ESA GETTING AROUND SAFELY

Hi Guys!
Forgive me but I cant remember if I asked a similar question years ago before the change below in January2013; I am unsure about it! Cant find posts that far back might have posted on another website.
Just a couple of questions.
Sent of letter to DWP telling them about a change of circumstance.
I now have a hearing loss and tinnitus in addition to being blind.

So I am expecting to get a new ESA50 through the door; even though I told them in the letter I’ve been blind 23 years and the fact its incurable and that im in the support group and why.
( I should still qualify for support group of ESA through descriptor 7. cant understand a simple message such as the location of a fire escape. I cant see it or read Braille).

In the latest ESA guide June 2015 it says the advice regarding getting around safely was changed (January 2013) I have since my last ESA50 in 2011 been in support group.

I had copied and pasted my old info into the latest pdf ESA50 regarding getting about safely as the majority of info still relevant.

However I thought I’d better read the latest guide for ESA and the relevant bits relating to me.
Warnings A and B below bother me:

(A) Warning – familiar places.
You score 15 points if you are unable to navigate around familiar places without help from
someone else.

My first question is:
i cant do it without someone else or my guide dogs assistance; do they class my dog as someone else. (she works the routes to three destinations; everywhere else I need human assistance)

Nowhere is familiar to me it changes continually, the routine in getting there is familiar; the number of roads to cross and left and right turns; but the environment its contents and the hazards within it are not. (a guide dog doesn’t know when to cross a road she just knows to stop at the kerb;as I cant see to cross I have to decide by listening and taking a leap of faith).

My second question is:
What does this mean below; are you going to be penalised for using a guide dog as I don’t understand what it means by the wording.

( Warning – change in the law!
In January 2013 this activity was changed, so that your ability to get navigate ‘using a guide
dog or other aid if either or both are normally, or could reasonably be, used’ is what is taken
into account. However, this does not mean that decision makers can simply suggest that
claimants should get a guide dog. The word ‘reasonably’ still applies and very few people
are ever offered the opportunity to try to use a guide dog.
Sorry guys if I am being stupid but is this a way to sc**w guide dog owners?
I’ve only got three years to go before im out of this bl**dy nightmare system.
Thanks for your time, and any response in advance.
Regards Matchseller.

Hi Gordon!
Thanks for your response to my question its much appreciated.
I had an inkling that that's what it meant.
These people are idiots; what guide dog owner has human assistance to walk a route with them ;the idea of the dog is to replace the need for human assistance!
But almost every guide dog is limited to a maximum of three because of their ability to work effectively.
I work my dog on her routes every day and since 2008; not one of them has been familiar its a fluid environment. The route has hazards everyday to contend with, i do them repeatedly;but not reliably and safely as i invariably need human assistance at some point during the journey either to cross a road or to find a shop or negotiate a hazard.
If most people new the risks blind people take to function outside of the home i think they would be shocked.
There are so many situations where you really don't know what to do next for example;standing in the pouring rain waiting to cross a road as car after car goes by eventually you have to go; uncertain if you'll be wiped out by a quiet one.
Not for the faint of heart .

So every other familiar place i go i have to have human assistance there are many more than just three.

How do they equate their thinking on ESA compared to the PIP. descriptors both are about following a route is this another anomally. Or have i got PIP wrong.

f. Cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid. 12 points

To me this reads as:
A PERSON.
or
A Guide Dog
or
A Long cane.
Thanks again Gordon.
Regards Matchseller.

Gordon wrote: Matchseller....


For others reading this post, this section of the guide is in regard to those with sight problems who do not have a guide dog where you need to explain why you do not, this may because you are waiting for one bit could also be because the use of one would not be appropriate.

I hope this explains it but if not, re-post and we will have another go.

Gordon

Oh dear I'm glad I came across this post. Apologies for jumping in. I'm completely new to this as the DWP sent me a letter 2 weeks back, phone call almost a week ago. Now I have the ESA50 form.
I'm a long cane user. So, now it looks I'll have to mention no guide dog and why. Well, not heard we I live at home with a greyhound. I'm just reading the guides as best I can and making notes relevant to my blindness and daily live until I get help in filling in the form.

I haven't even got as far as getting around yet. Well, I've only really tried to look at the electronic version of the form and the guides, properly today. Very tiring but, glad I've signed up to this website.

Thank you both for this thread.