commonly asked ATOS assessment questions

[estellyn]

Oh, so it seems that to spell - World is part of the medical these days.

Did you get a 'well done' afterwards.!

 

I was shocked when I learnt I had been left in the WRAG group I really was.

I truly was expecting a failure.

 

Yes I have heard that they ask people who they think are suffering from dementia, questions like these.

Is it to make us feel more embarrassed - because he could not have made me feel less like a human being, if he had tried.

You come home with those senseless questions going round and round in your head - feeling a complete waste of space.

 

Glad you won your appeal.

 

I'm pretty sure I would have felt the overwhelming desire to get very silly and deliberately give stupid answers to the questions. 'What's 100-25', and I'd answer 'sausage', Asked to identify a coat, I'd feel the need to say 'wilderbeast'.

 

Maybe that's why the stupid questions - those who challenge them or get confrontational about it score zero points. A type of trap.

[reallymadwoman]

The WCA Handbook specifies that a mental state examination must be done before any of the mental function assessment regardless of whether it's appropriate or not. I suspect it's because the generally woeful level of experience of mental health problems means HCPs have to have a fixed procedure to have any chance of producing a credible report. A bit like training a monkey to do something that appears to be clever but is in fact pure rote learning.

 

From page 113 of the current handbook :-

 

It is essential that a Mental State Examination is completed in each case where the mental function assessment is applied. It may be useful practice to complete a mental state examination in cases where the claimant indicates they are “depressed” but at examination there is no evidence of functional limitation - (see section 3.7 for the mental state examination).

[estellyn]

Just to update, I'm in the process of doing a template/guide for additional info, but my laptop is sick and has to go for a trip to the laptop doctor, meaning I'm limited to a borrowed 7" tablet, which is limiting me a lot (especially as I've never used a tablet before). So please bear with me, as soon as my laptop is fixed, I'll complete this project.

 

Thanks to all who have contributed.

 

In the meantime, lots of fun with silly games and apps for me (never had more than a basic mobile phone either, so this is all totally new) - well losing my beloved laptop (and my civ addiction) should have some perks

[Swoll]

Hi,all.

I have just got back from my ATOS "medical" ( actually,it's called a "fitness assessment" by them ) and I left feeling like a fraud !

i wasn't asked half of the questions that I was expecting,so wasn't able to give a full account of all my aches and pains and the way that they affect me and the interrogator ( sorry,nurse ) told ME what I hadn't got ! Also,because I hadn't wasted NHS time and money by requesting appointments for scans and specialists that cost a lot of taxpayers' money to tell me something that I already knew,I was also made to feel that I hadn't got anything wrong with me and that I was making it all up !

My advice to anyone going for an assessment is to get as many hospital appointments as you can in order to show them that you have a condition that prevents you from working.Go to your doctor at least once a week and demand referrals,even if you already know what's wrong with you.If you don't waste their time and money,they don't believe that you are ill.............

Also.I purchased my own painkillers and stomach medications over-the-counter because they are a helluva lot cheaper than prescriptions and this was counted against me,as well ! Each prescription is £8.05 per month,as opposed to a couple of pounds for OTC Co-codamol ,etc.Not exactly rocket science,is it ??

I was asked about pets,etc,but the interrogator ripped through the questions so quickly that I didn't have chance to say that I wasn't the main provider for them-my partner feeds them and cleans litter trays,mainly.

So,finally,if you feel that you aren't being given the chance to explain things fully,take a deep breath and say "can we just go back to the ( Question ) and I will give you a fuller answer",which is what I should have done ..I will be more prepared if and when my appeal comes up !

I wait with baited breath for my letter from the DWP and oh what fun I will have trying to find a job at the age of 57 !

[estellyn]

I'd completely forgotten that I was going to write an 'additional info' guide - multiple hospital stays and general poorliness appear to have wiped it from my memory (as well as from my laptop). I'll give it another go and see what I can come up with. Apologies for the delay.

[worried33]

I have found with my last 2 assessments, if I bring in a statement, they spend most of the assessment going through it and asking me to clarify things, they then seem to run out of time to ask me the silly stuff.

[osdset]

Well I was asked

 

What is 100 - 25.

Spell - World

What is 96 minus 7

A coat was pointed to and I was asked what it was.

Remember these three things in the order I point to them in.

Chair

Table

Clock.

I suffer from depression and anxiety so perhaps they figure we are dumb.

Show me your 'right hand'

Show me your 'left hand'

Touch your nose with your right hand

Touch your nose with your left hand.

Touch your nose with your left and right hand at the same time.

Followed by most what has already been covered.

 

Humiliating all in all.

Sounds more like a sobriety test!

[letsgetitsorted]

Hi Folks

i know this post was started almost 2 years ago...but the information is very useful, is it worth making this a sticky ...took me ages to find this.

 

cheers

Lets