Post by nickd on Jan 6, 2011 23:23:19 GMT 1
This is another account of how a provider made a dramatic difference to a person's life. The story concerns someone we shall call Miss T, some details have been changed to protect confidentiality issues; but Miss T is very happy to tell her story.
Miss T was born a genetic male. For much of her life she endured bullying and taunting as she found that she could 'never fit in', she battled through life with an inner most conviction that she belonged to the opposite gender. Prejudice exists in this world of ours; as a consequence Miss T bottled up her feelings for years, she felt unable to say what was wrong, she had an up and down employment history and became severely depressed, at times she became suicidal. She tells us that she came very close to ending her life.
After a fair number of years Miss T found she could not go on pretending she belonged to a sex she simply didn't identify with. She avoided commitment with partners because she knew it would be unfair on them. She realised that the only way she would find ever find contentment was to undergo full gender reassignment. This was by no means an easy decision to make, it involved much soul searching and leaving behind a persona which others identified with. Miss T on the other hand realised that she needed to find put herself first and find her true personality. Miss T knew that this would involve living in the female role for a minimum of 2 years before she could be considered for full gender reassignment. Gender reassignment is immensely complicated and involves a great deal of painful surgery and the full approval of gender psychiatric specialists.
The first we saw of Miss T was after she had been refused Employment & Support Allowance. She was referred to us as the specialist agency who could help her. This was an immensely complicated appeal; fundamentally Miss T had to prove she could adapt to work in order to successfully transition towards the sex she felt she truly belonged to and yet she did not feel ready to enter the job market without some degree of help . It presented us with a dilemma as to how to best present her case.
It was very clear that the healthcare professional who conducted the cursory medical examination had very little experience of gender reassignment, if any. Indeed, it was not even mentioned in the medical reports, the only reference was to 'mild depression'. This was strongly refuted by Miss T.
We took a detailed history and obtained supporting medical evidence from the gender clinic. We argued that Employment & Support Allowance determinations should not be made solely on the basis of whether a person is capable of work or not. The Allowance is intended to provide support to those that have a limitation and need support back into the workplace. We argued that it would be totally inappropriate to expose Miss T to a jobseeking requirement where she would get little support to help her find a placement. The Tribunal accepted our argument and allowed the appeal, they were also critical of the medical examination. Miss T was delighted with the result as she knew that she would now get the support she needed.
We saw Miss T about a year later; although she presented with the same problem, her circumstances were very different. By now she was fully committed to her gender reassignment, her medical team had accepted her onto the programme. Her appearance was very different, she spoke more softly and was obviously well on her way towards a successful transition, she was taking hormone treatment and was much happier, she had started to 'find herself'. She told us; how for the first time in her life she had felt at one with herself. Miss T had found a voluntary placement where she was very happy as she was working towards her goal, but the DWP decided she was now ready for full time work. This would mean the removal of all the support which was positively helping Miss T. This would have been disastrous for Miss T.
We again prepared a second appeal, we used an argument of continuing support based on limitations which the second inexperienced healthcare professional had failed to consider.
Miss T went before a second tribunal who agreed with our argument, they granted Miss T a continuance of Employment & Support Allowance. The Tribunal could see the difficulties caused by such a life changing journey and were very sympathetic to her case. They wished Miss T luck with the rest of her gender reassignment.
Miss T came back to see us and expressed a great deal of gratitude for how we had taken the time to carefully research her case, she told me that she felt we'd treated her like a human being, like a person rather than just a problem. Miss T told me that she hopes to set up a gender reassignment counselling service for people who are in a similar predicament. She glowed with happiness at the thought of how her life was literally changing, we felt justifiably proud of how our help had assisted someone become happy, what price do you put on that?
This was a positive example of how expert knowledge of the legislation could be utilised in advancing an argument which two separate Tribunals accepted. This was work which achieved the right result. I have every confidence in Miss T and am sure she will do well in whatever she chooses to do because she has the determination; she has bravely embarked upon a journey which would simply be unimaginable to the majority of us. In my view, she deserved a bit of support, in my view she positively needed Legal Aid for the legal problems she had.
