Sahara Care Blog > Autism > 79 per cent of autistic people “stressed” by new allowance assessment

79 per cent of autistic people “stressed” by new allowance assessment

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Personal Independence Payments (PIP) require reform so that they work better for autistic people, according to the National Autistic Society (NAS).

The report looks into the challenges of PIP, which will soon be replacing the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for people aged 16-64.

NAS says it has received several reports from autistic people and family members about some of the problems applying for PIP.

The report found that more than half of respondents said the PIP assessors did not understand their disability or health condition, while almost 90 per cent of people responding to a survey said their PIP assessment was “stressful”.

Likewise, 79 per cent of survey respondents said the PIP assessment made their health worse because of stress or anxiety caused by the assessment.

The NAS recommended that the process should be simplified, but any review should involve the input of disabled people.

“PIP is not fit for purpose in its current form. It requires significant, urgent improvement to restore fairness and disabled people’s confidence in the system,” it said.