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OICU812
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12 Dec 2011, 1:23 pm

How long does it take to get SSI with diagnoses like aspergers with additional mental problems?

I’ve waited a year and been denied twice and am waiting for a court date. I got a lawyer after they turned me down for reconsideration and the problem is he told me today when I called him that it can take up to 18 months just to get a court date. Is this normal? If anyone here gets SSI, could you share how long you had to wait?

I have social anxiety that makes it almost impossible to work and never work more than a few days a week. I have had three negative performance reviews from work and been suspended off poor performance. I really don't think I'll last employed at this point, I am already on the outs with everyone.



DJRAVEN66
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12 Dec 2011, 1:44 pm

i dont know about the ssi stuf but i've allways had problems keeping a job.



League_Girl
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12 Dec 2011, 2:35 pm

Mom signed me up for it in October 2003 and I didn't get approved till March 2004. Mom was shocked I got approved the first time because lot of people always get denied the first time.



psayles56
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12 Dec 2011, 4:48 pm

I need to apply. I really need to get this. I have so many problems. I have Asperger's, Fibromyalgia and I am being tested for autoimmune diseases. My grandmother and mother both have lupus and I recently had a positive ANA and low vitamin d. I have high blood pressure and high triglycerides. I have a lot of trouble socializing and have only worked for like less than a year. I have had a few different jobs but only worked for a couple of months before not wanting to go back because of my issues or I have gotten really sick.


_________________
Your Aspie score: 165 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 33 of 200
You are very likely an Aspie


cubedemon6073
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12 Dec 2011, 5:38 pm

League_Girl wrote:
Mom signed me up for it in October 2003 and I didn't get approved till March 2004. Mom was shocked I got approved the first time because lot of people always get denied the first time.


I had to apply for it myself and I got it the first time as well.



questor
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12 Dec 2011, 5:53 pm

I have SSI for other health issues, but not my Asperger's Syndrome, as I hadn't heard of it back then. Once I found out about it, I knew it was what was wrong with me mentally, socially, etc. I have always had trouble holding a job, partly because of my other health issues, and partly because of my Asperger's. I have had a bad back and IBS all of my life. I started having trouble with sleep apnea and my knees in my 20s, and I had never even heard of sleep apnea at that time. The sleep apnea and my knees got worse over the years, and I was eventually diagnosed with sleep apnea and osteoarthritis a few years ago. I also had chronic life-long depression, probably due to my Asperger's.

It is very hard to hold a job when your joints hurt, you are too sleepy all the time, you spend too much time in the company restroom, and when you come in late all the time because you spent too much time in the bathroom at home in the morning, and had a hard time waking up. Then add to all of that, that you are "weird", and naturally, no one wants to keep you on their payroll long.

Eventually, my other health issues got too bad for me to work, so I applied for assistance in PA. They were not nice about it at all. I managed to get food stamps, but no state cash aid of any kind, and they didn't even want to give me medical aid. I finally managed to qualify for Medicaid after I got a psych doctor to diagnose me as depressed. None of my other health problems was considered serious enough on their own, or combined, to qualify me for Medical assistance. Because PA doesn't do a good job of meeting it's obligation to pay doctors who take Medicaid patients, naturally few PA doctors were taking Medicaid patients. I finally found one far away that would take me. This was a real hardship as the state wasn't giving me cash assistance, and I had no job money, so I was having trouble buying gas for my car. My parents sent me gas card gifts several times, to tide me over. I also helped out a couple of other people with rides a few times, and they put gas in my tank. Finally, my parents bought a trailer for me in a trailer park up here in NY, near their summer home, as I was homeless at the time, and camping out in a decrepit fixer upper belonging to another relative. Prior to that I was in a Salvation Army shelter for a month, but they had a one month limit, so I had to leave there after that. I was able to use my left over food stamps from PA for a while after moving up here, and then qualified for NY food stamps as soon as I applied. It took me about 45 days to qualify for Medicaid and temporary NY state cash assistance, which included rent assistance. The money really wasn't enough to pay for my bills, including rent, and other expenses, so my parents gave me a big break on the rent, until I could qualify for SSI. My SSI case was denied initially, but I got a free Legal Aid attorney to help with the appeal. It took about 18 months for my case to come to the hearing, after which I was able to qualify for SSI benefits. I was told this was about the shortest amount of time to wait for the appeal hearing, and that many people have to wait even longer, but at least I was getting temporary cash assistance from the state during that time.

