U.S.A. Disability Pension

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I have not been diagnosed yet but if I am (I will know in like a week) can I get disability pension.
I have A.S.
O.C.D.
Some kind of depression either manic or normal Its cronic and never left since I can remember.

I absolutely hated school and eventually dropped out after transferring to a cyber online school (no people)
But then I just dropped out entirely.

I have not yet gone to a job interview as I really can't even stand to go to the store. (I sometimes shake and get very nervous when around people.)

I have no friends and don't trust people enough to have friends.

I obviously could not have a job around people but more than that I believe I have sensory overload (going outside or even staying inside my usually dark room creates a feeling of surreal-ness.

I know I can't do it..... I couldn't deal with customers, being by myself, I could never work in a large store, I have no skills.

In addition to that I once had a under the table job moping two very small (like 20 square feet) buildings with my old friend (who I no longer trust) and I could do that but then we worked for the same guy digging holes and I am just incompetent at even digging a hole. I remember with my friend (who I no longer really trust and havent seen in like 6 months) and his friend were helping dig this car out of snow (two different times this happened) And I just couldn't help just get in the way.


I just can not see myself with a job, working with people, or by myself, or even doing a competent job.


example

I go to the store I bumble around like an idiot (my arms don't swing when I move and I feel like I look really really weird) trying to find what I am there to buy Carry all of it and if I see someone start breathing heavy and get nervous At the counter I sometimes start (head bobbing or something) and get very nervous. I can't wait to get back in my car.

plus there's the cronic depression that might be bi polor or normal


So can I get disability for this?


good luck with venus man that doesn't help me

Last edited by blabla2 on 21 Aug 2009, 5:55 am, edited 1 time in total.

You should check out The Venus Project. It has nothing to do with disability, but it's a social concept that works for us.

http://www.thevenusproject.com/the-venu ... us-project

http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/11000.html

Page on SSI benefits and how to apply. You do not have to have X amount of time working to qualify for SSI, but you will have to establish disability. Given your pronounced problems, you might need to contact your local legal aid office which could have one of their paralegals or lawyers represent your application if you can't handle the process (presuming no family member will do this for you).

In 2009, the maximum MONTHLY amount for an individual getting SSI is $674 (tax free). It isn't much by any stretch of the word, but I suppose if you can't work at all, it's better than nothing. More so, someone getting SSI should be eligible for Medicaid coverage and other programs like Section 8 housing (housing subsidies for the poor).

By contrast, someone working a full time job at minimum wage makes $1,257 (pre-tax) a month.

Yes you can get disability with those diagnosis's. Its not the dx, but the severity of it and how it affects your daily level of functioning that determines if you can receive SSDI/SSI. Apply early if you're going to, because even if you're denied a few times.. when they accept you, they pay you as if you received it when you initially applied. So the sooner you apply the more back-pay you'll get.

Many people are denied a few times. There are lots of lawyers that can help you get SSDI/SSI and they only take a portion of it if and when you finally win your case. So its not really money out of your pocket.

With no work history, you'd be given SSI which is almost the same thing... with a few loopholes. Some of the things you're protected from with SSDI, you are not protected from with SSI... even though you got it because of the same reason. Its kinda confusing. Anyway, its money and its better than nothing when you cannot work. You'd be eligible for state insurance at least, but I don't think Medicare if its only SSI. Section 8 housing, and any other HUD type of housing would take only 30% of your income for rent, and that right there is a huge help. The $900 dollar 3 bedroom apartment I'm in only costs me $150 a month because its subsidized. (my husband is on SSI, I'm on SSDI & SSI)

Getting SSI/SSDI makes it possible to have a lot more help that otherwise you wouldn't normally because then you're "legally" disabled so financially places will help you. Ugh. The confusion and technical definitions.

Blabla2, be prepared to have to fight for benefits. There is a very strong trend towards the Feds (SS Administration) denying claims the first time they are submitted. If you are persistent, you might have some luck. Assuming, of course, that you are actually so disabled that you cannot work.

