can i claim disability with aspergers?

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im turning 18 soon and i want to know if i can claim disability and what the advantages and disadvantages might be, and how i can get the process started.

I don't know what the situation is like in the US, as I'm originally from the UK and am posting from England at the moment.

In the UK, there's something called Disability Living Allowance, and it is possible to receive some disability benefits while working, as the disability benefits pay for personal care that a person needs and also mobility needs.

I wonder though, whether you have those care and mobility needs, or whether you're just really despairing and wanting to 'opt out' of the rat race and want to claim disability instead of working or pursuing an education?

Not everyone is able to work, and being Aspie can make it a lot harder for people to get a job in the first place (because interviews are set up to allow NT people to demonstrate their superior social skills and interpersonal, non-verbal communication skills, not necessarily to test the best skills for the actual job). And being Aspie can make it more difficult to deal with office politics and every day interaction with colleagues, so it can make it harder for Aspies to gain, maintain and retain employment. And going through a cycle of getting jobs and leaving or losing them can be hard to take and quite stressful.

But also, finding your own niche, finding something that you're good at and working and earning a living can be very fulfilling and financially rewarding. Money does not make you happy, but a lack of it can make people unhappy, finding money to pay bills and pay for living costs can be very stressful if you're solely reliant on benefits for your income.

What makes you want to apply for disability benefits? In what way do you think you are disabled?

First off, just as a caveat, I am against SSI Disability for someone so young.

The basic eligibility requirement for disability in the USA is that there is proof that you cannot perform any job for more than one year. That means that if you can flip hamburgers, you are not eligible. It is the hardest program to get into.

The system for signing up has also been designed to allow lawyers to get their hands on some of your check. Unless you can prove by overwhelming evidence on your first shot that you will not be able to work at any job, you will probably be denied. In the case of autism, it would have to be a pretty severe case or a case where someone has tried to work for a long period of time and failed. Then the case goes into the courts where they practically demand a lawyer for all of the work. Once you get accepted into the program (and you will eventually), you will be paid based on the day you applied but the lawyer will get 1/3 of that money as their fee.

Also, being someone with no work history, you will get the minimum for your area and will find that you really could make the same amount of money if not more flipping burgers. You will need assistance for food and housing.

If I have not scared you from applying yet, what you will need to do is apply at the local Social Security Office in your area. Once you apply, you will need to get a report from one doctor stating what the issue is and why you cannot work. Someone in the office will then approve or deny the application. If the application is denied, they you have to go to court for a hearing to determine if the application denial was in error.

I honestly think the time spent getting disability could be better spent in other areas, such as career support for someone like you.

I really agree with what demeus says.

It's really a very young age to get caught up in the 'benefits trap'.

Although having said that, I don't know whether it's the same as the UK and whether some disability benefits are payable even if you go to work.

If my job was in the UK, I might be able to get some disability benefits, but it isn't. And I know someone who has epilepsy and she gets some disability benefits even though she works, because she's not allowed to drive, so she gets help for 'mobility' and also some care, because she can't cook for herself, because it's too dangerous in case she's cooking and has a seizure and gets injured or sets the house on fire or something.

But while it would be good to claim those kind of disability benefits, to enable you to live a normal life if you have those kinds of needs, it would be better at this stage to talk to your teachers at school or college about careers advice, and maybe contact your local job centre or employment/labor service or whatever it's called in the US, to ask them for support and advice.

There's something in the UK offered by the National Autistic Society, and they have a programme where advisors help autistics find work, they help to set up work placements so that people can try out a job and see whether they can do, and likewise, some of the employers might be reluctant to offer a permanent job to someone with difficulties, but by participating in this kind of 'work trial' scheme, the employer can see whether the person can do the job and whether they'd make a good employee before offering them a permanent position.

There might be similar schemes in your town or city. Contact local careers services and also autism/Asperger's support services within the local mental health services, to see if they have any advice workers or know of any advocacy organisations.

Yes, it is very possible to get disability. I get it.

You can if you know the right people, but if you are perfectly capable of working, then you shouldn't do it. It's not fair to anyone- including yourself.

Having Aspergers Syndrome usually doesn't count as a disability.

Even if you could somehow get on disability, you would be doing a tremendous disservice to yourself. I don't recommend going down that road.

Unless you are someone like me… who needs it.

We are currently attempting to claim disability agian as we have been turned down twice.

Do I want to work? Hell yes! Can I? Probably not. Flipping burgers would be utterly impossible for me. Hardest job in the world in my opinion.

I also don’t drive (I am not ready to accept the responsibility that I could kill or injure someone and I have panic attacks when behind the wheel) Therefore even getting to a job is near impossible unless someone takes me (There is no public transportation where I live and I live ten miles from town)

Plus there is the fact that just the mere thought of asking someone for a job or even having to ask where I can pick up an application makes me have a near nervous breakdown. Not because I don’t want to work, but I have to interact with strangers. I have issues at times even having to go in a fast food place ad order alone.

