Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group for UK folks......anyone heard about their incap..

Shugs just re-applied for the mobility part, he already gets the higher allowance for personal care but nothing for mobility. It never bothered us before but now he's having to use a stick and has become more and more unsteady, having stumbles and trips, we're not confident it will be agreed though!

That mobility part is just so hard to describe accurately. I can actually walk 25 yards. I can do 10-25 yards quite a lot of times during the day some days. I can walk 50 yards in one go if I have to, and sometimes even at reasonable speed (with crutches). But I can't walk any distance at all without very quickly getting into severe pain or discomfort - not even just in butt, hip, SI area but in my arms T-spine and shoulders because to walk at all I need crutches and that puts a lot of strain on arms and upper back. Try explaining all that in the spaces they give you on the DLA form with the questions they ask and it just doesn't work at all. Still, I got the mobility component last time, so am hoping I get it again on this latest renewal.

Good luck for shugs.

Yeah we had problems too, it's the same with the blue badge. One of the questions was something along the lines of how far can you walk with no pain (or something like that) of course the answer is 0 as he's in pain 24/7 but he can walk, he's not physically incapable of walking, just always in pain that worsens when walking. He struggles now too with his neck, can't look up, he's even had a parking fine as the details for disabled drivers was attached to a wall above the height where Shug can see...lol. it's a joke really, he appealed the parking fine and won.

Sometimes we feel guilty "asking" for extra money while Shug is still working but that extra money allows us the priveledge of owning a 2nd car that enables Shug to continue to work. No extra money = no car, no car = unable to work. I try to justify the fact that the extra money Shug claims is only a pittance compared to what he'd get from the government if he couldn't work!

Good luck to everyone applying or re-applying.

Shug sounds in a kind of similar place to me. I work as well (currently 25-30 hours a week), and yet get high level care and mobility. I don't think most people realise just how difficult things are for me if they only see me during work hours, and apparently coping well with work. What they don't see is all the stuff I describe on the DLA application form. Up until a year and a half ago I was on incapacity benefit and getting the full range of benefits. I thought I would never work again, but then this job came up that suits me physically and is really flexible so I managed to get back to work. I wouldn't be able to work if I didn't have that extra money from DLA and disability related working tax credits. Its things like having a reliable and easy to drive car, being able to buy those extra home appliances to make life easier (a good clothes drier, large freezer,etc) the extra costs of convenience food, the ability to pay someone to do housework for me, etc. DLA really does enable me to work, and like shug, it costs the government a load less to pay me full rate DLA than it would if I couldn't work.