can i claim disability with aspergers?

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Yes you can. However, I suppose it depends on where you live and how your government allocates benefits. For example, you might have to fit a certain criteria despite having an official diagnosis (which is how DLA in the UK works). You might even have to appeal if they feel that you are not elligable for disability benefits despite how much your disability interferes with your day to day life. Some people are just idiots. My mother had to go to a tribunal in order to get DLA when she was suffering from kidney failure (which is very disabling and I think it is officially classified as a disability). I still get DLA, but I was diagnosed early and started off with a more serious sounding diagnosis (autism, oddly enough). They do a review of your needs so they are aware that it's now aspergers but they still take it seriously enough for me to get funding and support which is really helpful for me and my family.

Also, listen to Todesking because I agree- you can't live that comfortably if you're on benefits and have no employment. I understand if full time or even part time employment is difficult for you (I don't know the severity of your condition) but try capitalise on your skills as much as possible. In my case, I'm doing something that most people would consider stupid - I'm trying to get a job in the creative industry. It's such a competitive industry and even if you're successful, it's stressful as all hell. However, I'm doing it for the love of my art (and yes, love is such a stupid, nonsensical thing at times). Now, a more safe example would be trying to get a job in a particular trade that isn't so competitive. I would have suggested public sector jobs, but then I realised that there's a recession and I don't know about where you're from, but over here, public sector jobs are being cut. gulp.

In Alberta (Canada) we have AISH (assured income for the severly handicapped)

The only requirement is that you must prove that you are "significantly limited in your ability to work" - not that you can't work in fact you would be encouraged to work as much as able and at a certain point they reduce your benifits according to your income. This way if the Aspie only ever has sporadic employment or is cornically under-employed they have some security and aren't out in the streets. If you don't feel you are able to work or that it would detract from your ability to manage the rest of your life you can take your check ($1200/month) and live off the government for the rest of your life, and this is okay because we don't actually need everyone working anymore. With modern technology 1 man does the work of 100 so we employ the best workers who provide for the rest of society. We are all entitled to live resonable lives and don't need to be forced into jobs where we are not well suited or where we are abused for our inadeqacy.

My doctors have been encouraging me to apply for AISH but so for now my Fiance takes care of me.

My Job history:

US Army: Did not finish basic training. 2 Months
Landscaping: Fired for being too slow. 2 Years
Cleaner at a Bakery: Quit before being fired for being slow. 6 Months
Resteraunt Employee: Worked for 9 years I quit I could no longer take the torment. I stayed so long because I could get no one to hire me at another job.
Temp Service: I worked there for 6 months and quit because they were sending me to unsafe work places where my safety and health was constantly at risk.
Machine Shop: I worked there for 9 years until they ran out of the work I did for them and I could not adapt to the new work they wanted me to do I was nervous and slow while doing the new work so they laid me off.

If I had it to do it all over again I would have gotten on SSI disability right out of high school then tried to get a college education when I was ready. I got nothing out of working at low paying jobs except maybe making my social anxiety worst.

I have three trade certificates but have washed out in each of these fields, I seem to do great in school but am not an "ideal employee". for this reason I hesitate to go back to university though I have been encouraged to do so. The thinking is that they will be more accomodating if I had a higher level degree but I am concerned about drumming up a massive student loan while getting a PHD if I am not the kind of person people want to employ. I don't doubt that I could do it education wize but I am not sure they would accept the rest of me even if they wanted my knowledge or credentials. So I am becoming a mother instead - this is a job you don't get fired from

some of you ( not all) have such a limited view of how Aspergers is an impairment. I pay and have paid my taxes all of my life and I believe that if you are entitled to claim then claim it. The benefits are there to aid you because your impairment makes things so difficult. Disabled and impaired people for what ever reason , Aspergers or not are entitled to live as full a life as possible and if that includes extra support for transport and extra support to get to work then claim it. Do not misunderstand the system , you can still work if you claim DLA in the uk, so that means that you coud take p/t job that suited your needs and it may give you the money to catch a taxi if the travelling causes too many complications. However normal, Aspergers look, lets not forget the permanent state of stress, the confusion and the hard work they have to put in to fit in the NT world, that is a massive stress and if benefit takes away an amount of stress and gives them the ability to offer their skills in a voluntary or part time setting then Go For it.