My parents and the attorney told me that it was very important to have medical paper work to bring into the hearing, in order to prove my case, so I had to go to a lot of different doctors for my different health problems. That gave me a lot of supporting records to back my claim, so I won my appeal, and am now on SSI.

The hearing judge and staffers were neither friendly or unfriendly. They were very polite and professional. They do ask questions about the medical stuff and about the personal problems these cause, so be prepared. I think my depression was again the main factor that was considered, but personally, I think my sleep apnea, my IBS, and my Asperger's are a bigger problem. After all, they are the main cause of my depression. DUH!! !

The amount of SSI cash benefits is approx. double the amount I was getting from NY state, so I am now able to pay a low, but fair market rent amount to my parents, for the trailer. Because I am no longer in such dire financial straits, and because I now live alone (which I prefer), my depression is now at a much milder level, and is under better control. I still have to deal with my other health issues, but since I can't work, I don't have to try to stay awake for a job, and I can use the bathroom when I need to for as long as I need to, without worrying about getting fired. That was another cause of my depression and stress.

It's a good thing I didn't need to wait that long for Medicaid, though. At the time I moved up here, I was suffering from a severe female bleeding problem. About 2 months after moving here I had a DNC procedure to fix my problem. The biopsy showed that I had cancer, so I had to have a complete hysterectomy about a month and a half later. All of it was covered by my Medicaid. That was about 6 years ago, and there has been no sign of cancer since then. :-)

I advise you to keep applying, as long as it takes, and keep using an attorney. Also, make sure you go to doctors and therapists for all of your health problems, so you can build a medical paper trail for all of them. This will provide the evidence you need to eventually win your appeal. And, make a personal record of the problems your health issues cause in your life. This will provide more evidence.

Good luck, and remember, build a medical paper trail, and if your appeal is denied, reapply, and keep doing so until you win. Remember also, that we on the spectrum are all:

A Different Drummer

If a man does not keep pace with his companions,
Perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
Let him step to the music which he hears,
However measured or far away.

--Henry David Thoreau



purchase
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12 Dec 2011, 5:55 pm

OICU it's been I think five months now since the original form was submitted, was denied twice, am now getting a lawyer, who knows how long this part will take. It is ridiculous. I have not held a job in four years and the ones I held were nothing to speak of. Multiple hospitalizations. 3 major DSM conditions besides Asperger's, lots of documentation from different doctors etc.



Verdandi
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12 Dec 2011, 6:23 pm

My understanding is that it can average 1.5-2.5 years if you have to go as far as appeal.

My first year is already down, or at least will be at the end of December.



Tuttle
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12 Dec 2011, 7:02 pm

I've been told to expect anything up to 3 years.



OICU812
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13 Dec 2011, 12:01 am

cubedemon6073 wrote:
League_Girl wrote:
Mom signed me up for it in October 2003 and I didn't get approved till March 2004. Mom was shocked I got approved the first time because lot of people always get denied the first time.


I had to apply for it myself and I got it the first time as well.


Well, I guess you should consider yourself lucky. The whole system makes no sense to me, they sent me to a doctor when I filed for reconsideration and she actually told me she hoped I'd get it. You would think the system would give the doctors more power in determining disability.

purchase wrote:
OICU it's been I think five months now since the original form was submitted, was denied twice, am now getting a lawyer, who knows how long this part will take. It is ridiculous. I have not held a job in four years and the ones I held were nothing to speak of. Multiple hospitalizations. 3 major DSM conditions besides Asperger's, lots of documentation from different doctors etc.


According to the last document I have, I have bi-polar, adjustment disorder, PTSD,etc the list goes on. I also have had multiple hospitalizations so I can relate. It is ridiculous for the social security office after 8+ hospitalizations to think of me as anything but disabled.

Which come to think of it, hospitalizations have caused problems with what little work I have.



