Should I apply for SSI / SSDI?

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I'm currently seeing a therapist at a local Mental Health Outreach center. I am scheduled for a full evaluation in may and I have about 5 more sessions with my therapist. I don't understand everything thats going on but they are helping me apply for medicaid to help pay for all the treatment I need. I thought you had to apply for SSI or SSDI to get Medicaide? Oh well. I don't understand what they are doing exactly.

Anyways.

I wanted to ask you all if I should apply for SSI /SSDI?

Here is a list of my problems.

Aspergers. They've already told me its highly suspected

Severe Depression, Social Anxiety, and I had one panic attack a few years ago.

I have an auditory processing problem that makes it almost impossible to understand what people are saying sometimes. Its worse with noise and people who talk low or talk improperly.

I'm clumsy as s**t. They can go look up my workman's comp claim two years ago where I slipped on the ice and busted up my arm and hurt my back. It wasn't serious but still took a week to recover. In another accident I damaged an airplane at the airport. lol I obviously got fired for that. Two accidents for the same job. I almost got into a car accident when I tried to do another job at Advance Auto. I quit and gave up on anything where I can even remotely injury myself or others. I didn't get my driver's license until I was 25. Everyone in my life including myself was trying to fit me into the NT world. I've gave it one hell of a try. I even managed to finish college despite not getting a job using the degree. I did however apply, interview and try. My work history sucks. I've had more jobs then I can count in just about every type of job you can think of. I have literally applied to almost every freakin company in my area, and probably more then once. lol I even applied for TSA at the airport trying to find something I could do. They actually rejected me because of my credit from going to school. How stupid! Actually a lot of the jobs I've tried to get are rejecting me because of my credit too. I don't even owe that much either. Maybe 12,000 bucks total.

I have terrible memory problems, especially about menial crap and things I have to do. I have to write everything down and usually my parents have to help me remember.

I've never really done anything in my life without help. I don't think I would be able to live on my own, especially right now.

I have trouble understanding directions, instructions, and I get lost even near my own neighborhood.

I have blank spells from time to time, especially if I am overstimulated to where I get confused, light headed, and freeze up.

I absolutely do not get along with people online or in real life. I have 0 social skills at all. I also have some pretty nasty melt-downs because of frustration. I've never really had a friend outside of my family nor what I would call a real GF. I'm not a bad looking guy so I have girls that seem interested at first but then lose interest when they get to know me. Eventually i just gave up and become really withdrawn and anti-social. I also am very paranoid about people. I do not trust them, I do not like them, and I always assume the worst.

Although I've gotten better at Math I still really struggle with it. At the supermarket I worked at the forced me into doing the cashier job after being a courtesy clerk. I ended up being short a lot and screwed it up. Which reminds me, you know the airport job I had? Well they asked me which position I felt the least comfortable with and I told them. Instead of allowing me to do something I could possibly do they forced me into what I wasn't comfortable with. The manager that did that ended up getting fired too. Its his own fault because I did warn him. lol

I was never diagnosed as a kid for Aspergers but my teachers knew I had problems and ignored them. I was placed in Special education and simply told I was a "slow learner". It was a conservative school system that was worried about labeling people and over diagnosing "problems". Yeah but ignorance is bliss right? NO and I'm tired of being forced to live by the NT rules which I'm doing a bad job of anyways.

As you can probably tell from this post I have a real hard time organizing my thoughts. lol

You do not have to be on dissability to get Medicade. Medicade is for people with low income levels.

After your testing in May I would think that they would send you to a vocational rehab program that may do some further testing to see what your strengths are and provide training so you can get a job. There are programs and supportive services out there which help people live on their own.

You and I are a lot alike. I also have severe depression, anxiety, panic attacks, probable Asperger's, poor memory, ect. I think it's horrible that jobs which have nothing to do with money use your credit history against you. I have a problem with this too. The anxiety makes it very difficult for me to pay bills.

i don't have a lot of answers for you, I just wanted you to know you are not alone!

