ESA50 Wording

Hello,

I'm new to the forums and I was wondering if someone could possibly help me with wording certain things correctly for the ESA50. I have mixed mental and physical health problems so I find it difficult trying to fill forms in without getting anxious, stressed and annoyed.

The assessment centre were going to do an assessment based off a 4 year old ESA50 which I wasn't happy with, they have now said I can do an up to date one, however, both times that I have asked for help with my ESA50 the people filling the form in for me have either not given enough info or worded the form oddly.

One of them thought that because they put a lot of info under "About your disabilities, illnesses, or health conditions" that they wouldn't need to put as much when answering the questions, that's not what I've read, I've read you are supposed to answer each question with a proper explanation. I have emailed her about it but I thought it might be worth me trying to add info to the questions where she's not explained things properly. For behaving appropriately she wrote one sentence and that was it..

I'll obviously try and use the guide but as I'm not great at reading due to poor concentration and attention span, I thought I'd ask on here if someone could tell me if my wording is ok or not.

Someone said you should give irl examples but I don't have irl examples for everything.

I hope I've made sense, my anxiety is pretty bad and I find it hard posting on forums and such.

Thanks in advance.

Thank you

I should have explained what health conditions I have.

I have both diagnosed and undiagnosed health conditions, but I know it's not about diagnoses and I've been told to mention them on the form regardless.

My health conditions are, significant anxiety, agoraphobia, social anxiety, GAD, depression, panic disorder, complex ptsd and fibromyalgia, we are also thinking that I could be autistic but I don't know if my problems are more trauma related.

My concern is that I am really bad at explaining how my health conditions affect me, I get quite annoyed with myself tbh because I can't put things into words which then makes switch off and not want to bother.

Dear WF2K, as you mention wondering if you may be autistic, please [maybe once you have dealt with the current form} look up the AQ50 on any sensible website.
Answering this will give you a very good idea, though females tend to score as it were lower than they should.
Depending where you live armed with a score of a certain minimum level you may be able to self refer for an official assessment though the wait can be years. But at least if you know, you can read up about it and get help from local or internet groups.
Your post about problems explaining then switching off certainly sounds to me like you could be right, a kind of sensory overload from frustration, my OH gets like that. [And he has an official diagnosis of Asperger's]
Hope this helps
Denby

I've just reread your post and have a couple of questions.

Firstly, what if you don't have irl examples? For example, I'm very careful when walking about due to me having a nasty fall several years ago and fracturing my ankle, so when I'm inside my home, although do trip/stumble often, I have never fallen over, the only thing that I've fallen on are things like furniture, my home is a small bungalow so I have plenty of things that I can use for support, walls, doors, door frames etc so if I do feel unsteady, I usually manage to hold onto something. In regards to having accidents outside, I rarely go out due to my mental health conditions and mobility issues.

For PIP I was awarded 8 points for mobilising - can walk 20 meters but no more than 50 unaided.

I do use a stick when I go out but this causes the pain in my hands, arms and shoulders to become worse and I often get pins and needles.

The fact is that due to me having fibro and balance problems, I always have discomfort when walking no matter how far I walk, I just haven't had any falls, the only thing I do is bump into doors and door frames.

I'm currently waiting on an OT assessment and later today, my GP is doing an home visit, I've asked for a referral for my mental health and possible autism.

Denby - I have done an AQ10 and AQ50 and scored 8 and 37, I have an advocate from an Autistic organisation who as advised me of what to ask my GP for in regards to a referral. I have a home visit later with my GP, I've emailed prior to the appointment and asked for referrals to both mental health services and an autistic assessment.

I should have done this before but because the medical centre makes it so hard to ask them for help, I have been putting it off, plus someone I know who has and Autistic brother told me that there was really no point as an older female to have an assessment but clearly if my advocate is telling me otherwise, then there is.

Catherine - In regards to the ESA50, it's the assessment company allowing me to do an updated one, not the DWP, they were trying to assess me based of an ESA50 from 2017 which I never filled in and I feel doesn't fully explain my conditions and how they affect me. I have until the 15th to get the form done and in which I think should be ok as they've said I can email it to them along with a support letter from my son who is also my carer. Will the DWP need an updated copy or will the assessment company pass the info on?

Thanks for the responses, I appreciate it.