PIP mobility for deaf client

I have a client who is deaf and has various health problems such as arthritis. He has been awarded PIP for daily living, and got 4 points for mobility based on his limited walking. He is appealing and I am arguing that he has difficulties planning and following a journey. Appeal papers are referring to UK/622/2015 DC v SoS, (2015) UKUT 0344 (AAC) dealing with navigation and difficulties encountered along the way. That decision is that “following a route” is only about navigation and not obstacles along the way.

Just looking for any suggestions. I have included problems of planning and navigating including being unable to hear traffic, unable to ask directions etc.

Will try and offer a more comprehensive answer in due course but, playing Devils Advocate, why can the client not ask for directions?

My pre-lingual hearing impaired client carries a map and waves it at people with the destination clearly marked up in advance. Can use Google Street view to recognise the landscape and know when to get off a bus and so on, assuming no visual display.

Physical problems too. If asks for directions it is often difficult to lipread the responses. Can’t hold a phone easily or work keys easily. Can’t hear announcements in stations, can’t hear traffic or people close behind him. Can’t phone for advice about journeys for planning a journey.
Anyone had any success in getting some points for a deaf person planning or following a journey?
All comments welcome.

I presume you have read http://pipinfo.net/activities/planning-and-following-journeys?

Again, playing devils advocate…

- does the arthritis prevent use of a tablet/smart phone to plan a route using Google Maps and then using same plus street view en route?

- announcements in public transport exchanges may or may not be relevant. Many bus exchanges have timetabled data on screen which could mislead you to believe it was live data. In that case announcements will be key. Less so in railway stations where all data is live data and is also available via numerous apps.

- why can’t they phone for advice on a journey? Is textphone not available?

- my client can’t lip read responses but he can navigate. The key question is whether he can do so reliably/safely or within a reasonable time. That’s the better argument for me.

- I get the not hearing traffic or people but most people in that scenario use controlled crossings where available and use visual cues unless they have another sensory loss.

At the very least you’ll need to address each of these convincingly. 

see http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/welfare-rights/caselaw/item/following-a-journey-includes-both-navigation-and-ability-to-make-progress-w on meaning of ‘follow a journey’.

Mike has set out some of the issues to consider - although they also depend on whether the client has access to the technology that might assist?

Don’t know if this is releavnat to your client but my experience of, particularly older, pre-lingually deaf clients is their not being able to express why the can’t follow an (unfamiliar) route. Q “why wouldn’t you do it?” A “I don’t do it”. My understanding is that many pre-lingually deaf people have a very literal interpretation of things and have difficulty with an abstract concept like “suppose you had to go to X (unfamiliar place), why couldn’t you do it without someone with you?”

Again my experience is that the issue with unfamiliar journeys is probably about anxiety of the unfamiliar and practical difficulties like dealing with traffic, crowded places, not hearing transport announcements/being able to ask for a ticket, getting lost (bearing in mind that some deaf people also have no/limited, speech, lip reading skills etc). This was particularly relevant to DLA lower rate mobility component in R(DLA)4/01 that led to the introduction of DLA Reg. 12(7) to reverse that decision (two of the claimants in that case were my clients).

‘Cannot plan’ is a concept that may need to be argued for someone who is deaf from scratch in the same way ‘anxiety’ was for DLA and to educate a DM/tribunal to have an understanding of some of the issues face by deaf people (deaf awareness training - the clerk to our local tribunal at the time also worked at the local Deaf Centre!).

We anticipate that many deaf claimants who have DLA lower rate mobility component will struggle to get standard rate mobility on migration to PIP.

Many thanks for all above comments. This is a case of moving from DLA and he has a motability car. PIP have given no mobility as only 4 points based on arthritis and other physical problems.
I will go through the links in detail and appreciate the comments from all perspectives. The case law quoted by DWP does limit arguments on “following a journey” so I just want to be thorough in my submission.