When Vicky forgets to buy food, she doesn’t eat. Autism means she often can’t manage day-to-day tasks: from cleaning the house and remembering to wash to doing the weekly shop. “I can’t cope with being outside for any real length of time,” she says. “And sometimes it can take me four days to complete one online shop.”
Her medication goes the same way. When Vicky doesn’t order her antidepressants, she can’t sleep. Without her painkillers for her arthritis, she struggles to move. Rising bills on top of low benefits have only added to the distress. Vicky is now £1,600 in debt to her energy company, but her disability means she can’t call them.
