Are you self-supporting, on disability, or what?

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Yes, but I have such a spending problem - because nobody is ever there to ask me if my decisions are the best for my circumstances, even after I've tried assessing all of the outcomes. It's really difficult to manage my finances, because I constantly make mistakes, or end up in commitments for a short time without understanding the full repercussions. "business people" a.k.a. untransparent people, love to take advantage of people who can't process information at NT speeds.

Also I have neighbors who are TFTW (Too fat to work) It's too bad the AS is considered a disability, and it isn't embraced. People with AS should be put in management positions so that others with AS can work underneath them or beside them and create a system that is logical. That way most people with AS wouldn't have to live on disability - and the world would definitely be more sane.

There are financial advisors to help with the spending habits. I'm the polar opposite; I dislike having to part with money because I'm always concerned a house fire or something catastrophic will occur (like Hurricane Katrina) and I will have no means of rebuilding afterwards.

I've noticed that a lot of people don't seem to take mental problems as real disabilities or as deserving of things like ssi and act like they are just misbehaving or doing it on purpose or are just a big drama queen.

Mental problems can be just as disabling as a physical disability.

On disability for AS, depression and social anxiety disorder. Also working part time shelving books in the university library.

Im on DLA and incapacity benefit which will be changed very soon to either ESA or JSA and im in the UK DLA is disability living allowance ESA is employment support allowance. Other kinds of support (not financial) there is none and my family is a dead loss

I ticked 'self supporting' but in fact am on Disability Living Allowance as well as my modest salary. I have a physical disability that means I need a powered wheelchair in order to work, but I don't qualify for one provided by the NHS (i.e., free of charge) because I can walk very short distances - even though it's <50 yards and sometimes <10. The wheelchairs cost £5000+ and need to be replaced about every seven years, and this is what the money is paid for. It also contributes towards the cost of buying a more recent model/more reliable car - seven years old instead of the 15-year-old ones I used to be happy to drive!

I don't know anything about US state support, but in the UK Disability Living Allowance is for 'the extra costs of being disabled'. It's an allowance not a benefit and isn't means tested, so you can claim it even if you're working. The disability has to be one that incurs significant additional costs, and my AS wouldn't be grounds for being paid this money - it needs to be something like a major physical disability, blindness, etc. I only claim it because I need a tailor-made powered wheelchair.

Next year the UK government is replacing this allowance with a 'more efficient' scheme - which means they want to save money and will eliminate as many people as possible by tightening the qualification guidelines and making the application process as difficult as possible for people with learning difficulties, mental health issues and literacy challenges. Genius idea. Many people like me, who need equipment to enable them to work, won't get the money for it, so they'll end up on full state benefits. I certainly couldn't buy a wheelchair like the ones I need on my salary, so if they throw me off the allowance I will only be able to work as long as my current wheelie lasts.

100% self-supported.

For my disability pension (Oz):

Had to fill out forms and have two doctors sign off on it (GP and psychiatrist)
Meet a government employed psychologist at the disability place

then

Receive hardly any money at all fortnightly.

(ASD was the primary disorder listed.)

Other - I get Social Security for my ADHD, anxiety and depression comorbids, also self-employed from a special interest, AND I have to have my mom & brother throw me the random crumb when the calls don't come in.

I guess for the time being family, but I would add friends too. I am planning to try to become self sufficient or get on SSI, or if I can't do either of those become a bum it is. I will have to go to the thrift store and get a big bum back pack in fact maybe I should get one ASAP just in case also I have to arrange for trusted friends or family to keep my valuables like my laptop and vinyls since they'd only get stolen if I carried them with me.

I didn't start working regularly until I was in my 30's. At 39 I went back to school and got a degree in computer technology, and for the past 10 years, I've supported myself and my husband, who is disabled, and our cats.

_________________
If it don't come easy . . . .
. . . .hack it until it works right

Aspie score: 142/200 NT score: 64/200
AQ Score: 42
BAP: 109 aloof, 94 rigid and 85 pragmatic