Social Security Disability for Autistic Children in US

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My wife and I are licensed teachers in Oklahoma. We have 4 children, the second born, who is a little over 5 and a half years old was recently diagnosed with Autism while staying with relatives in Virginia. I spent over an hour blacking out the names in the report then uploading it to google docs to share here, but when I tried received a message since I was new I couldn't post hyperlinks. Since I dont know how else to post the report, I will post this without the report and wait until I have sufficient number of posts to include hyperlinks. Unless someone has a better idea how to share it.

I will send the report with blacked out names to anyone that requests it. In the mean time -

I homeschool my eldest who is 7 years old. The people that diagnosed the 5 year old said he would or may be eligible for social security disability. It would be nice to recover some of the extra costs associated with raising an autistic child, but his mother and I are concerned about government intrusion. For those that receive social security payments for autistic children, how much interaction is there with the federal government and of what does it consist?

1. From the looks of this report does it look like my son is eligible for SS Disability? If so how much?

2. What is the tradeoff? In other words what does the federal government expect in return? How much involvement and what kind will it entail from the federal government? biannual checkups? quarterly? Will they make him attend therapy and what kind? Occupational, speech, etc? and how often? Do they reimburse for mileage if we have to drive a certain distance?(we live in a remote area).

3. We homeschool but are looking at enrolling in online charter schools which technically are public schools. We would fall under public school law instead of homeschool law if we did those. Any special considerations there?

We have looked at star autism support as well as others. Report Recommendation 3 states his treatment is usually more than can be provided at a home environment but recommendation 4 goes on to list home-based alternatives.

There are no private schools within a hundred miles of where we live and the public schools are swarming with drugs. Even the elementary schools. There is no way any of my children will ever attend them if I can help it.

4. Any other considerations we are missing?

Of course it would be nice to be able to recover some of the extra expenses incurred from his disability, but we are just concerned what else it would cost us in terms of parental rights if any.

thanks in advance for any guidance

if he is diagnosed as aspergers, or autism, it's a qualifying condition.

Checkups every 2 years to redetermine eligibility. Not much else, but showing you are seeking treatment definitely looks good on that checkup.


Private school seems like it may be a good idea. I fell into drugs, AFTER i was out of highschool due to the people i knew. but Private/public doesnt mean that drugs are impossible. They're everywhere.

Dont have much more input

Thanks for the response. Of all my questions, the one you answered is our main one. What exactly is the government involvement once disability is approved-

Personal finances (his) I personally can't have over $2000 in liqid assets without a "pass plan".. they take some for every so much he makes, yada yada.... i dont think it's anything too fantastic. they have him diagnosed from someone they work with, or at least confirm a diagnosis, then you get SSI and... the only thing i have to worry about is paystubs.... if call your local office, They can be more specific.

Thanks again for your response.

We were turned down. Because of too much assets. My wife teaches, I am disabled veteran. We have four children, all of tender age. I own a very small farm, which barely turns a profit, some years does not turn a profit at all.

The SSI ofice also used my disability payments as income, which Ive been told they arent supposed to. But since I can find the regs, I cant confirm whether or not it is supposed to be counted.

I have an $18000 farm truck, that I suppose is hurting us for assets. But cars arent assets. Or at least they arent usually considered assets outside of the SSI world. I really need to find the regulations and definitions these people are using. Assets are investments that appreciate, or at least maintain their value. Unless its a collectors item, cars depreciate every day of their existence.

If they are including cars as liquid assets, and we cant have more than $2000 worth, then that means we can own one vehicle a piece each valued at no more than a grand. But like I said Ive never heard of vehicles being considered assets before.

Also its hard to believe the SSI expects me to sell something I use for work so my son can qualify for SSI. (Not doubting you at all here, because what you wrote makes sense compared to what the SSI told us). Just doesnt make sense.

I retired from the national guard since the first time we applied, and we have another interview this afternoon to adjust our income. national guardsmen dont get paid retirement until they are sixty, which is over a decade away for me, so not only do I lose 6 or 7 grand a year from national guard income but dont get retirement income now.

I guess two of my main questions for him today will be are vehicles considered assets? Are farm vehicles considered assets? Is my disability considered income?

and ask for references for questions to the above answers.

Have any more input or ideas before my interview?

Sweetleaf I see you're a veteran (or does that mean veteran of the forum?) Are you a disabled veteran? Do you know if the SSI uses military disability as income when computing for eligibility?