can i claim disability with aspergers?

Post Reply New Topic

lol i wasnt expecting this thread to become so big

It's $450 or so a fortnight here in Oz. Which is below the poverty line.

I can't see why anyone would actually want to be on such, unless their alternatives were homelessness or living in an institute. Not to mention that you're also disabled....

There's ONE main thing with me getting disability $2000 a month medical supplies!! ! Plus I don't think I could work 6-8 hours.

Wait, what? $800 PER MONTH rent, $600 PER MONTH disability check... you can't even rent an "average 1-bedroom apartment". You're assuming an awful lot to say I automatically get free federal housing.

Section 8 has a closed waiting list around here. You can't get on it. The people they put first when the list opens up again are people with small children; and those people always get the first units; and then the list closes again, and more people with small children pile up. Disabled people are mid-way down the list; realistically there won't be enough housing opening up. I've been on the list for two and a half years; last spring they called me and said they were booting me off and the program wouldn't be open again for a long while. The only thing you can get for free around here is a bed in a homeless shelter, and that's only if you're very lucky, because pregnant women and children get in first. Men have the hardest time getting a bed, and non-elderly women the second hardest. You might get in more easily in the summer, when most homeless people would rather sleep outdoors.

Anyway, if you get section 8 housing, your disability check goes way down. It doesn't stay at $600. $100 is probably a good estimate there, and that's enough for utilities and basic extras like soap and Goodwill clothes.

I pay my own rent out of my disability check. It is not an 'average 1-bedroom apartment' but a studio apartment that is in bad repair, badly insulated, and in a building about 70 years old. That is how I can afford it. It used to have cockroaches, but the dirty neighbors moved away, so now it doesn't. It still has a bit of floor that you can't step on because it will give way if you do, and linoleum with tears in it, and such other small problems. The landlord finally fixed the hole in my ceiling, though.

Hey! Some of my best friends are bimbo society heiresses.

J/K

Callista,

Yeah, but I was just letting those that think living on a disability pension is a free out of the "rat race"; it's not.

Some people think people are lucky to live on disability and not have a job but they are not lucky. They don't realize what it's like being on it and they probably don't know you don't get much from the gov. and you can't afford to do much and you might not be able to afford a very nice place to rent.

I'm on CentreLink benefits, which is basically getting paid for looking for work. Then I went on disability for depression/anxiety and I only got $5 extra but I didn't have to look for work. At first I liked the freedom but I got bored and eventually even more depressed for thinking that I was unfit for work.

I get bored when I have too much time on my hands. I need something to keep me occupied and that is work. As a child, it was school.

I don't think you folks in other countries are helping this young man. It doesn't matter that you got on disability for Aspergers in Canada or the UK, this fellow lives in the US. Getting on disability in the US is a lot harder as we have a worse social support system than UK or Canada. In the US, Aspergers alone will not get you on disability, only Kanners autism or Rhetts Syndrome will. People with Aspergers in the US that get disability got on SSDI or SSI because either they also have physical/medical disability OR they have a comorbid mental condition such as severe bi-polar disorder, severe depression or PTSD.

If you have been turned down twice by SSI then it means you have a doctor who is not supporting your case and is telling them that you are capable of work. Part of the questions they ask doctors is "can this person sit up for X number of hours, can this person walk, lift, carry, type at a desk, etc. If the dr answers yes to that you are screwed. If you have been turned down twice the next step is to get a lawyer to represent your disability case. They will go to the hearing for you normally and you have to do nothing other than when they win they get 25% of your backpay earnings or up to $5,300 whichever is less.

However there are some options out there for you. If getting the job is the main obstacle, that is the interviewing part, then you need to sign up at a temporary work agency. They find you the work and all you have to do is show up at the job on time, behave yourself and do your job. Sometimes those temp jobs lead to permanent employment if the employer likes your work. Ask for "temp to hire" positions from the temp agency. You do have to interview at the temp agency but its such an easy, no pressure kind of interview compared to real job interviews where they grill you like they thought you were a criminal.

Also you should go to your local Dept. of Economics Vocational Rehabilitation office. Take your parent with you if you have trouble talking. They will assist people in finding employment who have diagnosed disabilities and they do not exclude Aspergers, unlike many other agencies in the US. They have been known to get Occupational Therapists for Aspies who can help you learn how to talk to people so that you can get through that job interview and land the job scrubbing toilets, hauling scrap metal or anything else. This could be your ticket to getting into the world where you can get a job and have some independence and control just how much money you can make in a month. On a side note Voc Rehab can also help you secure employment even if you get on disability as you can make somewhere between $700-950 a month extra and not have to report it. That is what those people are there for. Go to them and ask for help.