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Technic1
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Joined: 2 Apr 2021
Posts: 417
Location: Universe

21 Jun 2021, 4:03 am

How much do you get a week if you don’t mind saying or PM me???

How much CAN you get?

What’s the form like to fill in/what are the questions like?

I’m not asking you to google, I’ve already done that.

I’m asking from personal experience?

(I am already on benefits)

A please state whether you’re Aspergers autistic or have another disorder?



Mountain Goat
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21 Jun 2021, 5:03 am

I get just over 400 a month (411?) so that is not too bad. Under the old system I would be on some sort of sickness benefit. I have not been assessed yet to find out if I am on the autism spectrum. To be honest, from what I know now and the traits I have, it does look like I am on the spectrum most likely on the high functioning end but that is my guess. But if I am not on the spectrum, it would be far more puzzling to me then if I was on the spectrum, as I have worked it out in my mind from how I relate and react now that I know what the autism spectrum is. (I never knew before).
I ended up on Universal Credit after I reached a point due to the last burnout that put me in a position where it scared me silly because from the pattern of the burnouts, if I had another I would have ended up physically dissabled due to how my mind was hit. I found myself no longer to even be able to take on another part time low hours job. This also scared me as I had always done my best to be financially independent and I could not even do that while living with my Mum... And I actually left one job about three years ago due to the actual hours I could cope with were earning me less then the cost to get there and back, so I was actually loosing money by working.
But anyway... Back in 2019 when I hit the last burnout I realized I was in trouble and by then I had "Discovered" autism as a possibility a few months before (I had been told I was autistic by others but I was in denial mostly because I did not understand what it was), and I had joined this site and it was then when I found out that an almost lifelong experience I was getting were known as shutdowns (I had had them since I was just turning seven years old but may have had one at six)... But after this last burnout I was so scared and in such a mess that when I found out that the local autism team had an open day, I went with a determination to get there. I did not have a plan of what to say. I did not know what to say. I just knew I needed help!
And when I got there they were the first people ever who I met in real life who understood, and it was like a dam bursting! It just came out!
Then the autism team on hearing how I had been surviving, then wrote a letter to my doctor (Who did not know because I was never able to tell her because I often go into mindblank mode, but even if I can say what I wanted to say I just did not know how to describe what I was experiencing in a way that anyone anywhere would understand (Hence why it was such a major thing that the local autism team understood!)).
My doctor gave me a form to claim a sickness benefit but as it is all online now and I did not even know what benefit to claim I was going to leave it as I could not cope with it, but my Mum knew a friend who works foe Mind, and she was able to sort it all out for me so I am greatful, and the benefits people have been wonderful. If it wasnt for all those people all doing their thing to help me, I would be in a right mess today and I may not have survived.

Universal Credit is a real blessing. The only downside is the confusion as I am classed on the same system as those who are looking for work, so the messages come on their system to me as if I am supposed to do things which I am not... Which has confused me in the past where I have had to be in touch to find out why I had the messages. Apparently their system does not know the difference between someone on sick and someone who is not when it comes to some ofthese messages so before I knew this, it was getting me into a panic as I knew within me that I was not ready to work yet.
(I hope to one day be able to cope again as I like the thought of being independent, though at the moment I am often hitting so much "Hidden" anxiety that I could not cope. I say hidden in that I don't feel it sometimes but then the effects of it hit? When I feel it I really feel it, but it is the hidden anxiety that makes me have issues the most as I feel ok but wonder why I can be struggling with partial shutdowns or things like that!


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lostproperty
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Joined: 15 Jul 2015
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Posts: 547
Location: England

21 Jun 2021, 7:42 am

I read somewhere that Wales are going to introduce UBI. I'm hoping they introduce that here, I can appreciate the reasons for not going down that route, but it's one of the few lefty ideas I'm still on board with.

I was on disability benefit years ago and got kicked off it once I had a partner who was working, but whilst I was on it I regularly had to battle to stay on it because they'd stop my money for no reason or because the assessor would make things up when I had to go in to prove I was still unfit for work. I'd then have to go through an appeal process, which I always won but it was incredibly stressful. The thought of filling out those forms and having to deal with those people just makes me feel ill.

In my experience, the people who worked for the benefits office were horrible and treated you like scum. It depends where you live I suppose and your age. I was young at the time, so they probably just assumed I was on illegal drugs and out partying 24/7. In the cities, I'm sure they do have to deal with all sorts of very difficult people. I once saw somebody try to kick in the partition window when waiting my turn to pick up an emergency payment cheque.