Also at the time, I am not ready for a job as I am not really 23. Sure… physically I am and intellectually I am my age, but when it comes to emotional maturity I see myself as only a twelve year old.


If I could get a job in the hot sun hauling scrap metal to a dumpster I’d do it in a heartbeat. The thing people don’t hand you jobs, even the sh***y ones that I’d gladly take. You have to be anle to interact with people just to get a job and present yourself well enough, and at the moment I currently can’t without help.

A diagnosis isn't a bad start.

Incorrect.

In the US, UK and Oz, it's seen as a valid disability by social services (the same as all forms of Autism). Of course, you must prove that you're incapable of working to receive said social services; this is the same with any disease/disorder.

(i'm not sure if this is the same in the US or not but i live in the UK so it might be different for you)

since i left college due to my anxiety getting worse i was told by a few people about DLA and so i filled in the forms, got confused and had a little 'moment', got some more forms later and after three months got the confirmation that i was accepted and entitled to the lower rate care and mobility. the reason i get DLA is because i can't leave the house on my own or cook a meal that doesn't use a microwave, i later found out that if i included that i live in a village and need money for taxi fare (due to being uncomfortable on public transport) i could have recieved the middle or possibly higher rate.

due to not having enough money to support myself (around thirty pounds a week) i looked for possible work but after finding out i couldn't cope i asked about my options, and found out about incapacity benifits. if you have been unable to work for longer than two weeks due to illness you can claim incapacity with a refferal from your GP, you can even claim for depression but need solid grounds explaining why it's impossible for you to work.

I agree 150%.

I've dealt with Asperger's all my life. I've had over 40 jobs in my adult life- but I've almost always been employed no matter how difficult the job or my state of mind. From scrubbing toilets to managing people.
I've never collected unemployment (even when I was unemployed). Now that I have an official diagnosis, it didn't even occur to me to try and milk the system.
Yeah- I'm being harsh. I have a 0 tolerance policy for anyone who doesn't work but is capable of it (and quite honestly if you're on-line, you're probably capable of doing something). Playing the "aspie card" because you can't find a job to suit your special disposition or because you can't suck it up 6-8 hours in a day is just plain wrong.

I'd kill to get paid scrubbing toilets. That would be and awesome job for me. The thing is.... I can't get any sort of help in that way currently. If there was a program or people in my area that could help get me a job, I'd be on it like a fat ass with a cake. Sad thing is some things they have/programs will not accept me because they see me as too smart, which is not my friggen problem.


The problem is not wanting to work, but finding work. Getting the job. (Or in some people's case getting a job that pays enough to get by) I live in a small town with limited jobs and currently moving is out of the quetsion.


They need programs for people like me, stuck in the middle. Whre I could work if only I could get help.

Help me to understand: What kind of help do you think you need in finding a job?
I'd really like to better understand. Perhaps I'm over-simplifying because I thought it was just a matter of hitting the pavement and filling out applications until something "sticks".

Let's keep it real shall we?

An huge proportion of jobs are totally superfluous. If they do not consist in one variation or another on "digging holes and filling them in again" then they could be rationalised out by improved efficiency.

Then there are the service industries, that are completely unnecessary, and industries that are created, or retained at artificially labour intensive levels...

Why?

The average human being has deep psychological and emotional needs to feel useful and productive (even if, in real terms, they are neither) as well as to indentify themselves with, and define themselves in terms of, a work related social heirarchy. As a result one of the most significant factors in obtaining and sustaining political popularity and power is employment creation.

Governments pour huge sums of money, directly and indirectly, into creating totally superfluous employment. It would probably cost less, in the long term, to pay out welfare benefits but at the expense of creating a frustrated, dissatisfied and volatile society.

A lot of autistics not only lack those deep psychological and emotional needs, but also the social skills to function in the workplace. As a result, for them, the very same workplace that most people need to feel comfortable and fulfilled, is an intolerable torture...a "cruel and unusual punishment" if you like...

So, if you need a workplace to function and feel fulfilled, go out and find it, or find the social skill to do so...

If the workplace is impossible torture for you, claim disability and just be thankful you live in a time when you can.

Nocturnal...

What would you have those many of us who really cannot handle the workplace at any price do instead?

Commit suicide to save the state an imperceptable pittance?

M

Last edited by mechanima on 08 Dec 2008, 3:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

i agree partly with what you said, there's many different jobs i'd like to do and i'd probably manage many different online jobs out there but because of the problems i have i can't. due to aspergers, anxiety, and other social problems i have i had to drop out of school and so i have no qualifications, and so no one would give me a job or even a trial working from home.

i hate the thought of 'milking the governemnt' as i feel worthless everyday for not being able to work, plus i'm the only person i know who would rather work than sit on their ar*e all day on benifits.