Anyone with AS on SSI?

Post Reply New Topic

Well, I don't really know much about foodstamps. The last time I saw any, I was very young and my mom handled them, and we only used them at some small food shop. I'm not sure where you would get them, or where you would use them. We only really have access to a Walmart.

Also, my needing to pay my share of the rent is a little more pressing than the food situation. The food situation would pretty much be solved if my boyfriend didn't have to cover my portion of the rent :<

Well while your walking you can think about this:

No car equals better chance at benefits and more of them -> The benefits help support me and start my business -> People buy what I sell and I can support myself now -> More profits come in as more people discover what I sell and buy it -> I can buy a car now and no more walking unless I want to walk

The walk seems less of a burden when you think there will be a end to it at some time..

Yeah, that's a good way to think about it. I always just thought of it as excersize, imagining how much more unhealthy I would be if I never walked anywhere :3

Foodstamps will come if you get approved for SSI. You can use them at WalMart or any place that sells groceries for the most part.

I'm not sure how they do it now, but when I was using foodstamps they came in the mail and I just went to the store and used them like cash. The only problem sometimes is that its not a requirement that a store accepts foodstamps. You should check before you start shopping with foodstamps the first time to make sure they will take them. But if like you said, you go to Walmart then it should not be a problem.

That's very good to know! Thank ou very much!

Though, my boyfriend and our roommate were discussing things earlier, and we're not sure what to do about medical records to prove that I've been diagnosed with AS. According to my mom, I have been diagnosed with Asperger's by 3 different doctors, however, my mother is very prone to blowing facts out of proportion, so it was likely only one doctor. But I'm not really aware of how to find my records, as I have no access to them and would have to ask my mom to give them to me (which she would either refuse to, or would take a year taking her time to get them to me. This is what she did with my birth certificate and SS# when I was trying to get my ID.)

So, would they find my records themselves, or would I have to find them myself? Or, would I have to get re-diagnosed? I havent been to a doctor of any type in over 6 years, and do not have health insurance. What would I do...?

You do not need the actual medical records. It will would be helpful if you did.

The minimum that you need is the name of the doctor, their address and telephone number that diagnosis you.

If you go to the SSI web site, click on "How may I apply for SSI benefits" which should be on the left. Then click on the Documents link it lists all the documentation you need to bring with you.

On the "How may I apply for SSI benefits" page they list a 1-800 number to call to make an appointment. I seriously suggest making that appointment. You can wait around all day at the social security office waiting for someone to see you without one.

Do not worry about filling out an application. As part of the appointment they will interview you and fill out the application themselves.

Ah, I see.... Well that makes things easier, I suppose. Except for knowing the diagnosing doctor. I was diagnosed when I was 3 years old, and I don't even remember what state we were living in at that age. In fact, we may have not even been in the country at that time, but I would have to ask my mother for clarification on that. Still a bit of a roadblock, but I guess I gotta get past that If I wanna move forward (kinda hard to move forward without all of your personal information..)

I recently won my case & should be getting my awards letter in a few weeks. It's been over 2 years since I applied & almost 4 months since my hearing.

When I applied for SSDI, they said they would let know within 90 days. That limit is coming up in less than two weeks....so it can actually take longer? Why'd the hell they tell me 90 days or am I dreaming that?

A term has been coined. Kudos

I've been trying to get SSI for over a year, and while I'm still filing and doing everything else I need to do, such little progress has been made that I've lost faith in ever getting it. My psychologist told me that he doesn't see any pattern in the program. He's seen people turned down when he was certain they would get it, and he's seen people get it when he was certain they would be turned down.

I've been turned down several times, and I'm told that the next step is appearing in front of a judge to appeal. My psychologist and disability representative have been telling me this for months, but I haven't gotten a letter or phone call telling me when I need to do this. The disability representative is a very nice lady, but utterly incompetent, it seems. I've gotten three (three!) phone calls telling me that my information has been lost. My psychologist thankfully doesn't have his head shoved up his ass, and is always willing to re-send her whatever she needs.

I'm 27 and live with my parents in a single income household. The disability representative sees me for free. The psychologist used to see me for free, but recently had to start charging. I have a job history, but not a very impressive one. I spent a few months at a fast food restaurant and three whole days at a Walgreen's. I walked out of both of them due to my social skills (or lack thereof). I did manage to spend nine months as a clerk and stocker in another retail store similar to Walgreen's, but my exit from that job can also be attributed to my AS.

I've been successful, however, in getting a food stamp card. It was as easy as making a phone call and visiting a social worker and providing paperwork proving that I attend therapy. I recently had to renew it, which was even easier. A phone call was scheduled in which I answered about ten rudimentary questions in two minutes, and I was renewed.

I would think that would work against you as far as SSI is concerned, but I could be wrong there. I just know my own SSDI case was recently decided favorably at least partly because there is no realistic chance or hope of my ever again ever being able to do "substantial work" as defined within SSA guidelines.

With whatever information you have, and as someone has already mentioned: You can visit or call a local SSA office and they will help you with your initial application. However, and especially if AS/HFA and/or any other kind of mental or personality disorder is part of your makeup, you might as well just begin by contacting an attorney with good SSA experience. The SSA will almost certainly turn you down the first time around, and then your AS/HFA and/or whatever will then make it necessary for you to have an attorney represent you in order to make the necessary appeal ... and that attorney will have been working on a contingency basis -- no favorable decision = no pay for the attorney -- from the very beginning (with the exception of costs for medical records if the attorney must dig in and find them for you).

Bottom line there? If you cannot convince an attorney you are eligible and offer him or her an opportunity to make some money helping you try to prove that, you will likely never convince the SSA at all.

I would offer the same advice as just above: Find and talk with an SSA-experienced attorney. It sounds to me like you might have been sent an opportunity to make an appeal and someone has either missed or mis-placed it.

I forgot to mention this, but I did speak to a lawyer, and he refused to take my case because I wasn't taking medication.

I'm 28 and I have been on SSI and SSDI for years now because of my Asperger's Syndrome. I can NOT find a job and I can NOT keep a job.

SSI or any kind of SS disability is very hard to get. You need extensive Dr's documentation of your inability to work. At your age (20), you would likely need to prove that you cannot work any job at all. SS uses a grid to determine level of disability (among many other factors); your age, education and vocational experience. The younger you are, the harder it is to get disability. It is very hard to get SS on Aspergers alone, but in general it is not the dx that matters but the degree it prevents you from working. Someone with 10 diagnoses may get denied SS due to lack of severity of the impairments combined; a person with one dx may get it due to severity.

I would say it is worth a try but don't count on it. You should probably pursue several avenues at once, including Vocational Rehabilitation. (You posted this in March so not sure where you're currently at in the process)

In the economy today, it is very difficult for anyone to get a job. For a person with a disability, it is even harder now. One of the major barriers is getting hired in the first place; passing the job interview or even getting an interview. But what SS cares about is whether you can work, not whether you can get hired or even if there are jobs available that you desire. The requirements are very strict and you need solid medical evidence. A lawyer may be able to help if you get denied or even prior to that level.