UnseenSkye
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27 Jul 2012, 11:58 pm

I was diagnosed with Autism at age ten, with more specific diagnosis of Aspergers in my early 30's. I was for decades one of those who super-compensated and achieved a pretty good level of success in testing computer software. I could handle the work I was doing when left alone in my life.. but this was not to be. I'd been married to a man who quite suddenly began plundering me for money.. I demanded a separation, which was a very difficult thing for me to do. Then a senior co-worker I thought was a friend "just happened" to ask me to the company Christmas party while his wife was out of the country. My first response was "NO" and then I thought: "Well, he's a friend. He's been married for more than twenty years to a brilliant woman. Why am I treating him this way?" I decided that if he was still in the office and picked up the phone (it was after 9 PM), I'd tell him "Yes" and apologize for having been so abrupt. What an idiotic mistake! He answered the telephone. That was the moment I began to lose my grip on life, eventually resigning from my job (which had been my life line) and moving to the middle of nowhere with this "knight in shining armor" who "couldn't live without me." Ended up homeless, broke.. friends deserted. I had no family to take me in. Every trigger was pulled, every wound reopened and once this happened it kept on happening. I'd find a job through some social service agency that barely paid enough for me to afford a room from month-to-month. I got full benefits of Nutrition Assistance despite my work, but had no medical insurance.

I have Complex PTSD. Really played hell with me throughout my late teens and all of my 20's. I had such social anxiety, which became social phobia and finally full-blown agoraphobia. Depersonalization Disorder. Had gone around my entire life with ADHD and didn't get a proper diagnosis until I was in my early 30's. Was treated mostly for anxiety, sometimes for depression.. went through the mill. When I could work, I worked at jobs that paid poorly but interested me. After the ADHD diagnosis and appropriate medication, I was able to turn my life around and become proficient with computers and software. I still felt social anxiety, but with appropriate counseling and medication had overcome phobia and Depersonalization. I did not take any medications for anxiety, because I could manage. I didn't discuss having a form of autism with anyone, because the majority of people would simply accept me as being Shy. Then this co-worker entered my life and all hell broke loose. He was a powerful personality and yet, so very needy. His attentions were like a laser. Like many with Aspergers, I loved him as a friend and was fiercely protective of him.. but he had no real morality. He exhausted me. I could not believe the way he treated his wife, who was worthy of all the love in the world. There were many things I could have done and should have done to get this man out of my life. But you know how it is with Aspergers? You cannot destroy someone you believe is a friend, no matter how misguided their actions and intentions may seem.

So here I am, looking at an application for SSI years after I should have applied. I fought so hard to bring myself back from the pain and the trauma and kept running into one bad situation after another. I hope I'm fortunate enough to get approval without fighting denial after denial, because I'm no longer able to do what I did to survive. I was a musician, am a musician. I've played since I was a little girl and have enormous abilities, but? First I did forestry, never considering what it would do to my hands.. that was when I thought I had a home. I recovered my hands and took greater care of them. Then, years after being homeless and going homeless again and again, I did yard work with manual tools to earn enough to help a disabled friend pay utility bills and he's kind enough to give me a place to stay in exchange for my help, but I developed trigger finger in both hands along with mild arthritis.. I've recovered the use of my hands and don't want to lose them again! If I do yard work like I did last year, I'll sacrifice my hands forever. It took two rounds of steroids and I still have to take mild prescription pain killers from time to time because the left hand has a ligament problem that gets to be agonizing at times.

Playing music brings me comfort and happiness, but no money. I don't play in front of other people.. I haven't been able to manage that one for more than a decade. It's part of my solitude, the part of myself that hasn't been torn apart by other people and I'd like to keep this part of me when all else has been taken away. Too much of the time, I hide away from people.. and then when I open up, it seems there's another nasty surprise waiting for me. This is what is known as De-compensation. You do so very well and then it all begins to unravel, based on one bad decision to turn a "NO" into a "Yes".

Once I was a reasonably good judge of character. Now it seems the world is filled with predators, gossips, liars and thieves. It can't be possible.. honestly, I know this and yet, this is what I've repeatedly experienced. I don't make good decisions too much of the time. I'm back where I was in my 20's: fearing most of the people in the world. I've had (thankfully rare) bouts of Depersonalization. I can't interview for jobs I'm well-qualified to do because I'm unable to pretend it's just shyness anymore. I'm ashamed to post this, yet believe it's better that I do for the sake of anyone who feels they're at the end of their rope that in spite of the pain, whether emotional or physical or both, to know they're worth "the trouble" of a government check and should not hesitate, as I've done, when they've no more resources to spare. We're not asking for a handout. We're asking for a hand up. I came into this world with disabilities and worked for decades without excuse or complaint and still would be working and earning good money if I'd done what the typical NT woman would have done -- filed sexual harassment charges, gotten an order of protection and cared not a bit about destroying the life of a man I mistook for a friend, whose cruelty I've tried so hard to forget because it is impossible to forgive. This is, additionally, an expression of EMPATHY from a person with Aspergers.. a trait I had to learn and learned far too well for my own good.