Can I claim PIP for Autism?

Information about Autism to help you claim PIP

This guide provides insights into autism and its potential impact on daily living and mobility. It explains how autism might affect your ability to carry out everyday activities safely, effectively, accurately, and repeatedly.

People with autism have a range of characteristics and will have different experiences. No two people are the same and Common characteristics of autism that may influence PIP claims include:

Difficulty understanding or interpreting non-verbal communication, such as body language.
Challenges in comprehending conversations or instructions.
Struggles to interpret others’ emotions or express their own effectively.
High levels of stress or anxiety due to changes in routine, often requiring rigid daily schedules.
Repetitive behaviours, such as rocking or touching specific textures.
Heightened sensitivity to sensory inputs, including noise, textures, smells, or tastes.
Intense focus on particular interests, making multitasking difficult.
Anxiety symptoms, leading to shutdowns or meltdowns in overwhelming situations.
Challenges in planning, organising, or prioritising tasks.

Other symptoms or issues related to autism should also be considered during the claims process.

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Daily living descriptors

Autism can impact how you prepare a simple meal in a variety of ways:

1. Preparing food

In this descriptor they are looking at your ability to cook a simple meal for 1 from fresh ingredients. How does Autism impact this activity:

Challenges in following recipes or remembering steps may lead to incomplete meals.
Anxiety or meltdowns in kitchen environments may require prompting or supervision.
Issues with using hands means using aids such as electric tin openers, jar openers etc
Sensory issues with food textures, smell or heat which require the use of aids e.g. food processer, blenders etc

2. Eating and Drinking

You may experience the following when eating and drinking:

Forgetting to eat/drink therefore require reminders and prompting
Sensory sensitivity which limits food choices due to taste, texture or smell.
Some autistic people will restrict the foods only eating foods which they deem to be ‘safe’ foods/drinks
Poor motor skills may require someone to use adapted cutlery

3. Managing Treatements

This descriptor examines how you manage health-related treatments, and you may find:

Have a sensory issue with the medication and require help to prepare it correctly
May be anxious when taking medication and you require support
You may need to be prompted and reminded when to take your medication
A dosette box may need to be used to remind you to take your medication
You may be going for physio, and you do not like the sensory aspect of it

4. Washing and Bathing

This looks at the ability of being able to bath or shower and what issues you may experience:

Supervision is needed because you struggle to wash yourself

You may not understand how to adjust the water temperature in the shower or bath
Grab rails are needed to prevent accidents because you struggle with spatial awareness.
You struggle with sensory issues, such as, the feel of the water on your body, you do not like the smell of the shampoo, you do not like water on your face

5. Managing Toilet needs or Incontinence

This descriptor is about the ability to use a toilet independently and to be able clean yourself afterwards and have no continence issues:

You need help to go to the toilet because it causes you anxiety
There may be issues for you to go to the toilet on your own because you struggle to complete the required steps
To complete this activity successfully you need to be prompted/reminded or require supervision.
Aids need to be used because you struggle to get yourself on or off the toilet e.g. raised toilet seat, toilet frame, grab rail etc

6. Dressing and Undressing

This looks at whether you can dress and undress yourself and choose appropriate clothing:

Are you able to use open/close fastenings on clothes?
You may need prompting/reminding to get dressed or undressed
You may need help from someone to help you get dressed/undressed because you struggle to get clothes on/off and don’t know which way round to wear them
You are reminded that you need to change your clothes because they need washing
Fabrics and textures may be an issue as you don’t like the feel of them on your skin
You struggle to select clothing appropriate for the weather or occasion

7. Communicating Verbally

This descriptor looks at someone’s ability to verbally communicate and to be able to express and convey information and to be able to receive and understand information

You need support to understand complex information
You struggle to focus on conversations because you are distracted by something else
You need an electro larynx or hearing aid/s in order to speak/hear to an acceptable standard
You use visual or picture clues to help you organise what you want to say before you say it out loud to others.
You may need support to understand complex verbal information because you are too distracted by your focus on other issues to listen attentively.
You may have limited vocabulary
You may use British Sign Language (BSL) or Makaton or a digital speech device to communicate
Conversations may need to be broken down by so that you understand what is being said and what your responses.

8. Reading and Understanding Signs, Symbols and Words

This relates to the ability to read and understand written or printed information

You may use an aid to help you to read e.g. a magnifying glass, permanent retinal implant, Braille, text in a larger font size etc
You may struggle to read and decode words and understand their meaning and need help from someone to do this
You may struggle to concentrate and move onto another task before finishing what you are reading
You may struggle to understand what signs, symbols and numbers represent
You may read more slowly because you struggle to read and understand signs, symbols, words and numbers
You may need to take breaks from reading because you find it overwhelming

9. Mixing with other people

Autistic people can struggle socially and find it difficult due to:

You may find meeting with people that you don’t know challenging and may require support
You may become anxious in noisy, unfamiliar environments
You may struggle to read body language or understand what is being said
Being in an environment with people may deplete your social battery and this may make you very tired
You may become overwhelmed and need to leave the situation which you are in

10. Managing money

This descriptor looks at if an autistic person can manage their money:

You may find it difficult to manage your money and struggle to budget
You may find that you are vulnerable to scams or financial exploitation
You struggle to read and understand your bank statements and you need support to do this
You are unable to manage your own finances, and you need help from someone to manage your money
When shopping, you struggle to understand financial transactions

Mobility descriptors

These evaluate how autism may affect mobility related tasks. This is not an exhaustive list; ensure all relevant details are included in your application.

1. Planning and Following a Journeys

Autism may make planning and following a journey challenging:

You may struggle to plan or navigate an unfamiliar journey without support from someone else
You have may not be able to cope if the journey does not go to plan e.g. an accident, roadworks etc along your route and you have to make an unplanned diversion
Being out in public and trying to navigate your journey may result in you being anxious and/or having a meltdown
Having started your journey, you may not be able to finish your journey, and you have to return home due to being overwhelmed

2. Moving around

Moving around does not generally affect autistic people:

This section can be left blank. However, if you have other health conditions and/or a disability, these may affect you moving around so you need to include any relevant information in this section

Finally

It is important that when you complete your PIP form, that you include how autism affects you in relation to each descriptor. Ensure that you give specific examples, under each descriptor, where you have struggled due your autism, where appropriate. It is important that you include any aids, adaptations or support/supervision that you need to help you complete each activity, where appropriate.

This information only covers autism. If you have any other health conditions and/or disability you should include how they impact you under the relevant descriptors.

Please remember that this is not a complete list and if you have other symptoms or conditions that affect this descriptor, they need to be included on your PIP claim. More information can be found at www.gov.uk