Seen speculation about dropping the 35 hours per week job search requirement... wish I believed there were government politicians with the practicality and common sense to take that on... all it does is sap the energy of those who are seeking employment, waste the time of those who are not, and burden businesses. I don't have a problem with living in poverty, so much as I have a problem with being deliberately trapped in it, by politicians with power and wealth.
Feeling frustrated today, that wait times and red tape are preventing my son from accessing Autism and Adhd assessments and diagnosis.
While we wait he's In year 8 mainstream and after 2 1/2 weeks into the term he's already been isolated 3 times and now is suspended. The school are doing all they can to support his difficult behaviour but it's just not enough. I wish I was listened to before he went to high-school and I wish they had placed him in a specialist provision but he just didn't fit the criteria they said.
Kids with SEN are just being set up to fail because there just isn't the funding available to adhere to the EHCPs they are being given.
The extra fuel to attend all the meetings at his school 23 miles away is crippling me too. My own mental health is suffering and after my Inital appointment with a local talking therapies group they decided I needed a more specialised provision for neurodiverse people and that means more waiting.
Some days it would be nice to just get everyone in the car and take them for a McDonald's or bowling or something where we can just put our struggles aside for an hour and be present and happy In the moment together but it's not financially viable.
And as the weather gets colder it's going to get harder.
I'm sure tomorrow will seem more positive but today I'm just frustrated
After receiving a migration notice saying I was being moved from legacy benefits to Universal Credit, I did as much research as possible, it seemed that there were things in place to ensure I would not be worse off apart from the initial assessment period which has been a real struggle for myself and my daughter. I have now received a notification of my payments. Despite being unable to work due to ill health and spending the last eight or so years bringing up my daughter on nothing but a single persons legacy benefits and child benefit, I will now be around £300 a month worse off before taking into account that the child benefit for my daughter has now also stopped. How can this be acceptable to push people further into destitution, that are unable to work through no fault of their own in a society where the poorest are already struggling to survive. I feel worthless not only as a human being but also as a parent to my daughter, left feeling outcast and forgotten by a government that would insist that we are all equally treated.
"long term sick" is something I'm seeing a lot of in media, especially since labour took over, "getting the long term sick back into work". Cos they don't want to admit they're picking on the vulnerable and disabled. Better to say long term sick than admit they're targeting the disabled.
And focusing on encouraging us back to work, the problem isn't with us, it's with employers not willing to make the accommodations needed to get into work, it's that for many work makes us more sick, especially those of us with chronic disabilities like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, just getting out of bed and moving around my ground floor flat is exhausting, let alone finding a way to get to a workplace, navigate the workplace, finding the energy for dealing with people who don't understand what it's like to have a hidden disability and then get fired for being off sick too often, like it's something we wake up and consciously choose to live with. "Oh I know what'll be fun, how's about living in never ending pain and dizzying fatigue each and every day, that'll be a hoot" FFS. No wonder suicide rates are on the continual rise, gov would probably wish us dead then at least they wouldn't have to pay to keep us alive anymore. And so much of these chronic illnesses are made worse by long NHS wait times and GPs pig headedness to rush through appointments and not listen to patients, so by the time we do finally get help it's not enough and we're left medically playing catch up with disabilities many GPs don't have training on.
Stop punishment of the disabled for being disabled, for some of us we wouldn't be so unwell if it weren't for the lack of medical and financial support needed to help us physically function better.
Reading a lot about millionaires and billionaires and offshore bank accounts to avoid paying tax
What do they need so much money for?
Inequality can't be denied anymore.
Deep joy! It's Saturday night & instead of relaxing & enjoying myself, I find myself having to appeal my son's PIP Mandatory Reconsideration. Yes, dear reader, they said no - he has only been awarded 10 points instead of the 12 he was awarded last time. He has been very aggrieved at the injustice of it all & is worried that his independence being curtailed by the DWP means he will have to rely on me more. He is worried that I will become more ill has a result, bless him.
