Why are so many Aspies on here getting disablility income?

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I've never been on disability but my aunt, who has bi-polar (or possibly schizo-affective disorder) has been on it for years.

She's in her 40s now and relies on my grandmother to take care of her since she's incapable of living on her on. And let me tell you, it's a struggle for her to keep the little bit of benefits she's getting. You wouldn't believe the hoops they make people jump through to prove they're eligible.

My grandmother has to give these folks letters from two relatives and herself, each with a detailed, down to the minute account of what my aunt does all day. My aunt also has to go through several interviews with a social security worker plus get doctors' reports, diagnosis, medical history, symptoms, every single thing about herself. I'm talking about someone who can't even go out on her own anymore and is on dialysis because her kidneys failed (the 10 years on Lithium did it)....and my grandmother still has to file paperwork every year so my aunt can keep her little bit of SSI and Medicaid.

Do not believe that lie about people on benefits playing the system for one second. The government makes the applying process so hard even on the remote chance you get anything, you'll still have to keep proving you need it, even for conditions that are incurable or terminal. And lord help someone who doesn't have a lawyer, advocate or relative guiding them through the process.

Last edited by nirrti_rachelle on 08 Sep 2008, 11:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Uhh.. i do recall a handicapped person working at the Walmart I was at, but he was merely handicapped, he didn't have sensory issues nor social anxiety issues nor anxiety of any kind, he was a nice easy to get along with guy.. it was his choice to find work and make something out of himself instead of sit at home for the rest of his life, but many people with aspergers have a very difficult time being near people day to day and cannot seem to make thigns work for themselves..
Not to mention cities require at least 1 handicapped worker for every so many employees in one business.. so he was probably ASKED to work there.. i gaurantee you he didn't do the '3 interviews'.. everyone knows he's handicapped, for him it is a matter of charity, but for people where it's hard to see if there is anything disfunctional about them, they dont get the free job handout out of necessity..

Yes. It is very difficult to get benefits, even if you need them. When I applied, I was in danger of losing my apartment. It took six months to get approved, and everyone was amazed it had been so quick. They interviewed my friends, tested me, asked me some very personal questions. I had to tell them about everything from using the toilet to taking care of my cats. They even got access to my bank accounts.

Before I went on disability, I tried to work. I have had ten different jobs, and held them anywhere from two weeks to three months. In some cases, I was fired when my boss said I couldn't do the work. In other cases, the job was so overwhelming that I had no energy to do anything else, including eating or showering, the rest of the day, and I had to quit. One job was direct discrimination because I have Asperger's. One job, I could have kept, but only because it was 15 hours a week; that one, I lost because I couldn't drive and my carpool was too unreliable.

Unskilled jobs are hell for someone with strong Asperger's. No matter how hard you try to feed yourself, you lose your job in short order; and then you have to try to find another before you get kicked out of your apartment. It doesn't matter that you have a genius IQ and that you can easily pass college classes. Those are completely different skills from the things you have to know to work at an unskilled job: Standing on sore feet for eight hours; doing mind-numbingly repetitive work; tolerating strong smells and bright lights; smiling at customers without seeming creepy; keeping your manager from disliking you; dealing with co-workers who are fascinated with dirty jokes and their "who has the worst hangover" contests; getting to work on time and leaving work on time; dealing with sweat and heat and cold.

Work isn't necessarily supposed to be easy. I experienced what I guess must be the "normal" level of annoyance at the one job I knew I could have kept--washing windows 15 hours a week at a church. I spent enough time on my knees that my feet didn't hurt too much; I listened to books on tape to entertain me; and window cleaner doesn't bother me. I never really wanted to go to work; I never really enjoyed it; I was glad when my shift was over. That was the best it's ever been for me. When it's bad, it's literally torture. I know what severe pain feels like and I know you will do almost anything to make it stop. It's the same feeling. You lose the ability to think, so you can't distract yourself... you feel like you'll never get through this shift and you're just an hour in, and then you realize you're crying and you feel horribly embarrassed... then you start making mistakes, and your boss calls you on it, and you try to ask for a chair to sit down in so your feet won't hurt, and your boss doesn't let you; and sooner or later you can't say much of anything at all; and when you get home you're lucky to get to your bed before you collapse; and your feet don't stop hurting before you have another shift...

Most unskilled jobs affect me that way. Were I to get a job at a library or in an office, I might have a chance--but to do that, I have to get through the interview, impress the boss more than all the other applicants for these high-demand jobs, and get in ahead of the other people, one or more of whom has experience at that same job and will be considered first. I've never been successful at this.

