Requesting PIP assessment to be face to face

When my daughter first moved to PIP in 2023, the PIP form asked whether any accommodations would be necessary for an assessment. I took the opportunity to request that it be face to face. My daughter has a learning disability and struggles to understand people on the phone or by video call.

The form I have just received is slightly different. Should I attach a letter requesting a face-to-face appointment? Or wait to receive an appointment, then ring up to request they change it to a face to face one?

Thanks!

Thanks for your thoughts!

My daughter did have a face-to-face assessment when she first moved onto PIP in 2022, which I thought was a great way for the assessor to get an accurate picture of her disability. People on the other end of the phone - or even in a video chat - can't sense effectively what the reason is for her long pauses and sometimes not answering at all. They might imagine that she was just a typical shy teenager who doesn't want to answer.

Face to face it is quite apparent: she looks confused, fearful, or blank, so people know they need to wait longer because she's coming up with her answer, or maybe they need to rephrase the question. Also, when it's obvious that an answer from her won't be forthcoming, it's easy for me to assist by prompting her or simplifying the question without looking like I'm taking over and preventing her from talking. Other times, if I see that she just needs a bit longer, I can gesture to the other person to wait.

The assessor's report did refer to those points too: "She took a long time to answer", "She looked confused and did not answer when asked whether she knew which bus stop to use" etc.

Another issue is that if people pressure her for a quick answer (more likely on the phone when the other person just isn't getting any feedback), she often says whatever she thinks they want to hear. That's problematic if the assessor asks leading questions to try to get her to say she can do things which she can't actually do. In person you can see that this is what's happening: she looks worried. And I can point that out.

The assessor also alluded very tactfully to my daughter's wild fashion choices, LOL, which I guess was code for "the claimant doesn't seem to understand social expectations". So her appearance also provides clues to her abilities.

We are both happy to travel if needed, so maybe I should mention that in my request. My daughter has no physical disabilities and actually loves going to new places. Thanks for the suggestion of a paper-based assessment, which I hadn't thought of. Ideally I'd prefer a face-to-face assessment because I think it would help her case, but paper-based is better than remote.