PIP phone assessment with support worker present

Hi,
I suffer with long-standing (30+ years) Social Phobia, agoraphobia, depression, general anxiety and a host of physical conditions. I was forced to drop my DLA to PIP claim in 2019 because ATOS would not allow me a paper or telephone assessment despite reams of supporting evidence, insisting that I attend in person for a F2F (which was unthinkable under my circumstances). In the intervening period I've managed to gain access to a mental health support worker (no mean feat in itself these days) who I get along with very well and who has encouraged me to reapply for PIP.

I filled in the PIP form etc in November 2020 and eventually (this week) received notice of a telephone assessment due this Tuesday 2nd March. My support worker and I called ATOS together to request that under the circumstances they call him and then add me to the conversation rather than the other way round. They are willing to add him to the conversation after calling me first but refused his request, despite his protestation that such an accomodation had been agreed for one of his clients under similar circumstances before. A note has however apparently been added to my file that I require support during the interrogation, er, interview.

Answering the telephone at all is a traumatic experience for me, so I intend to state (politely) that I wish for my Support Worker to be added to the conversation immediately as due to overwhelming anxiety I will be unable to concentrate on or fully engage with the caller's questions without a reassuring presence on hand. I will inform them that I am reading this as a prepared statement as I find the whole process of interacting with strangers overwhelming (I had detailed this problem fully already on the PIP form but of course that seems to count for nothing with these sadists).

Is doing the above an appropriate course of action, and what should I do if the caller insists on speaking to me without adding my Support Worker or delays doing so?

Thanks

Thanks for your replies, I will be recording the assessment but I won't be telling them that.

I try to insist on getting all my communications with the DWP in writing, but I've had no option on a few occasions over the years but to contact them by telephone, and I've learned from experience that it's wise to record everything they say to you (and the extremely rude and/or unco-operative way in which they often say it).

Thanks again

Wobblin, I just want to let you know of my appreciation of your sense of humour, especially 'interrogation' and 'sadists'. Plus your preference for everything in writing, too darn right. My husband used to be a very successful insurance claims negotiator and reckons that the increasing government and business trend for 'everything by phone' is often a deliberate move to avoid being answerable for what they say/fail to say/do.
You may or may not have thought of trying the AQ10 test, easily found on the web. Just a thought.
Best wishes, Denby

Yeah, you have to laugh...

I can communicate very well in writing, purely because it's been my main form of doing so for over 30 years (but of course, that can go against me when I'm being judged by narrow-minded penpushers). Face to face or on the phone, I'm much less confident.

I am actually waiting on an asperger's test as it happens, hopefully once Covid has calmed down. It's only taken 35 years to get on the list for one, so I suppose I can wait a few more months.