DLA form: Ability to walk

Hi Heather

Many thanks for your response. I am in pain before I attempt to walk, despite taking painkillers around the clock - I have three on prescription.

I try to walk unaided but I often use a walking stick. It doesn't help me walk further or faster, or stop falls - I can't support myself on my arms - but it helps warn other people that I'm slow and need a bit of consideration. I live on a narrow lane that's barely one car's width wide and I hope it encourages drivers to slow down and let me get into someone's drive so they can pass safely. On the other hand, the stick can be dangerous. I like going to concerts in London and Birmingham and I try to get into town before the rush hour so I can have an hour or so in a cafe to try to relax a bit and get myself up together enough to enjoy the concert. One time last summer, when I was better than I am now, my train was badly delayed and I got to Paddington at peak rush hour. I had a fall and two people tripped over my stick and fell on me. I live alone and there's no-one to support me although it would definitely help, physically mentally, to keep me going.

I've studied the guides posted here, and the questions and answers from other people, and all those have helped me broaden the way I look at my pain. Thinking about myself as an observer of my pain is excellent advice.

The DWP are going to get lots of extra info from me, especially about social activities. Photography and going to concerts are my hobbies. I have a website of some of my photos so I can back that up with real evidence. I'm railway retired staff and kept my travel perks in retirement so I can travel by train whenever I want, if I feel I can tackle the walks at each end. Otherwise, it's taxis and a pensioner can't afford those. I've tried London buses and they're a nightmare, Paddington is in the wrong place to get to the Barbican easily by bus, and the Albert Hall is impossible, it's three buses, around three sides of a square, if I don't want a walk to the first stop that's as long as the walk from High Street Kensington tube to the RAH - a kilometre.

I use walkit.com to get walking directions for places I want to go to regularly as they put the actual distance to be walked on their directions. Google Earth's measuring tools are useful to record the actual distance from my house to the bus stops nearest me; I mark the places I have to stop to rest, and use the stopwatch on my phone to record how long it all takes me. A printout of those will go with the form.

I had a nightmare getting my pension credit because after admitting they'd lost my first two applications, the DWP came back with a lot of questions I had no idea they'd ask, but if I had known, I could have given them answers in the first place.

Again, thank you for your help. Good luck to everyone in their dealings with the DWP.

Amasis