I wonder how things would have turned out for Miss T if we hadn't have been able to help her?
Miss T was born a genetic male. For much of her life she endured bullying and taunting as she found that she could 'never fit in', she battled through life with an inner most conviction that she belonged to the opposite gender. Prejudice exists in this world of ours; as a consequence Miss T bottled up her feelings for years, she felt unable to say what was wrong, she had an up and down employment history and became severely depressed, at times she became suicidal. She tells us that she came very close to ending her life.
After a fair number of years Miss T found she could not go on pretending she belonged to a sex she simply didn't identify with. She avoided commitment with partners because she knew it would be unfair on them. She realised that the only way she would find ever find contentment was to undergo full gender reassignment. This was by no means an easy decision to make, it involved much soul searching and leaving behind a persona which others identified with. Miss T on the other hand realised that she needed to find put herself first and find her true personality. Miss T knew that this would involve living in the female role for a minimum of 2 years before she could be considered for full gender reassignment. Gender reassignment is immensely complicated and involves a great deal of painful surgery and the full approval of gender psychiatric specialists.
The first we saw of Miss T was after she had been refused Employment & Support Allowance. She was referred to us as the specialist agency who could help her. This was an immensely complicated appeal; fundamentally Miss T had to prove she could adapt to work in order to successfully transition towards the sex she felt she truly belonged to and yet she did not feel ready to enter the job market without some degree of help . It presented us with a dilemma as to how to best present her case.
It was very clear that the healthcare professional who conducted the cursory medical examination had very little experience of gender reassignment, if any. Indeed, it was not even mentioned in the medical reports, the only reference was to 'mild depression'. This was strongly refuted by Miss T.
We took a detailed history and obtained supporting medical evidence from the gender clinic. We argued that Employment & Support Allowance determinations should not be made solely on the basis of whether a person is capable of work or not. The Allowance is intended to provide support to those that have a limitation and need support back into the workplace. We argued that it would be totally inappropriate to expose Miss T to a jobseeking requirement where she would get little support to help her find a placement. The Tribunal accepted our argument and allowed the appeal, they were also critical of the medical examination. Miss T was delighted with the result as she knew that she would now get the support she needed.
We saw Miss T about a year later; although she presented with the same problem, her circumstances were very different. By now she was fully committed to her gender reassignment, her medical team had accepted her onto the programme. Her appearance was very different, she spoke more softly and was obviously well on her way towards a successful transition, she was taking hormone treatment and was much happier, she had started to 'find herself'. She told us; how for the first time in her life she had felt at one with herself. Miss T had found a voluntary placement where she was very happy as she was working towards her goal, but the DWP decided she was now ready for full time work. This would mean the removal of all the support which was positively helping Miss T. This would have been disastrous for Miss T.
We again prepared a second appeal, we used an argument of continuing support based on limitations which the second inexperienced healthcare professional had failed to consider.
Miss T went before a second tribunal who agreed with our argument, they granted Miss T a continuance of Employment & Support Allowance. The Tribunal could see the difficulties caused by such a life changing journey and were very sympathetic to her case. They wished Miss T luck with the rest of her gender reassignment.
Miss T came back to see us and expressed a great deal of gratitude for how we had taken the time to carefully research her case, she told me that she felt we'd treated her like a human being, like a person rather than just a problem. Miss T told me that she hopes to set up a gender reassignment counselling service for people who are in a similar predicament. She glowed with happiness at the thought of how her life was literally changing, we felt justifiably proud of how our help had assisted someone become happy, what price do you put on that?
This was a positive example of how expert knowledge of the legislation could be utilised in advancing an argument which two separate Tribunals accepted. This was work which achieved the right result. I have every confidence in Miss T and am sure she will do well in whatever she chooses to do because she has the determination; she has bravely embarked upon a journey which would simply be unimaginable to the majority of us. In my view, she deserved a bit of support, in my view she positively needed Legal Aid for the legal problems she had.
I wonder how things would have turned out for Miss T if we hadn't have been able to help her?