Thanks for your post. Yeah they said something about vocational help. With my work history I have no idea how anyone is going to hire me. My anxiety is really severe at this point. I get sick and almost throw up just going for a walk in my neighborhood.

SSI/SSDI....here's my basic premise.

These programs can be traps if you like being a "free" person. They usually restrict how much you can earn, what you can do, etc. I know people who should be on disability who do not take it because they know "inspectors" will come around and watch them doing everyday things. Tend a garden, ride a horse, move some boxes, etc. (depending on what you got disability for) and the government can decide if you can do that, you can hold a job and shouldn't be on disability. So, you have to live the stereotype they envision or be prepared to have someone fight to keep you on disability whenever your eligibility is questioned.

That said, if you really are "disabled" to the point that you are unemployable (or certainly to the point that you could never take care of yourself), then you already are in a bad enough spot that being on disability is more of a help than a hindrance in life.

The real issue is if you are quite independent but are being denied the ability to be self-sustaining (via employment) or if you really are unable to be self-sustaining without government assistance. If you are the former, you will have to be careful not to jeopardize your benefits as you can hold a job, but you can't get one that will deal with your special needs.

Oh lord are you serious? Inspectors? You can't even begin to imagine how much I would bore the s**t out of them. I wake up. Eat. Go for a walk at about 1-4pm. Get back. Go on computer. Watch TV. Eat. Play Dota Allstars. Go to sleep. I've followed the same routine almost exactly for 7 months now. Even if the inspectors made surprise visits I can't imagine anything they would see to convince them I'm not a total screw up.

I stubbed my toe yesterday and hit it so hard the nail is coming off. I tried to clean my sunglasses and broke the freakin thing. A month ago I broke one of our Ice Tea jars. I guess they would also wonder why a 28 year old still likes a comfort blanket which would be a bit embarrassing in front of an NT. Oh and my mom does the laundry and about the only thing I do is dishes every other day and there is always a good risk of me breaking something which in a job situation would get me fired. I bought one of those cup pops from the super market and ended up spilling it everywhere. Sigh.

I am not independent at all. I would probably be homeless or dead if it wasn't for my parents. They have to help me do a lot of the things in my life. I can't even do a lot of basic stuff like cook. (unless its like microwave stuff).

This is what I know from when I began my parasitical process 15 years or so ago. Some stuff may have changed since then.

I'm assuming you're in the U.S., Whimsi-Cal.

There (or rather here, as I am in the U.S.), the SSI (Supplimental Security Income) program is run by whatever state one find themselves in and is easily obtainable for the genuinely disabled. It's not much money. It is also most bothersome, requiring visits to the local social security office every 3 months to assure them that you haven't been miraculously cured. Medicaid is the only benefit attached to SSI, and covers prescriptions but that's about it.

SSDI (Social Security Disability Income) can be very difficult to obtain, certainly for things more complex than blindness or paralysis, and definantly moreso for mental issues. A limited form of Medicaid is provided the first year of SSDI benefits, and then after a year, Medicare becomes available. It is highly recommended that one secure the services of a lawyer who specializes in securing social security benefits. (wow. what a sentence) It may take several months for the lawyer to work their magic. If benefits are secured, they're retroactive from the present to the point where the disability first began, which gets paid in a lump sum to start with. The lawyer generally works for nothing up front with the idea that they'll get an agreed on percentage of this lump sum when the case is won.

The amount of cash once gets from SSDI is dependent on how much they've paid into the system, so if you have a spotty employment record (as I do), you won't get much. Somehow though, my I am on the 'disabled dependent of a social security recipient' plan, which net's me some extra cash. I'm not sure how this works except that my social security benefit is linked to my father's social security status. Oversight is less bothersome. Re-evaluation comes every 3 years. In my case that consists of a visit to the state hospital to be interviewed by a social security sanctioned psychiatrist, who then sends their report of my condition to the government, who then decide if I'm still disabled or not.