We are all entitled to the opportunity to contribute to our society. To say , no entitlement is almost disgusting. Its discriminating to say dont claim, its not a down hill spiral at all. The attitude is all wrong. Extra bit of money a week could very well motivate you to contribute and give you the chance to contribute in a smaller but valuable way. Im cross, can you tell ??

Any impairment is a disabilty in its own way. And aspergers is an impairment. Communicating is the most important tool and if that is impaired, it has a bigger affect than you, yourself may even realise. Human Rights!! !! !!/inclusion/Equality and diversity, some of you are missing it ! !! !! !!

Cross cross cross

Why would you need disability benefits? Think its so fun to steal from social security? What kind of person would do that? I can't believe people these days! Shame on you!

I apologize for the LONG post, guys.. but I felt it relevant to whack all the mean people who are saying we need to -just do it-.

I am confused all the time. It is scary. So are crosswalks. I suspect I have Asperger's. I was diagnosed with ADHD/ADD.. whichever when i was about 6. They gave me phenobarbitol when i was born, for -tantrums,- they called it, to -calm me-. I was a premie, 5 3/4 months early, if i recall correctly. put on Ritalin when i was 6 or 7.. my parents gave me caffeinated drinks to calm me down. The confusing fog was always so bad when i was sa hcild, i thought i was evil, ( which is sad because I am now an Objectivist.. sort of) and would have strange fits, not siexures, but strange fits of confusion and misinterpretation, and anger. I felt obscenely horrified by this. My imppulse control is bad. I haven;t murdered anyone yet, but if I had toi take a job again... I feel like a s**t, but it's true. If I had t owork again feeling like i did during those six or so months of my one and on ly job so far... I think i would kill myself. nothing is worth that much stress and horrifying fear. It was just like the horror of going to school every day as a child..., only without the aspie bubble thing. It was never going to end... I hallucinated black bugs crawling over me, like the scarabs in The Mummy, every day and every night before getting driven to work and coming home when i went to sleep. I was stressing out... freaking.. all mythoughts were hyperfocused on my job... I couldn;t hardly brfeathe for fear someone would hear me, or talk to me, or see me...troub;e is, I can;t stand to be left alone past the point someone has saidthey will come back... fear of being left alone... still with me, probably always will be, dang it... i became somehwat paranoid... etc, etc. It's a f*****g miracle I didn;t hurt soemone, i was so sick wiht it. I even contraacte3d a flu i wouldn;t normally have done becaue i was so ill from the stress. my parents drove me to and from work. They would yell at me to stop crying because it hurt emotionally so bad, and i was so upset... they thought they wre helping by trying to scare me out of it. Onnly now do they realize i might have something ELse other than ADHD.. no matter what they may have said to convince themselves they already thhought that, i know fora fact my mother had said on numerous occasions when I Utried to tell her through the haze of confusion that is always with me, tht there msutbe soetmhing else wrong with me.. I told her I was bothered by the sound of her voice, (voices bother me, not with pian, but with just listening to them for too long (i prefer voiceless music, as music with voices depresses me after while), and that sense of OMG SHUT UP I CAN't CONCENTRATE all this nOISE) trying ot make her understand, and she rewarded my goiing out on that particular limb by crying and saying i hurt her. Great, mom. She's a bit better now... but.. not betteer enough. i don;t trust anyone to take care of me, leat of all myself, becaue i get too confused to do so safely. Which is ad, because without the ADhd and confusion, i would likely score very high on an IQ test. Haven;t be nable to get a job since that first job at Dillard's. i did the work fairly well ( i thnk she wanted to promote me, but am not sure), but no money or power is worth taht much stress.
I took my self off Ritalin because the stimulants were making me tweaky and I wanted to kill people. That was not right ,adn it was scary. i was licking my lips til they bled out of nervousness. damn stimulants./ And I took myself off caffeine cold turkey in high school because i realized i was addicted nd displaying dangerous addiction side effects. Every time i consume anything like caffeine, or the caffeine-like substance in chocolate, once it is no longer in my system ( I am supposing that is when it haoppens, as I am no chemist, and only remember tiny bits of info) I get slightly psychotic and paranoid. SO, no chocolate for Kathy.

