Why are ADHD benefits in the firing line?

[FunStork]

I've been seeing this a lot recently.

Feels like the media is very much against ADHD benefits claims.

Why is that the one that seems to be getting all the focus?

Another one from BBC Verify tonight:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c24ym9yd8p6o

Is this an orchestrated campaign?

The highest rate mobility is what you use to pay for the car. You dont get both. You either keep the money or put it towards the car (which is a lease agreement essentially with other upfront costs).

I have no doubt some people have made fraudulently claims. But I also think a lot of people dont understand what the benefit is for, what evidence means and so think things are fraud when it is actually just someone meets the criteria. The criteria are basically lower than some of the most severely disabled - they most disabled exceed the criteria. My friends son got maxiumum points on every single thing - but he didnt need that to get a maxiumum claim. And the amount isnt meant to cover the entire cost of disability. Its far from a perfect system. Its all proxies for things. It doesnt feel right that someone hugely exceeding the criteria gets the same as someine just meeting it - but it doesnt mean the other person has done something wrong.

In some countries in Europe ADHD is considered a solely temporary childhood condition and is treated like dysgraphia or dyscalculia - you get some kind of certificate from a language & speech therapist or child psychologist but it's not treated as a disability and you cannot claim any benefit for that. It will only get you some accommodations at school. I think that's reasonable.
I watched once some BBC programme about a young guy who was diagnosed with ADHD. As a proof they showed his dirty bedroom, clothes lying on the floor. I still cannot understand why couldn't he just clean them up? Just create a reminder in your phone while you're watching your TT videos. I mean, I can have a dirty house if I don't feel like cleaning it but it doesn't mean that I have a mental disability.

There is a running joke that they used to think adhd was a childhood disease in boys until they realised thst husbands were just offloading thier executive function onto thier wives.

The problem with this particular conversation is that there are no winners.
There has to be a line drawn when it comes to benefit claimants and whether people admit it or not some claimants over exaggerate their conditions to claim the max.

No one wants to see anyone suffer with their condition. However, we do not live in an utopian society and resources are limited. There are an increasing number of people being excluded from the workplace due to not leaving education without the necessary skills required to secure a job, so they can receive an adequate income, so they can live their life how they choose. That should be the topic of discussion. The increase in disability claims is the consequence. I believe that 25% of the adult population has a disability, that is simply unsustainable.

I would like the conversation not to be you meet this line, here's some money, bye. I would prefer the conversation to begin in secondary school, prior to selecting options. Children should be given more advise about careers and be given honest conversations detailing the skills/qualifications needed. I am happier to thrown more money at this level, so we can see exactly what people need and have them leave education ready for the real world.

We need to have the unpleasant conversations in order for the UK to create a healthier workforce going forward.

I get all of that. But, in my book, you don't need higher rate mobility to use for a car (because of anxiety about public transport and not being able to understand timetables etc) when you can perfectly well get your arse on a train by yourself to the other side of the country to see a friend.

If the criteria was met, it was because there were lies on the form or the criteria is so lax as to be rendered completely laughable.

This is from the disabilityrightsuk.org website :

To qualify for the higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) as an adult in England, you must be unable to walk, virtually unable to walk, or at risk of serious health deterioration from the effort of walking. Additionally, you may qualify if you have severe visual impairments or severe mental impairments that significantly affect your mobility

If 1 in every 5 cars 'sold' in this country (in 2024) are motability cars, 'severe mental impairments' is doing an unbelievable amount of heavy lifting, it seems. Taxpayers are right to be thoroughly hacked off at the benefits system.

To be fair, I know a man with no legs who has a dog. I’m assuming he has mobility payment (I hope so anyway) but he is mega strong and takes his dog for a walk twice a day- he pushes the wheels and the dog lead is round his waist. Not totally sure how/if he picks up dog poo because haven’t seen it. But you can definitely have impaired mobility and adequately care for a dog.

It isn’t job done once you know what to say.

DWP ask if they can access your nhs records. They say you can still get PIP if you say no, but they do go and check them.

in my interview they reminded me of an operation I had when I was 8 that I had forgotten about.

if you put in a claim and fill in the form but have no medical evidence it’ll get turned down.

