ATOS Home Visit next week- not sure if I should acknowledge it

[claire1981]

My support worker filled out my old ESA claim over a year ago & I hadn't communicated with ATOS since missed appointment in Feb. Now magically as I send in updated ESA claim form, I get home assessment letter from ATOS. As if they are really desperate to be able to work off the older inferior less detailed claim form. I feel it would be a mistake to go ahead, as my updated form was only sent off a week before ATOS letter received. The ATOS letter makes no note of my request for any assessment to be recorded by the assessor using official professional recording equipment.

 

Plus I'd put that a symptom of my Asperger Syndrome is that I can't answer the phone, yet the ATOS letter says I may phone them if I have a problem! Plus it says the assessor will phone me to arrange a time to visit. I never answer my phone to anyone apart from my Mother, so they will be unable to do that. I think they tried to phone several times a few weeks ago & have proof I don't answer!

 

I'm not sure what to make of this. Are they ignoring my ESA claim form & should I respond by ignoring them? In my ESA form I explained that I'd be unable to answer the door to an assessor & that I have no one able to help me. Also as my ESA keeps being stopped when my 1 month sick note runs out & GP is late to respond, I have to live off my DLA & therefore have never been able to feel secure enough to get a proper carer who I can rely on to help me. I never have visitors & am housebound.

 

This is really making my blackouts & absences worse, I really feel like punching ATOS now. I can't even see my GP & he refuses to visit me, receptionist explained last year the GP only visits the very ill/ housebound. I explained that was me, but they still refused! So I haven't seen GP in getting on for a year. But to be honest if everyone else's GP is as useless as that one, I don't know how he has any patients left- I can't get any meds because he will not communicate with me. He knows I can't change surgery because a new GP will not issue a sick note without allegedly seeing me or getting to know me! I would say my GP knows nothing about me anyway, even though I've tried. He will only communicate via face-to-face & I can't do that. I've used voice recognition technology to write to him several times & explain numerous problems (which he ignores & just sends invite to see him!). I don't know anything about what is normal regarding how to deal with GPs, I have no idea how anyone copes- GPs seem rather useless. I don't know why people rave on about GPs, if this is suppose to be someone on my side, I fear to think what ATOS will do.

Edited September 15, 2013 by claire1981

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

Do you still have the support worker? I would have thought that they could help with some of this.

 

My best, HB

[time4change2]

do you not have CPN ( clinical Psychiatric nurse) and is your support worker still involved in your care? you might be best changing your GP if you feel the lack of care is not sufficient enough that he/she is providing for you. if you have diagnosis of your condition i cannot see why a new GP would not give you a sick note for your condition you dont have anything to loose at the moment from changing GP as it seems the one you have got at the moment seems to not be helping or supporting you at all your support worker will have a list or a cluster of GP practices that cover mental health it might be best to see which ones they are in your area.

 

the only other thing i can suggest is could you not get your mum to leave an answer phone message saying all messages on this phone are not picked up and anyone wishing to contact you please do it in witting only might be worth thinking about

 

i can understand that it can be scary when having a medical especially from ATOS but once they want to see you its not s though you can refuse really you can always have someone there with you like your mu or your support worker on the day its good thong they recognise you need a home visit and are not making you go to the medical centre they usually hold the assessments in but i would definitely think about Changing your GP is they are not supporting you in they way you feel you should be supported

[Nystagmite]

. Also as my ESA keeps being stopped when my 1 month sick note runs out & GP is late to respond, I have to live off my DLA & therefore have never been able to feel secure enough to get a proper carer who I can rely on to help me. I never have visitors & am housebound.

 

See if you can the fit notes earlier. It doesn't matter if they overlap. You just have to have a current fit note.

[honeybee13]

This is someone elses thread.

 

You beat me to it, Nystagmite. I'll try to find a thread of mik's to move the posts to.

 

Edit: some posts about someone else's problems have been moved to their own thread.

 

HB

Edited September 15, 2013 by honeybee13

[time4change2]

there is number of treatments to help people with Asperger Syndrome that you can try

[estellyn]

Claire, I hope you don't mind, I have a few questions.

 

When you say 'updated ESA claim form' do you mean ESA50 form?

 

You say you have your Mum to help sometimes - what help is she able to give you, are there any constraints on her time?

 

Are you having any input from the mental health team?

 

I'm very sympathetic - my husband has similar problems, so I understand how difficult practical things like this can be to sort out.

[claire1981]

Hello there.

 

Do you still have the support worker? I would have thought that they could help with some of this.