Not only that - once I've submitted that, I have to start my claim for Universal Credit - the dreaded migration notice has arrived. I can't bear to look at it right now - especially whilst my son's appeal is outstanding. It states I have to claim by Halloween - all I see is toil & trouble ahead at the moment. So sick of not having the security we need to flourish. And even though Labour is now in power, I don't feel confident that disabled people like me will be sufficiently supported.
As the weather is beginning to change, it comes with big challenge. Kids getting sick, sleepless nights and more. But what can we do. Let's keep warm.. The biggest challenge of all is increase in energy bills.
Update on my PIP claim,
The mandatory reconsideration request has now come back and been denied and the main reason given is that I'm a single mum so I must be able to cope! It's absolutely soul destroying that I have had to go into the ins and outs of why I'm am struggling and why I need extra help to be told I'm not struggling enough.
The last time I hit full burnout and I didn't ask for help and things became so bad that my 2 eldest children's dad started a 6 year family court case I was told time and time again you must talk, you must ask for help.
So here I am asking for help to be told it's not that bad and I don't need it.
I attended the citizens advice to ask for help and they are going to get me an appointment with welfare rights to fight for an appeal. But I applied in February and we are now in September and I'm no further forward.
I need prescription sunglasses because I can't see without and I have massive sensitivity to light and become totally overwhelmed (light and sound) these are years old and recently broke. Specsavers couldn't help as they are no longer stocked and even though I get free prescription glasses I'm only entitled to 1 pair every 2 years and those are my normal every day glasses.
So to buy a pair of prescription sunglasses they wanted between 70 and 100 😭😭.
There are several other things that I require that are additional cost due to my disabilities but because I'm single mum the PIP people said I can obviously cope.
Honestly I'm exhausted and feel like giving up.
Feeling very angry with this new government and the complete lack of acknowledgement for the continuous knife and machete attacks on young people in our communities failing to address these problems by smoke screening and locking old grannies up for daring to speak out about the state of this country right now!
Glasgow Council have only just opened up the applications for pupils entitled to EMA (because it's _fine_ to delay handing over money to poor households, right...) and we find we can only 'prove' my income to their satisfaction by sending a tax credits award notice for 24/25... but as tax credits are ending... this document doesn't actually exist... It is so tiring&depressing, proving over&over just how poor we are.
Starmer claims
No funds for the elderly
No funds to lift the 2 child benefit cap.
There are more billionaires in the UK than eve before.
None of them pay tax
I'm fearful of the coming winter. It's been an unusually short and wet summer, warm some days but not until late into July and it's started to turn cold again this week. My neighbours have already had to turn their heating on. I worry for the upcoming rises in heating costs, cooking costs, travel costs, etc. With Halloween and Christmas coming I normally feel cheerful, excited anticipation. This year I just feel dread. I don't know how much longer I'll get PIP for, it's the only thing keeping me financially afloat these days. I can't access a food bank, I've cut costs everywhere I can that doesn't make my disabilities too unmanageable. And it angers me that I'm lucky, I have PIP to help me out even if it isn't guaranteed. I know people trying to live on £300 a month after sanctions. It's abuse, it's governmental welfare abuse. When I was married and my ex took my money and left me £300 a month to pay bills and feed the family, that was considered financial abuse. But the government can regularly tell people that's all their lives are worth, a couple hundred quid, if you can't eat or pay your bills thats your own fault, all while MPs get more in expenses for their part time parliamentary roles than people on benefits get in a year, and while their yearly wage for the job is a slap in the face to other civil servants workers. It's abuse of the poor. And especially of the disabled who are forced to proved they deserve help and then get the goal posts changed everytime they think they can finally rest and heal. I've spoken to three people in this last month who've expressed suicidal idealisation, three different people, two of them are in full time employment and have less money for food than I do cos of their car and work related costs and they're not even on minimum wage. Is it any wonder. And that's in the summer, in good weather when bills are at their lowest and more free family activities are available. I worry for them come the winter months.