ADHD and autism can both affect the PIP activities, and many people have both. This guide covers each condition, then what they have in common.
How ADHD Affects PIP Activities
PIP assesses specific activities. Here’s how ADHD commonly affects each one:
Daily Living Activities
| Activity | How ADHD Can Affect It |
|---|---|
| Preparing food | Forgetting food is cooking, burning meals, inability to follow recipes, leaving the cooker on, impulsively eating unhealthy food instead |
| Eating and drinking | Forgetting to eat entirely, hyperfocusing and missing meals, medication suppressing appetite |
| Managing treatments | Forgetting medication even with reminders, so someone else has to prompt you or check you have taken it |
| Washing and bathing | Forgetting to shower, hyperfocusing on something else, executive dysfunction making it impossible to start |
| Dressing | Wearing inappropriate clothes for the weather, inability to plan outfits, leaving the house without essential items |
| Reading and understanding | Inability to read letters and bills, missing important information, not understanding complex forms |
| Engaging with others | Interrupting, missing social cues, saying inappropriate things, struggling to maintain conversations, emotional dysregulation |
| Making budgeting decisions | Impulsive spending, inability to track money, forgetting to pay bills, not understanding financial consequences |
Mobility Activities
| Activity | How ADHD Can Affect It |
|---|---|
| Planning and following journeys | Getting lost, missing stops on public transport, inability to plan routes, distraction causing you to go to the wrong place, time blindness making you late |
| Moving around | Less commonly affected by ADHD alone, but co-occurring conditions (anxiety, depression) may contribute |
Where ADHD Scores Highest
The activities where ADHD claimants most commonly score points:
- Managing treatments — forgetting medication is extremely common with ADHD
- Making budgeting decisions — impulsive spending and inability to manage money
- Reading and understanding — concentration difficulties with forms, letters, and bills
- Preparing food — executive dysfunction and distraction
- Planning and following journeys — time blindness, getting distracted or lost
- Engaging with others — emotional dysregulation and social difficulties
Building Your Evidence
Essential Evidence
Formal diagnosis:
- Diagnosis letter from your psychiatrist (NHS or private)
- Should state whether you have inattentive, hyperactive-impulsive, or combined type
- If you were diagnosed privately, send the full diagnostic report
Impact letters:
- Ask your psychiatrist or specialist nurse to write a letter specifically about how ADHD affects your daily functioning
- Ask your GP to provide a supporting letter
Medication records:
- Current prescriptions (methylphenidate, lisdexamfetamine, atomoxetine, etc.)
- Side effects you experience
- Times you’ve missed or forgotten medication
Supporting Evidence
| Evidence Type | Why It Helps |
|---|---|
| Occupational therapy reports | Documents functional difficulties |
| Workplace adjustments | Shows employer recognises the impact |
| Access to Work support | Government-recognised evidence of need |
| Carer’s statement | Partner/family member describing daily impact |
| Bank statements | Evidence of impulsive spending, overdrafts, missed bill payments |
| Diary of daily impact | 2–4 weeks documenting specific difficulties |
Writing Your Daily Impact Diary
Record specific incidents over 2–4 weeks:
- “Monday: Forgot to take medication. Left the house without my keys. Burned dinner because I started watching a video and forgot the cooker was on”
- “Wednesday: Missed GP appointment despite having 3 reminders. Spent £80 on items I didn’t need from an online advert”
- “Friday: Couldn’t follow the recipe for a simple meal. Got on the wrong bus and ended up 4 miles from where I needed to be”
Filling in the PIP Form (PIP2)
Key Tips for ADHD
Executive dysfunction: If you struggle to start or complete the PIP form itself, this is evidence. Note on the form: “I needed help completing this form because my ADHD makes it extremely difficult to concentrate on lengthy documents.”
Don’t minimise: People with ADHD often develop coping mechanisms and don’t recognise how much they struggle. Ask someone who lives with you what they observe.
Describe the help you rely on: PIP scores the help you need from other people. If your partner reminds you to take medication, that counts as “needs prompting” even though the medication gets taken.
Variability: ADHD fluctuates. Hyperfocus days may look “fine” but the crash afterwards can be severe. Explain this pattern.
Example Answers
Preparing food:
“I cannot safely prepare a cooked meal without supervision. I have left the hob on 3 times in the last month. I forget I’m cooking if something distracts me — the fire alarm has gone off twice in the last 6 weeks. I mainly eat ready meals, sandwiches, or takeaway because I can’t sustain concentration to follow a recipe. My partner checks the kitchen every night to make sure I haven’t left anything on.”
Managing treatments:
“I take methylphenidate twice daily. Despite using a phone alarm, a pill organiser, and a note on my bathroom mirror, I forget my medication approximately 3-4 times per week. I have also forgotten to reorder my prescription twice in the last 3 months, going without medication for several days each time.”
The Assessment
ADHD-Specific Preparation
- Arrive as you normally are — don’t mask or compensate
- Bring someone who knows you — they can add context and remind you of things you forget
- Write notes beforehand — you’ll likely forget points during the assessment
- It’s OK if you ramble, interrupt, or lose track — this demonstrates your condition
- Don’t try to sit still if you normally fidget — stimming and movement are relevant evidence
What Assessors Look For
Assessors are trained to observe:
- Your concentration during the assessment
- Whether you can follow questions
- How organised your answers are
- Emotional regulation
Warning: Some assessors may write “the claimant was well-presented and engaged normally throughout the assessment.” This can be used to deny your claim. If you were masking or having a good day, state this explicitly.