I think certain people are wilfully confusing SEN schools with PRUs

@downloadtoad the criteria for DLA are different to the criteria for PIP so reassessment is mandatory on transfer.

DS1 did not have a face to face assessment on transfer as this was not deemed in his best interests. Instead the DWP took evidence from his OT, SALT and other workers provided via his EHCP. Not reports that I submitted but reported in phone calls made by the DWP over which I had no control. The process is rigorous.

The DWP decide whether paper based assessment is appropriate or needed. If there is a significant amount of evidence from DLA claim of a lifelong condition and evidence from PIP claim of impact on daily functioning that would be expected in addition to recent evidence from independent medical experts there is little to gain from face to face assessment whereas it might make things worse.

Likewise DS2’s recent PIP review was paper based. Although he did have direct assessment via phone when transferring from DLA to PIP as he only had a recent report from the psychiatrist that had diagnosed severe ADHD (based on NHS specialist observation aged 7 and initial findings of NHS ADOS before 2nd opinion from GOSH diagnosed autism).

In both circumstances nothing to do with age. The decision maker already had sufficient evidence to make a decision.

Do you have direct experience of the process?

A relative has dysgraphia and did a science at Oxford back in the day.

And it's a joke but there's probably also an element of truth in it. 20/30 years ago women might not work meaning that they could devote their time to raising the kids and keeping their school affairs organised whilst keeping the house in order. Nowadays it's more common for both parents in the household to work. A lot of the time (not always before anyone comes for me) it then falls on the woman to coordinate day to day life for her entire family whilst probably being more and more stretched at work because workplaces want to stretch their staff more and more. In addition to this most of us spend a lot of our free time glued to a phone/tablet which is very overstimulating. Also schools seem to expect much more from kids at a younger age and then they get labelled as a problem when it might well be that their little brains just haven't matured enough yet to concentrate on phonics for example. Schools also seem to expect more and more from parents too... bring money in for this, dress them up for that Even holidays such as Christmas and Easter seem to be more high pressure with social media setting an expectation that you go all out for it. I'm not saying ADHD isn't real but I would say that we all have a threshold at which we might struggle to keep all the plates spinning so to speak. Maybe one of the problems is that modern life has lowered that threshold

Somewhat to my surprise it does seem to be the case that 1 in 5 new cars sold in the U.K. are motability cars.

there’s 36 million cars on the road in Britain
https://www.best-selling-cars.com/britain-uk/2025-britain-total-number-of-cars-motorparc-on-british-roads/

of which 860,000 are motability cars

https://news.mo.co.uk/news/scheme-customers

round that up to a million and one in thirty six cars on the road is a motability car.

(you can’t get a second hand car on motability it has to be new).

Is it a joke?

1. If he forgets stuff at school, go to school and ask around. They put all 'forgotten' clothes in a basket and sell it off at the end of term. Every time my child forgets something at school, I tell him off and then look around the playground, the canteen, take him to the reception and ask around on class chats. We almost always found the missing stuff. And if not, we buy the 2nd hand stuff.
2. What are you doing when he showers or washes his hands? Just close this tap and switch off whatever he leaves on.
3. An occasional broken plate or cup costs 1-2 quid in a Poundland.

I cannot imagine putting the burden of my own laziness on a taxpayer.

My point isn't that ND brains aren't wired differently than a so called typical 'NT' brain but that almost all of us have brains that are wired differently to the NT model too. Lots of personality traits are associated with physical differences in the brain. Kindness, extraversion, curiosity etc are all associated with observable differences in the brain and how it works. So these traits shape our brains and where we have strong traits then they will differ from the standard brain.

The diagnostic process relies heavily on self reported symptoms and impacts. Clinics have a 60-95% conversion from referral to diagnosis. The point is that these highly trained professionals often aren't filtering many people out using these in depth diagnostic models versus quite rudimentary screening that relies very heavily on ASRS and examples provided by individuals. There is only so much verification they do of what you're telling them and as referenced in my previous post, people with ADHD are more likely to unintentionally exaggerate how symptoms impact them. I know a lot about the diagnostic process and it's nowhere near as secure as you are suggesting.

