phoned Atos and asked for the assessment to be recorded but the person I spoke to had to email another department as they dont know if recording equipment is available at that site. I have also spoke to Welfare rights at my council and they say if its recorded they ususally have a doctor doing the assessment.

 

 

As my son is a vunerabe adult can I insist on the assessment being recordrd and if so can I ask for a copy?

 

 

Any help or advice on the whole issue would be appreciated as my son is becoming very anxious and aggitated about the assessment.

[Nystagmite]

You can insist on it being recorded, yes. But some posters on here have reported that this has delayed their assessment due to the equipment being broken, etc.

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

It's good that you have Welfare Rights on your side. I know that the Autism Society aren't great fans of Atos assessments; have you spoke to them at all?

 

HB

[frugal-mum]

Hi I tried to get through on the helpline but no-one could fake my call and its difficult for me to be on hold for too long due to looking after my son but I have emailed them and I'm waiting for a reply.

 

 

The more information I can get the better.

[dpick]

Hi insist on recording I went with a friend and their assessment was recorded she got zero points. Using the CD recording to check against the so called report we were able to point to at least 6 places that were incorrect also the trick of the assessor saying can you wait while I check if what I am typing is correct then going straight to the next question. It was only with hindsight we realised that we had not completed the answer to the last question so not being able to answer some questions in full.

 

 

We appealed the assessment and she received 15 points from the appeal.

 

 

dpick

[Nystagmite]

NAS are useless btw. Don't waste your time with them. They don't do anything to help Autistic adults.

[honeybee13]

NAS are useless btw. Don't waste your time with them. They don't do anything to help Autistic adults.

 

I didn't realise that Nystagmite. Thank you for the insight.

 

HB

[tickle cough]

Firstly you being his appointee will help tremendously, it shows he lacks of capacity to manage his finances so its a good thing you have that in place.. Secondly is your son verbally quite able but lacks the understanding behind conversations? You need to make that known as the question they ask might be leading and make a false perspective. Thirdly don't try and worry, people here only write down the worst case scenarios, most of the time they go alright.

[Nystagmite]

. Secondly is your son verbally quite able but lacks the understanding behind conversations? You need to make that known as the question they ask might be leading and make a false perspective. Thirdly don't try and worry, people here only write down the worst case scenarios, most of the time they go alright.

 

This is actually a common problem Autistic people have. Regardless of how high functioning they are.

[tickle cough]

Indeed,

[frugal-mum]

Hi you are quite right my son is quite verbally able but the fact that he doesn't understand the subtlety of language is my biggest worry. I have asked that the assessment is recorded and they have agreed to this but all this was done verbally so I might just send a quick letter sent recorded delivery to confirm this.

 

 

I had hoped that with me being his appointee that would make a difference as the DWP did visit my son before they made that decision. I hope I will be able to ask the person doing the assesment if they have any knowledge of Autism because although I understand they do the assessment based on the "descriptors" the fact that my son will struggle to answer the questions accurately due to his autism is in my opinion very relevant. I will of course be there to help and support him but it might seem strange if he says yes to a particular question and I then say no that's not the case!

 

 

My son is now getting very anxious about the whole thing and his behaviour is deteriorating and he is probably asking me 100 times a day what is going to happen. I try to reassure him as best I can. In some ways I'm glad its before Christmas as now we would just like to get it over and done with.

[Nystagmite]

Sounds awful. I was lucky I never had to have a face to face. Neither did my brother. I was put into the support group (I have Autism plus a few other medical issues) and my brother was put into WRAG. He had to have the interviews down the job centre and the lady he had to see, was clueless about Autism.

 

Hope all goes well for you and your son.