How Autism Affects PIP Activities
Autism is a spectrum condition — it affects everyone differently. The PIP activities most commonly affected include:
| Activity | How Autism May Affect It |
|---|---|
| Activity 1: Preparing food | Executive function difficulties, sensory issues with food textures/smells, restricted diet, safety awareness |
| Activity 3: Managing therapy | Needing someone to prompt or supervise medication (appointments don’t count) |
| Activity 4: Washing/bathing | Sensory sensitivity to water/soap, routine difficulties |
| Activity 6: Dressing | Sensory sensitivity to fabrics, difficulty choosing appropriate clothing |
| Activity 7: Communicating | Literal interpretation, difficulty with telephone, non-verbal difficulties |
| Activity 9: Engaging with people | Social anxiety, overwhelm, meltdowns, shutdowns |
| Activity 10: Budgeting | Executive function, impulsive spending, difficulty planning |
| Mobility 1: Planning journeys | Anxiety about unfamiliar routes, sensory overload in public |
| Mobility 2: Moving around | Only scores for physical difficulty walking; being unable to go out because of sensory overwhelm belongs under planning and following journeys |
Key Activities for Autism in Detail
Activity 9: Engaging With Other People Face to Face
This is often the highest-scoring activity for autistic adults.
| Descriptor | Points |
|---|---|
| Can engage with other people unaided | 0 |
| Needs prompting to engage with other people | 2 |
| Needs social support to engage with other people | 4 |
| Cannot engage due to overwhelming psychological distress or risk of harmful behaviour | 8 |
What to describe:
- Social situations causing overwhelming anxiety or distress
- Meltdowns or shutdowns triggered by social interaction
- Inability to read social cues, body language, or tone
- Need for someone else to manage social situations for you
- Avoiding all social contact because of distress
- Misunderstandings that lead to conflict or isolation
Mobility Activity 1: Planning and Following Journeys
This activity scores for needing prompting, being unable to plan a route, being unable to follow a route without help, or being unable to go on any journey because of overwhelming psychological distress (see the planning and following journeys descriptors for the points).
What to describe:
- Sensory overload in busy places (shops, stations, streets)
- Panic or meltdown when a route changes or is disrupted
- Getting lost or confused in unfamiliar environments
- Needing someone to accompany you on all journeys
- Being unable to leave the house on many days
Activity 1: Preparing Food
| Descriptor | Points |
|---|---|
| Needs prompting to prepare food | 2 |
| Needs supervision or assistance | 4 |
| Cannot prepare and cook food | 8 |
What to describe:
- Restricted diet due to sensory issues (textures, smells, colours)
- Executive function difficulties — can’t plan a sequence of cooking steps
- Getting distracted and leaving things on the hob/in the oven
- Not recognising when food is cooked or has gone off
- Only eating the same few foods, nothing involving actual cooking
The Masking Problem
Many autistic adults have learned to “mask” — hide their difficulties in social situations. This can severely undermine PIP claims because:
- You may appear capable during the assessment
- The assessor sees a short snapshot, not your daily reality
- The effort of masking causes burnout that the assessor doesn’t witness
- Post-assessment exhaustion or meltdown isn’t documented
How to Address Masking
In your PIP2 form and at the assessment:
- Explain masking directly: “I mask my difficulties in social situations, which means I may appear more capable during this assessment than I am in daily life. After social interactions, I experience shutdowns lasting [hours/days].”
- Describe the cost of masking: Exhaustion, meltdowns, need for recovery time
- Get evidence: Ask your GP, therapist, or support worker to confirm that you mask and explain the impact
- Mention the assessment itself: “Attending this assessment will likely require 2 days of recovery due to sensory and social overwhelm”
Evidence for Autism PIP Claims
Priority Evidence
| Source | What to Request |
|---|---|
| Diagnosing clinician | Copy of diagnostic report describing how autism affects daily function |
| GP | Letter confirming diagnosis, co-occurring conditions, and daily impact |
| Mental health team | Assessment of anxiety, depression, or other mental health impacts |
| Support worker | Statement describing the help you need on a typical day |
| Occupational therapist | Functional assessment of daily living abilities |
Supporting Evidence
| Source | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Partner/family/housemate | Detailed letter about the help they provide daily |
| Employer | Evidence of workplace adjustments needed |
| Social services | Care and support plan |
| Education records | History of additional support needs |
Co-Occurring Conditions
ADHD rarely exists alone. Common co-occurring conditions that strengthen a PIP claim:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Autism
- Dyslexia/dyscalculia (affects reading/budgeting activities)
- Sleep disorders (affects all activities through fatigue)
Make sure all conditions are included in your claim — PIP assesses the combined effect on your daily life.
If You’re Refused
| Stage | What to Do |
|---|---|
| Mandatory Reconsideration | Request within 1 month. Submit any new evidence. Challenge specific descriptor scores |
| Tribunal Appeal | If MR unsuccessful, appeal within 1 month of the reconsideration notice. About two-thirds of PIP appeals decided at a hearing succeed |
Get free help from:
- ADHD UK — charity support for adults with ADHD
- Citizens Advice — PIP appeal specialists
- Scope — disability benefits advice