It's probable that the SSA won't take your word for much of anything and won't start handing you payments. If you haven't already got it, you're going to have to have some kind of documentation that "proves" that you are unable to hold any sort of gainful employment (up to and including sorting recycling, picking up trash, washing dishes, etc.). Not being comfortable in public or ~thinking~ you might have OCD or bipolar is not going to cut it with the SSA - they don't care how you feel. Even having such a diagnosis does not mean you cannot work. (For example, I work at a University and one of our professors has bipolar. I'm an Aspie with an auditory processing disorder. Having a diagnosis of something is not necessarily a reason you cannot work.) The SSA has limited resources and they will want to give them only to people who they are sure are incapable of doing any sort of work. They will want to see that you've made efforts that have failed in a substantial way (years of getting and losing jobs, etc.) that are connected to a disabling condition (otherwise they could - and probably would - argue that you just don't want to work).

The only way that I know of to get that kind of documentation is to have someone "official" - not mom, not a friend, not a school teacher, but a city/state/county/federal employee affiliated with a rehab or disability program write something up to that effect for you. You will probably have to provide some sort of medical/psychological evaluation paperwork to them as well. (Both the person you get to write up your claim and also to the SSA - they'll want to see all the evidence you have available that you are "unable to work due to a disabling condition.")

If you have a vocational rehab service in your area, you might want to make contact with them and tell them that you have difficulties with work and need help. They may have some programs for you that will help you with interviewing, training, and, possibly, placement. If they judge that you are unable to work, they can document it for you. They may also be able to send you to a program that can get you the necessary psychological/medical evaluations if the diagnosis you get in a week is too narrow. They may even be able to assist you with applying for Social Security benefits. You don't say what state you are in, so there's not much I can tell you as to where to find these folks. What's available really does vary wildly based on where you are.

Be prepared to wait for services. Most social service agencies are terribly underfunded and short-staffed, and so there will be waiting lists for services. If you get an appointment, do not miss it, for it can be quite some time before you can get another.

Also, don't put too much hope on public housing (Section "8") - as the availability varies wildly from location to location. Here where I live there is a HUGE backlog of people waiting for available Section "8" certificates. They wait years, and then find that no landlords will accept the vouchers. It's different in other parts of the country.

I know you don't want people to tell you "good luck", but I will anyway as you will need it and I hope it all works out for you.

Max SSDI is somewhat higher than that. Along with housing and other public assistance, it can be a bare bones survival budget.

I'm on disability for PTSD. that happened before my AS dx. it took a while to get the benefits, but I was approved on the first go. it's a relief to have that money, even though it isn't much, since I can't work right now and my future is very uncertain.

Yeah, but never having worked, they won't get SSDI; they'll be on SSI. Also, if you have SSI and get housing assistance you won't be eligible for some of the SSI money, so you'll get less. The only thing you can guarantee is food stamps at a rate of about $100 per month depending on local prices. You're almost guaranteed Medicaid. It's not a good life. You're below the poverty line by a good chunk, and there are a lot of people who cannot manage rent on SSI, or very nearly can't manage it, so are stuck trying to figure out how to get "extra" things like soap. I should know that; I'm on it myself.

Honestly, your goal while you're on SSI should be to get off it, or if you can't manage that, supplement your income by working. You should contact the vocational rehab people in your state and get them to find you some sort of placement. There are, after all, jobs where you do not have to talk to people all day. You would just have to talk to a counselor--and many people who cannot manage talking to people every day can manage one person occasionally. Maybe it will take extra training. You can get them to do that, too.

You will also want to take advantage of that Medicaid and get counseling. In fact, start that now. Most community mental health centers have a sliding scale, so your very low income would let you pay less than $10 per visit. Your goal here isn't to talk about your childhood or uncover some sort of deep mental problem; it's simply to reduce your social anxiety. In counseling, you get to talk to somebody who quite simply not allowed to reject you or make fun of you (if they do, they are great targets for a malpractice suit).

