Welcome and winter tips
Welcome to the first issue of my newsletter! I am aiming for this to be a means, by which I can share what I've learned by finding out I'm disabled in my 20s. To support and empower others.
Hello there!
I am a 26-year-old Irish woman, living in Doncaster, Yorkshire, England. I am a journalist, copywriter, and writer of all sorts. I have also worked in many other jobs, and fields such as taking complaints about the BBC, and as a care assistant for older people with advanced dementia. I am also disabled. I did not start to find this out, to I came close to failing my postgraduate degree in journalism. I was on the brink of 22 when diagnosed as dyslexic and dyspraxic. At age 24, I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. At age 25, 10 months apart, I was diagnosed first with ADHD, and then as autistic.
I could write a lot on why I think this is so, but the aim of this newsletter is more to support others, than air my particular struggles. But of course, my own experiences will resonate with others. Basically, it comes down to gender and class. And being from Northern Ireland, which due to the impact of civil conflict (“The Troubles”), has lagged behind in many ways, in terms of healthcare. As a working-class girl, attending a poorly performing primary (but due to driving myself to mental exhaustion, I got into a grammar school because of doing well in the 11 Plus, which is still in use, in NI), I received no help and little kindness. My struggles and difference were evident from early childhood - I got a two-page report after 3 months in reception class. I was 4, and this report outlined a classical presentation of autism. I did not speak much, I did not make eye contact with the teacher, I did not want to take part in group activities & struggled with sharing. I was happiest when painting, and reading alone. The teacher, in 1998, declared me “inclined to be a loner”, and that I fell for attention. This was in fact, due to poor eyesight. Shortly after, I started wearing glasses, for short-sightedness. My teacher wrote me off - this was how I was, how I would be. So, I had to push myself very hard, especially as a child. By 25, I was running out of momentum. A person cannot over and over, push themselves to their limits, simply to exist, and survive, to get by. Without it eventually catching up. I entered autistic burnout in February 2020 and had to rebuild my entire functioning and life. I had my first, and I hope only, A & E visit, for depression, in March 2020.
Almost a year on, I am transformed. This was not a singular mission. I am indebted in particular to my friends - some put up with an awful lot through the years, as I worked in awful and then better ways, through trauma. I am indebted to certain family members, other Quakers, and a great deal many sympathetic and truly caring GPs, nurses, and mental health workers, in a struggling NHS. Whilst I am working class, and queer, I am white. I speak English as my first language. I have a high level of education. These are all huge privileges, which have made this journey of recovery, and towards true stability, much easier.
The past few years have involved a lot of “muddling through”, research and self-advocacy. I have built up a wealth of knowledge, about the support available to low-income, disabled, and mentally unwell people in the UK. In this newsletter, I will share this knowledge. This month, I’m going to focus on support available in relation to winter.
Practical support in winter
Warm Home Discount Scheme - You could get £140 off your winter 2020 - 2021 electricity bill! I have applied for and been successful, twice - this winter and last. The money isn’t paid directly but instead is taken off by your energy supplier between September and March. You are eligible a) if you get the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit or b) you are on a low-income and meet your energy supplier’s criteria, for being in the “broader" group. Often, you will need to be in receipt of certain benefits, to qualify. Not all suppliers are signed up to the scheme, but most are. Both times, I applied online and received a letter stating that I had been awarded the grant.
Winter Fuel Payment - If you were born on, or before 5 October 1954, you could be given between £100 and £300 to help with your heating bills. For those getting the State Pension or another social security benefit, that payment will be automatic. If you do not get any of these, or if you live abroad, you may need to make a claim.
Cold Weather Payment - You may be given this payment if you get certain benefits. Payments are made if the average temperature in your area is recorded as, or forecast to be, zero degrees celsius or below over 7 days, in a row. £25 is paid for each 7-day period of freezing, or below, between 1 November and 31 March. The payment should be made automatically, but contact the DWP via your online journal, if you believe you should have been paid, and have not. I have been consecutively claiming Universal Credit for around 14 months, and have yet to receive a cold weather payment. But when I worked as a support worker, for adults with learning disabilities, I did see the proof in letter form that such payments are sometimes made!
Affordable Warmth Scheme - I have applied for this! If you get certain benefits. and rent from a private landlord, or live in social housing, you may get help with a) insulation work or b) replacing or repairing a boiler. If like me, you rent in the private sector, you do need to ask your landlord’s permission to apply. My landlord agreed and had to sign a permission form. I am now waiting on a survey of the house to be carried out. It is a pretty old terrace - over a hundred years, so it’s pretty cold in winter.
There’s always more to say, but I think this is a decent start! In my next issue, I am going to explain Universal Credit and the process of applying. Please get in touch with any resources linked to winter. I haven’t explored support for social isolation, for example. I will link any such resources in the next issue, and share them via my Twitter: @KylieSEN50
This newsletter will always remain free, as an act of solidarity. Like many disabled people, I am on a low-income. If this newsletter has been helpful to you, and you have the means to, I would gratefully accept the cost of a coffee via my Ko-fi
Stay safe and well.
In solidarity and friendship,
Kylie