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1 - 20 metres for claimant with short stature
I read the helpful thread on Walking pace as I have a tribunal listed and wanted to see if anyone had any specific experience or advice in supporting a claim of 1 – 20 metres for someone with short stature?
We got 20 – 50 at MR.
I have had some good results for people with short stature getting 1 – 20, but they have all been older (40+) and not needed to go to tribunal before now. This claimant is a 17 year old.
My plan is to argue that they do sometimes walk more than 20 metres but are unable to do so reliably.
I’ll say that they can’t walk safely as they are prone to falls, as well as trips and stumbles; and also have increased wear and tear on joints compared to someone of average height (ie people with short stature much more likely to have knee and hip replacements in middle rather than older age).
They walk at least half the speed of a non-disabled person (logical as they have short legs).
They don’t walk to an acceptable standard because of bowed legs and unusual gait; and also have an increase of pain and discomfort on mobilisation.
I was going to swerve repeatability as I think it muddies the water.
Am I missing anything obvious??
Any thoughts or comments welcome; and particularly welcome any thoughts from people who have had cases of people with similar impairments and if they emphasised any particular elements of the reliability clause.