I'm actually asking this on behalf of someone else who has suffered vision loss after a brain injury, and I haven't seen much about vision problems on here. As I understand it, she can look at things ahead of her but not necessarily see them if they're in her blind spot; lurch off to the side when on a path; take the wrong fork in a road because she doesn't see the alternative option (so on several occasions she's ended up somewhere she wasn't aiming for), and so on, plus she's no longer safe to drive. Obviously, this does sound potentially dangerous, but she does go out on her own.

I'm assuming she would probably make a PIP claim under "following a journey", but am not sure of how many points she could claim. Come to think of it, I suppose she must walk more slowly than she used to as she has to look right down to be able to see her feet and the ground she's putting them on.

Does anyone have any thoughts about whether there are any descriptors she might actually meet? If it sounds as though she stands a chance of a PIP award I'll tell her about this place and suggest she signs up.

Hi alisp

The Going Out activity looks at three things.

Planning a route - this is primarily a cognitive or sensory (e.g. blindness) activity. You are being asked about the problems you would have with working out how to get from one place to another, you do not need to be able to follow the route that you are planning.

Undertaking a Journey - this is to do with mental health issues such as agoraphobia and social anxiety and is concerned with you leaving the house to go somewhere, they will be interested in the things that stop you doing this. You need to show that you would suffer "overwhelming psychological distress" to meet the criteria.

Following a route - This activity about the problems you would have navigating a route. So are there problems; cognitive, sensory or mental health issues that would prevent you from doing this? This is different from undertaking a journey, in fact, if you cannot undertake a journey then you will not score points for following one and vice versa.

It would seem from what you said, your friend could claim under planning a route and following a route - especially when she has potential problems veering off. They need to answer can they do something 'reliably' and 'safely'. (If they've found themselves in unexpected places, probably not. They need to talk about the distress this must cause. Your friend may also be super sensitive to the environment around them and may experience sensory overload as they are trying to navigate. I If they are walking much slower than the average person would without vision loss then they need to say so. Your friend may be fiercely independent, but they should not make light of the challenges they face or they may not be awarded what they should be.

You have only mentioned the going out aspect - but do look at all the questions - preparing food etc may bring different sorts of issues - always remember the safety and reliability.

BIS

alisp, is the vision loss in one eye or both? Your friend certainly has nothing to lose by submitting a claim for PIP.

Becky, if I understood it correctly at the time I think it's the same blind "spot" in both eyes.

Your friend should definitely consider applying for PIP then. I only asked because I'm blind in one eye and I have a goodish vision in my other eye . If you have good enough vision in one eye DWP could 'assume' you can see as well as everyone else.