Anyone with AS on SSI?

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The title is the gist of what I'm asking, but there are more details to cover on why I need more information on this, and whether this is even a good idea, or if I have other/better options to look into.

As can be gathered, I have Asperger's. As can also be gathered from that, I have almost no people skills. Though what may or may not be terribly obvious about all this is that I get an unholy amount of stress from social situations, especially with strangers, especially over phone, especially especially face-to-face. (I had been known to succumb to panic attacks during my school years, and missed alot of school just out of fear.)

It also probably doesn't take a degree in rocket science to know that most jobs require interaction with strangers. Lots of them.

So, my choices for getting an income going, is to somehow find that magical job where I'm secluded in a back room doing sorting tasks and only see 1-5 familiar faces per day. Sounds bleak, on paper, but while I would likely enjoy that sort of work, I wouldn't know where to find it.

Another choice was brought to my attention by my roommate, who is actually schizophrenic and completely unable to work in public. That would be to get funding from SSI, as I could possibly be considered either unfit for most work, or having less of a chance of getting and holding a job than the average person. (I'm thinking the latter is more likely, as most people won't hire you if you can't even make eye contact during a job interview. And I can't. Or, if I magically got a job, it would be a social job, and I would eventually have a panic attack and be unable to show up again.)

What I would like to do, would be to recieve funds from SSI, and then work with that and start a business sewing things and selling them online. All personal interaction is in text, and I would be doing something I love! Why can't I do that now? No funding to get it started.

I live with my boyfriend and our aforementioned roommate, and my boyfriend is kind enough to cover my share of the rent while I figure out my financial issue. (It also helps to mention that we do not own a car and only live within walking distance of a Walmart. Ick.)

It would be nice if I could get funds from SSI to cover my portion of the rent, help with our groceries, and get my business started, so eventually my business could be my income source alone in the future.

Good idea? Bad idea? More information? How likely am I to get such funding? Anyone else have experience in this?

You're lucky that women usually aren't expected to be the breadwinner. Your boyfriend or a future husband will likely take care of you financially. If you want to do something with your life just to keep busy and be productive, that's a different story.

I'm male and will be on SSI my whole life and unfit to do any work whatsoever unless it was strictly online/from home or perhaps under the table playing in bands. Anything else, I'm like yourself maybe even worse that I probably wouldn't even pass the interview to begin with and if I got the job, would have a panic attack over not being able to handle the job/take directions and understand them (I'm not that smart in the common sense department) or coworkers making fun of me for my physical appearance/mannerisms.

Tell me if you have any luck with the online thing. That's actually my dream job (unless I were lucky enough to get in a really good band and make money being in it.)

Thank you for your response! My boyfriend is actually okay with taking care of me for the long run, but I catch a lot of flack about it from my mother and my boyfriend's boss. My mom, because she's crazy and has a raging hate for lazy people, and my boyfriend's boss, because well. She's also a business-owner.

But, well, my boyfriend doesn't make a large amount of money, so sometimes we cut it pretty close on the bills and the food. Also, like most females I know, I like to buy stuff that I probably don't even need. It would be nice to be able to buy my own useless pretty crap without bothering my boyfriend about it.

Also, though I do not have job/workplace experience, I do have some business experience having run a store within Second Life for over 2 years, and it has funded itself entirely for the better percentage of that time. So, yeah, pretty confident in my ability to get a real life business rolling!

I would say its a good idea just for the simple fact that you have plan to get what you want. That is the most important thing.

I have no experience with SSI, but if you can fund some kind of funding source that would be great. I know from starting my own business twice now, the hardest part is getting started. Business will be slow while you start up so have some kind of funding source to help pay the groceries, bills and other things. Nothing worse than hoping that some sales come in so you can pay the bills. Once you have the sales going then you can start relying on it instead of the alternate funding source.

I hope for the best for you with SSI and starting your business

Thank you for your encouragement, mikeseagle!

Hopefully this will all work out for the better. The person who did most of my roommate's paperwork for this has their phone out of whack now, so I will have to wait for more info till they get all of it settled out.

I tried to google it earlier, before starting the thread, though it sort of led me down the wrong path, leading me to SSDI instead of SSI. Different things, as I have come to understand!

Try this direct link

Supplemental Security Income

Gives you links to determine you're eligibility, how to apply for SSI and other helpful information straight from the agency that handles it.

Awesome! Thanks for the link!

It would appear my google-fu is not that powerful ^^;

So is SSI only for those with no work history? I'm eligible for SSDI because I worked full-time in two years and part-time in three others (I'm only 27 going on 28).

My understanding is that SSI is capped at 500/month and you can't have more than 2 grand in the bank.

SSI is for people who are below certain income levels

SSDI does not have that restriction

SSI does not care if you have a work history or not.

SSDI you must have work in five of the last ten years when you apply

The two grand limit is more than what is in the bank. That includes any cash you have, land, personal property. Pretty much anything that can be sold for cash is counted in the limit.

If your a couple then the limit is raised to three thousand.

The payments for SSI are capped at $674 per month for an individual and $1011 for a couple

Once you qualify for SSI you also qualify for food stamps, medicad and HUD

Well there are different rules if you're younger (I'm 27, almost 2 . Of course, I have worked in five of the last ten years (but three of those years were part-time). It doesn't matter anyway....they've already confirmed I'll get around $850/month if I get approved.
Just haven't been approved yet.



So would these even include stuff like a car? What about a computer? Valuable comic books or action figures you might have? I know that second thing sounds like a joke, but I mean how far do they go? Food can be sold for cash! Do they make you give that up too?

I certainly hope not, otherwise I'd have a lot less incentive for getting SSI :P

They are looking for things that you can sell for cash to buy food. So having food that you can sell for cash to buy more food seems a little circular in reasoning.

What SSI is for to provide you enough money to survive (what the government considers as surviving is another story). So in theory, yes your car, valuable comic books or action figures, computer that you could sell to have cash could be counted against you. Because to the government if you need money to pay for food and have a place to stay then maybe you should sell that stuff first before asking for benefits. That is theory, what happens in the real world?

If your car is a old car that leaks oil and has a hard time starting then I wouldn't worry about it. But if you are driving around in a new car then that would be counted against you. Also its not like the government has the time to go to your house and take a inventory of everything you have, assess the value of the inventory and then decide. They will only look for things that can be looked up. Like your bank account, registration of your car, any land in your name etc.. and then use that to determine eligibility.

If you do have say valuable comic and action figures that could be sold for a lot of money then I would let them know up front. That way it doesn't seem like your hiding it. They may not even care that you have them and wouldn't be counted against you. If in doubt about a item, ask them when you turn in your application.

Doesn't matter in my case as I can get SSDI....I was just curious.

With SSDI, my understanding is you can win the lottery and still get it. You just can't make more than a $1000/month from a job.

That is very true. With SSDI the assumption is that your disability is keeping you from returning to the workplace. So if you can get a good paying job then you don't need SSDI. Any other income or assest doesn't matter.

Well I suppose it helps that I don't even have a car. Not that I enjoy having to walk everywhere (effectively keeping me in the house most times) but still.

Why not look into food stamps too?