working & being on disability?

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As I've mentioned before on here, I've never been officially diagnosed with any form of autism, but my younger sister (I'll call her "Judy") strongly feels that I have Asperger's, and because of various issues, it's very difficult for me to find something I could do and still support myself. (being a part-time library page does NOT cut it)

One of the suggestions which "Judy" has often made is for me to try to get on some form of disability, with my alleged Asperger's as the reason. But the thing is.......my symptoms really aren't strong enough to prevent me from working, just enough to make things a little more difficult. Not to mention that I've always hated having to be the "special needs" one in the family, and this would kind of confirm that. (at least, in my opinion)

I know how you feel about not liking being the "special needs" one of the family but i just try to live the best i can with what God gave to me. right now i would take any financial help i could get but before i can get diagnosed i have to fork out a lot of money that i don't have another thing is females don't get diagnosed nearly as often as males do. probably the way that males and females are different in many ways and more so when it comes to the Autism spectrum. i have done a lot of research lately. now i think that when you get approved for disability that you can't work at the same time but it may be different in different places so don't hold me to it. i have tried once already to get on disability and try to get diagnosed for a learning disability (at the time that's all my mom and me thought it was) after being denied, i got information from a disability lawyer stating that i had to have recent PROOF and have gotten diagnosed before i could get approved for disability. i had gone once before to a place i was told i could get diagnosed for cheap and recently their price went up from $150 to $400 or more. i wish you the best of luck, either in finding a job that will pay you enough to survive, or to be able to work AND get disability.

Well, I did tell "Judy" that I would look into it, but from what I've read online........Asperger's isn't considered a disability in my state, so if I were to get approved, it would have to be for something else. And while I do have other issues, most likely I'd be considered too "high-functioning" to get any form of assistance.

I think I am in about the same boat. I do have an official diagnosis, which wasn't that hard to get since it seems that most my "traits" are almost all Aspie. However, not only have I held jobs since I was 16 (I'm WAY old now), but I have held the last one (the current one) for 11 years. That doesn't look like someone who is disabled.

The fact of the matter is, though, that up until now, this job has been fairly easy and one that most high functioning Aspies could do... spreadsheets and emails with very little human contact, and a lot of regularly scheduled, never changing deadlines to be met with form letters and reports that never vary. But everything has changed in the last 6 months and I am scared to death because suddenly I don't understand my job! I don't know what I am supposed to do anymore and nobody seems willing or able to take the time to tell me. It is only a matter of time before I am either fired or eliminated through some other method.

I'm not sure how, at this point, to even approach anyone concerning filing for disability. Won't they look at my past work history and say that I am high functioning enough that I should be able to find another job? I've heard people (mostly youngsters I assume) say that their symptoms lessen as they get older. That is not the case for me.

I was not diagnosed as a child (when I was a child, nobody ever heard to Aspergers and even Autism was a strange word) so I learned very early on to "cover" and pretend to fit in with everybody else. It has made me strong, but it has been an exhausting life. I am tired, old, and I want to spend the rest of my life just being me and not some automoton preprogrammed to fit into the corporate machine.

Well it's worth a try. I know here in Ontario, you can work and be on disability. How it works though is that they take some money off of your disability funds but you get a bonus of $100 for working.