By the way: 15 hours a week of window-washing is not enough to survive on; so even if I were to get another job of that type, I would still have to be on disability.

Life on disability assistance is not some kind of mythical easy street. I am not allowed to have more than a certain (small) amount of money in my bank account. If I have more, they cut my benefits. Said small amount of money does not allow me to have a car or live in a safe area. There were police cars outside my house today and it was so normal I just pulled my shades down so I wouldn't be bothered by the lights. I have food stamps, so I have enough to eat if I don't spend more than $5 a day on food. I have no television and no radio; I sleep on a futon and count myself lucky because I spent a lot of time sleeping on the floor. I keep things very clean, so I don't have cockroaches; but I used to have them, and fleas all over the carpet, because the previous tenants didn't care enough about their cats to get them flea treatments.

However: I am going to college. I have strengths that could turn into a job--one in an environment that doesn't involve insane amounts of sensory input, boredom, and harassment. College loans don't count as assets for calculating disability payments. I still don't have a ride to class, which starts the day after tomorrow.

If I don't make it through college, of course, I will be trying to pay loan payments that are something like six times my current monthly income. Naturally this is not possible; still, the reduced, income-based payments would take more than double the amount of lifetime I can expect to have...

Going on disability is not something you do if you are lazy; it is something you do when you have tried everything and would prefer not to live on the street--or, in my case, are hoping not to have to kill yourself before you have to live on the street, since you know you could not survive there.

Does that answer your question?

I'm also bipolar and my anxiety is bad around people/crowds that I can't think to do a job and I can't handle stress. That's why I can't work. I find your post offensive. I actually can work but the jobs I can do require college training, I just can't do a customer service jobs.

actually having done both school and work

school is actually much harder socially with peers and meeting expectations of a teacher is almost equally or more so demanding then a real job.

teachers ask you to do group projects together is much more demanding then a job where you do a simple task like store books or boxes or what have you with little to no socialization at all which your complaining about

in fact all uve done is complain

you people are lazier then anything ive ever seen before and no you are not disabled like most of the people who i think should get it

YOU CAN LIVE ON ur own in ur own apartment pay bills and feed yourself but you can't WORK? ARE YOU CRAZY? YOU ARE NOT DISABLED

GET OUTA MY FACE PLZ

I Hope the government personally visits some of ur apartments an finds out how really able you are when you have to live on the street instead of gettin these free pay checks handed your way of course you can't handle working when its not life or death but u can go to school an spend spend spend on yourself an who cares if u cant have a car or tons of money in ur bank ur GETTIN money for doing absolutely nothing at all an it just keeps funneling in an out so what does it matter

Here it's the standard thing for people with Autism and even with AS. They go on welfare and get put on unpaid jobs. The standards are just waaaay too high for most to handle. Especially the speed standard here is way higher than in other European countrys. Most AS people have problems with theyr working speeds.

So: Getting a paid job is made extremely difficult due to speed standards.
Getting welfare is made extremely easy due to the diagnosis and expectations they have of people with Autism/AS.
Most people i've come across with autism just take the easy road, because they have access to cheap housing, caretakers and welfare.
As opposed to having to take care of themselves and taking responsibilitys for theyr action.
Most i've seen with autism aren't responsible enough to hold a job, and would end up on the streets if not helped.
Most would buy a playstation instead of saving money for the rent and food.

I can only speak for myself:

I was determined to be unfit for work, due to:

Being unable to interact with people, whether mechanical or social
Inability to work to someone else's routine
Inability to take orders from everyone but my mother (yes, I'm very oppositional, and it turns to violence really quickly)

That's pretty much it.

I'd rather be healthy and working (even a basic job); the money from the government just pays for food and the bills, nothing more.

I'm working on the job part.

O, and if anyone wants to see what it's like to have the Autism/Asperger's that I have, you can come and see me for a day or so. I won't interact with you, and don't tell me to do something (I'll bite), but you'll be safe otherwise.

hey daniel hve you looked at you tube an seen ppl with LFA working for people and the owners sayin he couldnt do it without him? maybe your putting urself down more then u think u can do like i said i watched a vid on youtube guy had LFA was working an doing his duties just fine on his own an asked an talked to nobody u can do it too an uknwo it

Hi SPOKANE GIRL!! ! I saw benny and joon when it first came out in theaters and the guy behind me said 'cool song' in the theater..

