ESA appeal question - sitting issue...

I had an ESA assessment 2 days ago (transferring from IB) and am already panicking about what if I have to appeal. I am not able to sit on any sort of normal seat more than briefly without severely annoying my fused neck, but manage for a while by sitting on the floor leaning tilted against something with my back curved forwards, my knees up, and my head directly over my neck.

Can I even go before an appeal tribunal sitting this way (and alternating with lying on the floor on my side with my head on my pillow if the hearing went on for long), or would it simply be seen as disrespectful?

CP wrote: I had an ESA assessment 2 days ago (transferring from IB) and am already panicking about what if I have to appeal. I am not able to sit on any sort of normal seat more than briefly without severely annoying my fused neck, but manage for a while by sitting on the floor leaning tilted against something with my back curved forwards, my knees up, and my head directly over my neck.

Can I even go before an appeal tribunal sitting this way (and alternating with lying on the floor on my side with my head on my pillow if the hearing went on for long), or would it simply be seen as disrespectful?

Hi CP,

If you did have to appeal, and this appeal resulted in a Tribunal hearing, you could inform them in writing with regards to any sitting limitations that you suffer.

Once the Tribunal have been informed in writing, they are duty bound to make any "Reasonable Adjustments" that may be deemed necessary as a result of your limitations.

Hopefully, it will not get to that stage.

bro58

Thanks Bro58, that's good to know.

The nurse was very nice and friendly at my assessment, and typed loads for well over an hour (certainly no "ticking box" shortcuts going on). When I expressed my concerns about ESA assessments early on she made it clear that they see lots of people with very obvious difficulties, but are limited by law (and the enormous guidelines document) in how they must be "categorised". She also said that the appeals tribunals are allowed much more flexibility in their decisions, and as I left she apologised that she had no idea what the decision maker would decide in my case.

A lot of my physical problems are variable, and while the new variability statement is supposed to help here, there seems to be no attempt to look at you repeatedly doing things in any conceivable type of workplace scenario, nor any clear ideas on how long it might be acceptable for you to have to lie down inbetween doing things.

I also found it a bit confusing to learn that they will only write off for one lot of supporting medical evidence, so while my Physio of 13 years had given me a single page statement and was expecting them to write requesting more info, they had only in fact obtained limited facts from my GP, because they were certain that these could be obtained for free.

I came away convinced that the nurse at the assessment was advising me to send in further details from my Physio for the decision maker to see at this stage (which I know my physio will give for free), but my husband (who attended with me) was convinced these should wait until we know if they are needed for an appeal. I don't suppose you can advise on this too can you?

Just wanted to update you on this claim. I got rung up by DWP yesterday, so less than a week since my assessment. Told I did not qualify for ESA and that my Incapacity Benefit would stop on August 24th. I know we have nothing to lose financially by appealing, but I'm just feeling confused and upset about the whole process at the moment. (We can currently manage financially without it, as my husband and family are able to support me, so it is very tempting to avoid the stress of even appealing...)

I have spoken to my Physio by email while he is on holiday, and he plans to go through the descriptors with me and write more details down for an appeal once he is back at work in September (there is no rush now, as the DWP did not even ring to ask me for more information, simply to inform me of their decision.) Last time we spoke about ESA my physio said he felt that, as shown by past attempts, me trying to do work related stuff, even in any sort of reasonably adapted workplace, was simply going to worsen my condition and increase my flare ups until I ended up unable to do much at all again. I have spent years fighting to get away from that position, I do not wish to return there, and I have to agree with my physio's conclusion.

I have suffered from chronic pain since a massive disc prolapse led to fusion surgery in my neck 13 years ago. I manage my condition as best I can by staying as active as I possibly can whenever I am able, avoiding stress, and trying to stay as positive as I can. I have no "trendy" title like "Fibromyalgia".

My daily drug side effects make me wacky, overchatty, wobbly and forgetful in the afternoons. (My husband tells me he could see I was badly effected during my assessment, but no idea if they picked up on that, and I guess it's of no relevance if "mental side effects" from drugs taken for physical issues are discounted anyway.) They also make me rather over sensitive to anything people say. I am therefore unsure whether the man from the DWP who rang me yesterday was being dismissive and insulting when he referred to my main medical issue being "neck pain". (My problems stem from my neck, but once it's aggravated I suffer from widespread nerve pain in all four limbs as well as across my shoulders, neck, upper back, and sometimes with "interesting" fireworks from the rest of my spine too. So after living with this for more than a decade, I find "neck pain" a bit of an understatement).

Until I get the letter from them, hopefully stating what, if any, points they wish to award me, I can't really say anything else. I'm just wondering whether, if they do not agree to awarding me points for struggling to do things repeatably, would I be better, if I appeal, to concentrate on the fact that my attempts during physio to do such things repeatedly, rather than building up to me being able to do things long enough to be acceptable in any workplace scenario that we could conceive, simply resulted in me having more frequent and lengthier "flare ups" in my symptoms?

All advice gratefully received at this point, thank you.