I have compared less severe forms of ADHD to glasses and hair dye because it is something that can largely be self managed with various tools and systems. It doesn't go away entirely and will create an additional burden on the individual versus someone that has no ADHD traits at all but very few of us are dealt a perfect hand in life and the state can't equalise everything.

ADHD is a very poorly understood condition and there is a huge amount we don't yet understand about it. The stats aren't even useful because ADHD is so often confused with trauma and other conditions like bipolar. The clinical threshold is also likely to move as we understand more. It's already changed significantly in 2013 when the threshold was lowered significantly, hence the explosion of diagnosis. There is a huge debate now about whether the criteria is currently too wide and medicalising natural variance. Personally I believe it is and that the binary between ND and NT must be challenged and changed. There isn't an obvious point where traits of these conditions flip from being sub clinical to diagnosable and someone just above threshold is ND and someone just below is NT. It is clearly nonsense.

It sounds like a litany of excuses for not taking responsibility for your own life and passing it on to the state and a taxpayer.

I receive PIP, live in social housing and some years I am a higher rate tax payer.

There's a reason everyone is assessed on an individual basis, and a diagnosis doesn't determine your entitlement.

Well… I used them a month ago as a private patient for my son’s ADHD diagnosis. It was a joke, a one hour video call, the questions were so oriented, we were not asked for specific examples, and so easy to give all the right answers.

I tell him off every time he forgets something - that doesn't solve the problem that he's home now without his outside clothes so he needs a spare set to wear the next morning. And then have to hope he remembers to bring both lots back the next day. I can't easily go and fetch them, I'm at work and by the time I get back and find out he's forgotten something again the school is closed.
I'm not watching him shower at his age, the shower is in the basement so can't hear it if he's left it on, it once ran all night. I try to remember to go check after he showers but I have my own memory issues. The taps he might leave on at any time, including when no one else is home, so might be hours before its discovered.
Its not just broken plates and cups you know.

I don't claim anything for him, I don't even know if he would be eligible for any benefits in my country but a PP wondered how an adhd child can cause extra costs so I gave some examples.

I think people are often more than happy to accept that there are some individuals who are severely impaired by their ADHD and they need financial support from the state
But the people who prioritise their wants over their needs? Who can’t get their act together to apply for a job but can organise a trip to a music festival? Nah.
Not enjoying having to be organised and having to put effort into life isn’t a disability. Coping is managing, even if it isn’t fun

More than 100,000 people with ADHD as their main condition now receive Personal Independence Payments

I’d love to know how this bit of bollocks has been extrapolated. No one gets PIP based on their “condition” and nowhere on the PIP form are you asked to list your conditions in order of severity, so where have this government got this figure from?

I would imagine most people list their conditions in a way that makes sense to them. Possibly alphabetically, possibly in order of how it affects them, or like me in order of what’s uppermost in my mind on the day I fill in the form. The conditions that cause me to need PIP are listed along with the things that I don’t need any support with but have to write down anyway like. No doubt someone would be rolling their eyes about my claiming PIP for hypothyroidism, but I don’t. It’s just written on my form.

@Octavia64 Yes, the motability thing brings the whole issue into stark relief. Are you more willing now to accept there is a level of abuse within the system that is unsustainable? There has to be. It has quietly gone under the radar for a very long time.

What makes me very angry is that people who genuinely need those cars and those blue badges and those parking spaces because of physical disability are having to compete with people who have no real need of any of them. It's wrong.

It’s strange because it’s the opposite for my teen nephew who is punctual for college lessons and appointments made for him, but struggles organising anything himself - the fun stuff even. This is not saying he wants benefits! He wants to fit in and not be different. Breaks my heart that he’s been early for everything during term time and is now floundering for two months. You’d think he’d want to meet up with friends, but it never happens. There’s far more than this but my point is, tell him when and where and he’s always half an hour early.

@Myskyscolour did you not have to complete assessments and submit evidence prior to the diagnostic assessment?

What makes me very angry is that people who genuinely need those cars and those blue badges and those parking spaces because of physical disability are having to compete with people who have no real need of any of them. It's wrong.

@hairbearbunches Absolutely this in spades and buckets.

I know an entire family who don't work and aren't bothered about working because they get benefits. One of them even went on a 90 day holiday to Japan. Meanwhile I'm having seizures in the office but still don't qualify.