You already know you are capable of mopping out a store. If you could find a job doing that, after hours, when no people were around, would you take it? Well, then, that's what the BVR is for--they might be able to find you just such a job. And while it wouldn't be the sort of thing you would choose if you wanted, it is something you can do, even if you got minimum wage, would be twice or more what you would get on SSI!

I think almost nobody should actually try to get SSI and stay on it. Most disabled people can work, with accommodations; and the more disabled people work, the more people will see us working (well, in your case, maybe just your boss), and the more people will know we can work and hire us. Once they know how minor the adjustments really have to be, they will understand that they can safely hire a disabled person just like they would hire anybody else, and get the work done just fine.

Incidentally, you might also try Easter Seals: http://www.easterseals.com/site/PageServer
They often employ people with developmental disabilities. I had a reasonably successful job at a Goodwill store for almost three months, which (considering my record of quitting/firing after a few weeks) is a real record for me.

I'm on both SSDI and SSI and have a full housing subsidy. I receive the full amount of my checks and it has nothing to do with my housing. Social security doesn't care what my housing situation is. Now housing cares that I'm on SSDI and SSI, but only because they allow extra allowances if you're on it! I pay less for already subsidized housing because I'm disabled. They don't take away from my check at all.

I barely had enough work credits to qualify for SSDI. Thats why I also get SSI, to make up the difference in monthly amounts. I only held two jobs on the books however, and they were both part time and not for very long. I wasn't fired or anything of the sort. Social security didn't require that I have multiple attempts at working, they only asked what I was able to do and what I had a hard time doing. They asked what my job was previously and why I am unable to do it now.

Its not glorious living being on disability, but it keeps a roof over my head. It took awhile to learn how to budget well enough that I wasn't always in the hole. Some months in the beginning were hard, but it got easier. I managed to keep myself and 4 children sheltered, fed, and clothed for the past 7 years so its very doable. Especially for someone without any dependents.

For some people, SSDI/SSI is just a stepping stone while they fix things in their life and learn better skills. For others like myself its a much needed income to supplement what I can't do on my own. I learned a long time ago to let go of that shame associated with not earning your own money. I can still find ways to be a valued member of society without that.

Frankly, having worked for a welfare program, I would sooner become a professional panhandler begging for money in the streets before I would go on SSI or SSDI. I'd probably make more in a few hours of begging than I'd get for being on "disability."

You would, yes; but the point isn't money, it's security. How long before you get beaten up, raped, or murdered as a panhandler? And why, if you can handle asking for money on the street, are you not asking people for money behind a cash register? Plus, all-day rejection? That sort of emotional fallout I don't want.

You really do not need a lot of money to live decently. If you have food, shelter, and useful activity, you can have a comfortable life; and "useful activity" need not cost anything at all. The problem with SSI is that in some places you can't get food and shelter for the amount of money you get. In my area, you can. You can live on SSI. You just can't have anything that costs money, other than the bare essentials.

Well, scratch that--not quite. You can have something other than the bare essentials if you are using it to help yourself become employable. In my case, that includes a college education--though I had to impress them on their arbitrary tests before they would give that to me. (Seriously. Three days of having my mind poked and prodded. Endless testing.) And of course I am required to apply for every grant, scholarship, and internship that could possibly help me pay for college, so that in reality the government is paying for relatively little of it.

Maybe. Maybe not. I don't think panhandling is any more safe/dangerous than being out in public, and it's possible to be able to work but not be "employable."

Time and time again, people investigating have found that begging for money on the street will net more in a few hours than working a regular job all day. More say YES than NO.

More so, the process of applying for and trying to get welfare benefits is degrading and dehumanizing. Then you have to tolerate some state moron scrutinizing everything you do to see if they can jerk away your support and put you back out on the street.