I've had a bad employment history, but there's nothing about my disability which completely prevents me from working. I don't know, could you really say that your disability completely prevents you from earning any money? Sure there's a lot of jobs you probably can't get, I know I'd never work at a job where I have to talk a lot, but there's plenty of entry-level jobs that don't require any human interaction or physical ability. Have you ever considered doing housekeeping or cleaning?

I don't know your situation personally, ie: in person seeing what you are really like and reaching conclusions based on that, all I have to go on is what you present via the internet. I wonder if you have tried temporary agencies? I'm not sure why you are having problems finding work. Maybe you could try The Department of Rehab and see what they say? You could always talk to a lawyer who specializes in SSDI and see what they have to say if you truly feel that is your only option.

Well, only you can assess where you stand. If your AS affects you so heavily that being able to do a simple job (like bagging groceries at the local supermarket) would be difficult, then your life is already impacted enough that perhaps the trade off won't be a loss for you.

I can't say the government will spy on you 24/7, but if you draw benefits, they usually want total transparency of your finances, they'll want you to report in and justify that you still need benefits on a regular basis, and if they even suspect that your claim for benefits might be fraudulent or the circumstances may have changed, they can send someone around to do surveillance to see if indeed you don't really need to be on public assistance.

All welfare programs in America are fundamentally messed up. From my experience, very few people drawing benefits really NEED the system. Indeed, generations of kids are brought up by parents on welfare and are taught how to lie and exploit the system so they get benefits when they come of age. These abuses is what makes the system so difficult to work with.

In your case, you would probably be better off with the assistance as your individual quality of life is already severely affected. I'm quite independent and even if I got much worse (AS related or not), I would look at any welfare program as the absolute last option because I know I'd lose a large part of my independence by going on public assistance.

Yes, apply--but keep trying to work. The nice thing about SSI is that once you have it, working for a short time, like you do when you try to get a job and fail at it, won't kick you off it. So you'd have a safety net to keep you from going completely without income if you lose your job. Just make sure your apartment costs less per month than you'd get on SSI, or you'll be homeless anyway. (Yeah, that means dealing with a tiny roach-infested fleapit. But remember SSI is about a third below the national poverty level--it's not an easy life; it's just survival.)

The important thing with SSI is that if you're going to be unable to work, you have to find some other useful way to spend your time, or you will go completely bananas. First step, I'd say, would be to find the voc rehab office in your area and get them to help you try to find a job. You may have to fight with them to make the point that a "simple" job is not necessarily a job you can do, because there are more factors than complexity that make a job possible or not. If that doesn't work out, find volunteer work to do, just anything to keep you busy. Or you may be able to cover community college with grants, which you don't have to pay back later. (Probably not a regular four-year place, but community college is doable. Remember those grants will pay for textbooks. You will want to talk to whoever does your SSI to get the grants exempted from your income, because they are going straight to the college--you never see any of the money--and you are using them to try to make yourself employable.)

If you can't handle full-time, you may still be able to do part-time. That won't be enough to kick you off SSI if your job doesn't pay a great deal; and it's a chance to keep your self-respect by earning as much of your own money as you are able to. There's not too much shame in taking money you have to take; but there's a great deal when you know you could be working for a third or half of it, and you aren't.

I was on SSI and then went to SSDI. Very different.

SSI you getr Medicaid. SSDI you get Medciare. But you are FORCED to take Medicare. I had private insurance I liked and payed for to feel less like a free loader and it gave me hope. Now I can't go back onto private because of pre-existing ocnsditions.

So this is the wa it is unles I Leave the country. I am a citizen of anotehr, so I may to be free.

It is OK, I guess if you are disabled. I really am, so anyoe who spies on me would get an eye full.

I never had a reval when on SSI, so I hear they are more often on SSDI.

Be careful because if you make to omuch, you can't get both emdicare and mecdicaid. Then you have to buy a medicare supllemnt, and for the disbled, tehy are VERY EXPENSIVE. I would spend like $600 a month.

If you do go from SSI and are forced into SSDI like me (My dad retired and I was put on his) then you can have the PassAlong rule which lets you keep Medcaid.

So you can have Medciare and Medciaid.