 

My best, HB

 

Hello,

 

I did have a support worker for over 5 years, but he passed me over to 'Just Advocacy'. As he claimed his 'transform' was a charity only suppose to help clients for no more than 2 years. 'Just advocacy' were useless & so was complaining to the boss.

 

I've not been helped by mental health team, as I managed to get in for a few assessments several years ago- when forced to in relation to other issues. I was desperate to deny having problems, as my local social services were harassing me & got my child put on at risk register, by claiming I had

mental health problems that put her at risk. I think they were confused & thought I may have had some kind of PND. Because I'd never seen a GP for anything before conceiving my child via at home sperm donation + only saw them from 20wks, which they also didn't like. SS harassed me from pre-birth of my child, until my child was 5 (now 7). I feared loosing my child & was forced to deny problems- because SS refused to acknowledge me informing them I'd put measures in place for my child. My support worker helped me with this complaint (though I had to be careful, as I knew he could also be dangerous & report things- which he did) & it took 5 years to get SS to delete wrongful at risk registration.

 

In that time my support worker suggested I go to a MH assessment & he accompanied me. I did tell them I wanted to kill myself & of the harassment. But I find communication extremely difficult & couldn't get across most of my problems, nor was I asked. They diagnosed moderate depression 3 years ago. I hadn't been diagnosed with aspergers at the time, but did tell them I wouldn't be able to communicate by phone/talking. But all they gave me was a leaflet for 'talking therapies' (I'd said was useless to me) + mental health/crisis number (also useless). I was expected to communicate verbally with MH team, but had said I would be unable to. My support worker had offered to go with me to see my GP, but I really don't think the support worker ever understood how difficult going out was physically/mentally (due to dozens of problems). He did tend to make odd assumptions & I never understood what he was saying & he would get cross if I stated that. He suggested I be tested for aspergers & went with me, but I don't think he acknowledged the severity or my numerous other problems.

 

This was made worse by the fact I lived in the Town where my support worker worked & I was forced to go out a few times. And always on those few times- he was floating about & saw me. He didn't see after when being out caused me to close down for weeks & I couldn't think or do anything. I have no support & haven't been out in about 8 months (but I only ever went out rarely before this).

 

Although my support worker did ask me of my employment career which included shop work 11 years ago, what he didn't see is that I was always off sick, never on time & was only in briefly when no people were around (this was same with school & college). The college I went to was full of immigrants who kept to them self & never communicated with me. The NVQ was basically given just for copying a file & even that I found hard.

 

My aspergers test concluded I was on higher intelligence scale just from: Showing me some usual words as flash cards & getting me to say them. I did confess that I only knew them because I'd been interest in unusual words, but didn't know what they meant. I think I would have been diagnosed with proper autism, if I also hadn't spoken before 2 years old. Which I hadn't & I know my mother put this on parent questionnaire. But mid way through assessment they said they needed to phone my mother to see if I hadn't- pretending they hadn't seen it! My mother also hadn't been able to answer some questions as it was 30 years ago & she couldn't remember- but the score didn't acknowledge this! My mother also dislikes talking with professionals/strangers, though no where near as badly as me, I asked them not to (she'd have berated me). I told my mother of my aspergers diagnosis after, but she doesn't know what it is & doesn't want to know.

 

My aspergers diagnosis letter, just advised me to read aspergirls (I'd said I never read books, but they misreported this in report also). Plus suggested I go to talking therapies/MH team- all things I'd made clear I wouldn't be able to do! So in summary- if you do nothing you are not heard. if you force yourself to see them, they then claim you can communicate how they demand & they refuse to communicate unless you do!

 

I informed my GP by letters in detail of all my problems several times, including I'm unable to communicate face-to-face or by phone & why. So what did he do- send me another talking therapies leaflet & blood test invite- useless (I sent another letter after telling him this was not helpful & why- but no reply)! I also informed him that due to his late reply my ESA keeps being stopped & I have to live off my DLA- so I can't employ a carer. I let him know that my mother refuses to help me when I can't give her the carers allowance, but the help she provides to me is no where near what I need anyway. She's 66 & also provides a lot of care for my child/has her own life.

 

I feel like I can't change GP because I'm in a position of him only letting me have 1 month sick notes (even though he's been doing these for over a year & must know my condition won't change). I was also told when joining that he doesn't do sick notes for new patients, only those he's seen several times (at the time I didn't need sick notes). But I fear this will be how other GPs are & so I have no choice of being able to change, because I know ESA will be stopped right away. I also find change/new people impossible to cope with.

Edited September 15, 2013 by claire1981