I am confused en ough as it is without doing drugs or alcohol or smoking. how the hell do people expect people like me to geta job when i have troube understanding people's instructions or conversations, as thoughj i have osme kind of processing deficit? DING DING WE HAVE A WINNER! heheh- mostly I just stare at you becaue i don;t udnerstand what you;r saying, unless my whatever they are! are high that day and allowing me some coherency in my normal processing process.

It's like, for a few seconds in one or two days every few years, the fog lifts ,and I can THINK. It's so rare that i forget it happens at all. And ev ery time it happens, it seems so much longer than last time, it scares me that perhpas it will stop altogether, adn I will drown in the fog. it makes me wonder if our house is affected in soem way, as by fumes of some kind.. I've read where Carbon Monoxide can do things... and sounds below human hearing... all the symptoms of which, or most of them, we experience here at my house. I just need help, nd i need this psychologist to be the one. Or I may just whack myself and my family, and we can all die together and come back as butterflies or soemthing. You think I'm kidding? Look at my typoing for gods sakes? it's getting much worse that it EVer was before... I don;t want to take any drastic measures.... but if people won;t help you, you gotta shock em into doing it the right way SOMEhow. I'm a philosopher, damn it. I have DUTY to consider hard to think about concepts. I FORCe myself to thnk of painful things, in the hope i can over come them. i FORce myself to DO painful things, in the hope I can encourage some mmodicum of growth form those parts otf my brain that are lacking in the proper equipment. It only works partially. AFter a while... I am worried i will lose everything I have worked so hard for in my mind. hat if i get alzheimic, like some in my mother's family have? It's a worry, like many other worries. And, good grief@! Jiust look at my typing! I have a noticeable dyspraxia, because (and my father is very like me, in soem ways, he also has ADHD) we walk into edges of walls, our hands repeatedly hit cabinets instead of going under or over like an NT... etc. WE lose our balance a great deal... But HE has a job. HE has be nfortunate enough to have a job for 45or more years. So has my mother, only hers have all been mostly Temp jobs. But they don;t have my level of problems, and I don't have theirs. I thin they resent me, soemtimes. oh my. SURPRISE! But they love me enough to feed me and hug me and keep me in their house. I appreciate their hard work. I appreciate ANYONe's hard wkro. oh for gods sakes ,look at me I'm transposing letters again. I only started doing this REALLY badwhen I took myself off the paxil (slowly, I'm not THAT perpetually naive, but damn near)

Anyone who says that every aspie or person with extra problems is a loser who needs to just -try harder- is a hurtful person who needs to let go of whatever is making them feel that way. SSI is a joke, apparently... it doens;t afford you the money you need if yo ucan;t work... if you can't work, you can;t work. I can;t see a way out for myself unless this psychologist i am seeing now cna help us. Sometimes it's so bad I just want to die. And anyone who tells me that people like myself are selfish because we honestly can't work without going mad can go f**k themselves. Sorry for the language, it's my time of the month. Which only makes my impulse problems ten times worse, despite al lthe hard intensive mental wor kI've done with myself ot KEEP FO MGOING INSANE. I only self-diagnosed myslf an aspie with possible extra comorbid conditions late last year. God help me if I can't find a way to make things better. My parents won't live forever. And I can;t be without a keeper i cna trust. It won't be pretty. I'll bea bag lady, you watch, if I cnam;t find a way. I am not ret*d. But some of my stabilizing mechanisms are. jsut because we realize this, doesn;t make us cowards. AS forthose who think so, methinks the lady doth protest too much.

Yes, asperger's is a qualifying disorder for Social Security benefits. I applied last year and was approved on my first go round on the application process. I recieved mine in 6 months after application.

I have been diagnosed by a neuropsychologist with the disorder. I've never had a job for more than one year. I would like to work a full time job for a career, but just can't hold down one job. This economey made it even harder to aquire work. I had my very good reasons for going on disability. Though, there is no magic equation or secret to being approved for Social Security Benefits. I had medical proof and was very honest on my application forms. And yes I barely got through filling out the forms, but I made it.

