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Alone in a crowd
Has anyone else successfully tried to use the argument that while someone may be close physical proximity to tothers they are socially isolated?
Thanks in advance
Toby
Interesting thing happening with the spacing of your words there 😊 One or two appear to be trying to be alone in a crowd!
Anyways… yes. Have been able to successfully argue that people with sight impairment and unable to do facial recognition or, as likely, unable to do facial recognition at sufficient speed, have difficulty engaging. Claimants are often embarrassed and withdrawn. Feeds nicely into “difficulty relating to” etc. If you don’t know or aren’t sure who you’re in proximity to then you don’t tend to make the first move unless out of doors and feeling vulnerable.
A good analogy in the film “Notes On Blindness” which refers to the idea that you don’t know whether a smile is a correct response if you can’t see that someone’s speech is accompanied by a smile.
Afraid I don’t have a written submission to accompany the above. I just argue it as a logical point.
I was specifically thinking of people who have no sight impediment… but find the whole process of being in the vicinity of others very upsetting
I was specifically thinking of people who have no sight impediment… but find the whole process of being in the vicinity of others very upsetting
I can’t see a problem with that argument. Haven’t had to argue it myself but can’t see why it would be a problem to do so. An example might be someone with autism who may be able to be in a crowd but won’t participate and over time will become withdrawn and eventually physically distressed.
Activity 16 is looking at social engagement. There are a number of cases (which you can get on wcainfo.net) discussing what precisely social engagement means but I think the gist is that it is actually engaging with other people.
Engagement does not mean standing physically near other people, it means interacting with them to some extent - most likely in conversation. It is also something which necessarily relates only to one-on-one interactions or small groups. It isn’t possible (at least in day-to-day life) to have a meaningful interaction with a crowd.
How well a claimant deals with being in a crowd therefore isn’t going to be particularly relevant to activity 16. The question is how they do in an interpersonal context.
I’m not really sure from your questions how exactly that relates to your case.
Absolutely. dealing with mental health one can be anonymous in a crowd (hoodie, up, head down etc etc). Some of our clients can manage to go to the supermarket but fail to engage. They use the self scan till, get in and get out so as long as they don’t have to interact (actually this is something that is asked sometimes by tribunals panels). There’s probably lots more examples.