My friend was not given that because tehy messed up and she went trhough hell till they gotr it fixed.

You have to really know what you are doing if you want to get into this. It is more coplex than the tax code.

I'm on SSDI and it has been a true blessing. Like you, I had a very spotty employment history. It had lots of gaps and holes in it from when I couldn't work.

I have bipolar disorder, severe anxiety disorder, asperger's syndrome and nonverbal learning disability.

I qualified in 9 months, after being turned down 3 times. My advice is to get a good attorney from the start. They will work on contingency.

I've been on SSDI for a year and a half and the relief of not having to hold down a job has been immense.

I get SSI now, after an attorney helped me with the appeal after the automatic denial. I mostly did so for the insurance, as with an official diagnosis of Asperger's, it's going to be nearly impossible to get private insurance as it's considered a pre-existing condition. I also have a spotty employment history, as I've had jobs where I was always one of those who get laid off, so it's nice having the income SSI provides.

Just how much do they watch people? I ask because I know 2 people who have SSDI based on physical conditions and both of them are extremely active and go to exercise classes and spend their days socializing and they still manage to stay on SSDI.

If a person is really watched that much then it would behoove them not to spend hours on end on the internet because then Soc Sec could say well if you can chat and surf the net all day then you could do data entry.

My ex told me the same thing how they have people go over and check on you to see what you are doing but if you are on it for a none physical condition, they don't send anyone to check up on you.

There are lot of cons are being on SSI, you can't go above $2,000 in your bank account. I sure did so I am not eligible for it anymore. I couldn't even understand why they were sending me SSI checks sometimes because my parents told me they check my banking account because of my social security number so I thought they would automatically stop sending me money. They did when I worked full time but if I lost hours, thats when I get something from them.

Also they don't give you much money so it's not even enough to love off of so you need food stamps, section 8 or affordable housing, this program phone companies have for low income people, and electric companies do the same too.

I'd rather work than not work because I get more money that way. Also when I get married, I might not be eligible for it anyway anymore my mom told me because my spouse's income would count as my income. So if the person was truely unable to work, they expect her/him to just sit at home and do nothing because he or she has no income of their own?
If they had kids, then that's different because at least the spouse has a job, taking care of their kids.

Also when on SSI, you have to remember to report any changes like when you get married, or if you live with your partner or room mate, get more bills to pay or less, your rent changes, etc. I didn't know about any of this stuff except for change of address. I almost thought about not being my own payee but they gave me the copy so I didn't back out of becoming my own payee. It has a list of things I need to report to them if they change and what my responsibilities are. That helps a lot.

Also you have to give them your pay stubs or mail them to them when you do have a job so they see your monthly income. the worst part is them saying they never got them so you have to ask for a copy of them at work which is a nuisance because they don't do it right away so I started making copies of my pay stubs before sending them in, then when I moved to Portland, I just gave them to them in person since the office wasn't that far away. In Montana, it was an hour away.

That's all the cons I can think of for now.

If your ability to chat on the Internet means you can do data entry, then you wouldn't be applying for Social Security in the first place. You'd be doing data entry.

Re. exercising with a physical disability: It depends on what those physical conditions are. Many physical disabilities make exercise more important--not less. There are in fact adapted gyms (not physical therapy centers, but regular fitness-type gyms) that cater to clients with various physical impairments. If, for example, you're a paraplegic, the health of your arms, shoulders, and back is extremely important. It's very easy to get repetitive-motion injury if you use a manual wheelchair, and strengthening your rotator cuff muscles is an important preventative step. People with conditions that cause fatigue or weakness also, paradoxically, benefit from exercise--gentle exercise, certainly, and no more than they can handle comfortably; but not moving much really puts stress on your body that a little motion can help solve. Back pain/injury? Physical therapy. Probably prescribed physical therapy. Probably an exercise program, once they've figured out what will help and not hurt. Being physically active is really important even with a physical disability, just as long as you don't push yourself too hard. Plus, physical activity is a good social outlet; and adapted sports exist that can accommodate just about anyone.