Having medical proof, I think is essential.

Being on disability is helping me to deal with my disability.

Where did this come from? How is getting disability benefits for being disabled stealing from social security?

renemain, Verdandi...

exactly. Why do they have to be so intolerant? hrm.. maybe they're covering up for some insecurity. LEt's think of them with hugs.... after we block their vicious, vitriolic comments from our sight.

Wow, 9 pages of replies & I was so confused after the first 5 replies that I just HAD to post a reply. Forgive me if any of the following has been said before ('cause I sure as heck didn't READ all those 9 pages!).

SSI is SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME.

SSD is SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY.

They are 2 completly different programs in the U.S., although BOTH are administered throught the SSA (Social Security Administration).

I'm not personally familiar with SSI. However, I do receive SSD. I worked for YEARS in the following merry-go-round: I'd get a job. Do the job & get fired from the job (and NOT EVEN ONE TIME WAS MY FIRING FOR CAUSE!) it was ALWAYS a matter of "interpersonall relationships" and my terminations ALWAYS occured w/in the first 90 days of employment (with 2 noteable exceptions, the military & a union shop) I lasted the 4 years of my enlistment (although the "re-enlistment code" was that I was un-re-elistable because of INTERPERSONALL RELATIONSHIP ISSUES...go figure) and I lasted 18 months in the union shop....'cause that's the quickest you can get expunged from a union (& I do mean "expunged"). Part of me looks back on all those co-workers who said "fire her or I leave" or some such comment and I get angry that people are so mean spirited (it almost feels like heartburn)

So, I earned the "work credits" that made me eligible to file for SSD. I did & it was rejected. I hired a lawyer & was eventually approved.

Now, each month I receive my disability (directly deposited into my bank account) PLUS a stipend (which equals half of that) split between all my children....now I know that "heartburn" I'm feeling for all those working sods is really JUST THE WARM FUZZIES

Some people do like to be jerks about such things. Not sure why, maybe some people don't quite understand what its like to need such assistance.

Sweetleaf, I agree 100% with you.

And as for anyone "STEALING" from Social Security....that don't happen!! The vetting process (which is all it is) is too rigorous & stringent....besides the fact is that once on it, periodic "updates" are required from your treating physician....

Well... it happens, but it's very occasional.

It's like reading a newspaper article about somebody stealing from Wal-Mart and concluding, "If you shop at Wal-Mart, you must be a shoplifter."

Yes, some of the people who shop at Wal-Mart do shoplift. But they are very few compared to the people who go to the register and pay properly.

The assumption that "if you're on welfare you're probably cheating the system" is about as sensible as going up to somebody coming out of Wal-Mart and accusing them of being a thief.

I think that maybe people must think of those on welfare as lazy bums because it's comforting to them. They think, "I'm not a lazy bum; therefore I'll never need welfare." It gives them a sense of control. But needing welfare is something that can happen to anybody.

To be fair, Dancinonwater also started a thread on another forum that read something like "Too many parents use ADHD to excuse their children's misbehavior." I just rolled my eyes and moved on. Probably best to do so here as well.

I'm not commenting on the OP's need, but it is not unreasonable to be 18/19, diagnosed as aspergers, be on the internet, and NEED social security.

Yes, I am capable of preforming basic routine job functions. I am NOT capable, however, of talking to people other than pre-planned monologue scripts, answering a question verbally within three days, being around people ages 14-30, being around anyone female over age 12 with a very few exceptions, being around more than one person without my fiance or caretaker, showering, loading a refrigerator, making a simple choice, eating without being forced, bright colors, background noise, moisture, drinking anything non-carbonated, loud noises, unpredictability or unplanned events of ANY sort, and being corrected.

I TOOK job training. They refused to give me a certificate, despite meeting all academic and trade qualifications, because they said I was "unemployable" due to my meltdowns and other issues, and if I did manage to get hired, it would reflect so badly upon the school that other students would be unemployable.

I'm 19. What am I supposed to do? Become homeless for the seventh time in the year and half since I left home to get away from my abusive parents? They won't institutionalize me, they say I'm "too smart".