AS to the post question: You tell me! We were turned down for disability.. i have seen 'mentally disabled' people who are better able to hold a grocery clerk bagger job than i.. the distractions and noise are terrible for the hypersensitive and i ended up usually quitting or being fired.. secondly, I was TURNED DOWN for disability and labeled 'some anxiety'. uh huh, they asperger spectrum issue was never even a part of the diagnosis ..i took my OWN barron-cohen test and scored 26 out of 32, 32 being asperger adult.. i diagnosed myself correctly in 1997 and got zero suppport from anyone in getting or maintaining a job and still managed to work over 40 jobs since age 16.

Are you for real?.. I've never met a more ignorant, self absorbed peice of monkey turd in my life.. I wouldnt know about actually going on disability because i know i would get turned down and im not interested in it.. but it's not just a matter of being able to do a job.. the culture and society we live in today is demanding.. showing up to work on time and going day in and day out is not as easy as i sounds for someone who can barely pull their own weight.. living on your own is not the same as working, and suicide looks mighty friendly when you can't do it, and work has been the soul cause of suicidal transgressions in my life.. im a great worker mind you, i just cant handle the prospect of the workplace . . but im still doin it arent i

Hi. Where is all this hostility coming from?

what work do you do???

why should anyone have to answere to an immature spec like you..?

Uhh... the government DID visit my apartment. My case worker, specifically. I told them the truth about how I can take care of myself: Competently, given a little extra time and a routine. They saw for themselves that I keep a clean apartment and take care of two cats. They still helped me. If they hadn't, I would be dead, or worse.

I couldn't keep a job even when it was a matter of life and death. I remember one week I counted up all the calories in the food I had left and decided I had enough for 800 a day. The next week I discovered the food pantry, thankfully.

"School is harder than a job"? For you, it may be. Not for everyone. Especially not for someone like me, who is practically built for learning and has little social anxiety. Autism often does that--gives you extreme weaknesses, and extreme strengths.

I think maybe you are simply afraid that you yourself have weaknesses. I think you do not want to admit that there are things you cannot do. I think you believe that it is bad and wrong not to be able to do something if you work hard enough. So you say "lazy".

There is nothing wrong with being disabled. Nothing at all.

I may do more for the world by being on disability, if you want to measure my value by what I can do (and I believe you are trying to do exactly that). By doing this, I may get a college degree, and become an engineer, and design things that let other disabled (not "lazy") people do more. That would mean a lot more than if I lived below poverty level on 15 hours of window-cleaning.

Oh, and do me a favor: Take a differential equations class. Then call me "lazy" for choosing that instead of washing windows. I dare you.

Last edited by Callista on 09 Sep 2008, 3:31 am, edited 3 times in total.

Okay if you really are serious and you are not trolling, I will tell you why I am on it.


I was 18 and my mother decided to sign me up for it. I did not want to be on it because I didn't think I needed it. She told me it was to help me start with my adult life, help be independent so I wouldn't be a burden. Also back then I had really bad anxiety and I got it when my routine changed or unexpected things happen. I would go into panic and start to meltdown. That effects your work performance and gets you fired for it. My mother had to have all my relatives who knew me well enough to write a letter to social security telling them about my anxiety and how it effects me.
I got approved in five or six months after she signed me up for it.

It was a good thing she signed me up because I had troubles finding a job. No one would hire me. The reason it was hard for me to get a job was because lot of places preferred people with experience and they didn't want any newbies. That problem happens to NTs too, not just to people with disabilities.
When I finally got hired, I had to work on my flexibility and to control my anxiety. It was a good thing my boss was understanding and was willing to work with me. Other places would have probably fired me because of my problems. Just what are the odds of others having a boss that is understanding and is willing to work with them? As someone with AS, you have to be lucky to have a patient boss. While other aspies aren't that lucky and end up being sacked for it. That's why we all need to work on our negative traits so we can function better in society and make our lives easier.

I am still on it but I am not getting any money from them because I am making too much. I am hoping one day soon, they will decide to drop me and I am no longer with them anymore because I had been working for so long. I refuse to abuse the SS system. i am capable of working and holding down a job so that is why I work and don't depend on them. Besides I make more money with working. If I was unemployed collecting SSI, I would be getting $623 a month instead of $1100-$1200 a month after taxes from work. Which would I choose, work.

So the reason why I am on SSI is because back then I was disabled because of AS and the anxiety made it worse. But I had to work hard at it to overcome being disabled by working of being flexible and how to multi task. I did not want to be on SSI for the rest of my life and be disabled. I did not want AS to stop me from being able to hold down a job. I had to work hard to overcome the symptoms that would get me fired from my job.

My advice is to stay on their list until you get a job with good health-care benefits; you won't be getting any money, but being eligible for medical help can REALLY help you if you ever have a serious illness.