need ideas to write about problems in applying for benefits

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cathylynn
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Location: northeast US

06 Mar 2014, 9:15 pm

I am assigned an article by ASAN to write about some problems someone might expect to come across while applying for any type of benefits. I am at a loss. my own process went smoothly. if anyone had a problem or knows of someone's problem, could you please reply or PM me, however briefly. I will write generally about the problem and no names or even WP will be mentioned.



nick007
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08 Mar 2014, 12:35 am

I had a few problems. I applied for SSI after I graduated high-school due to having a rare low vision disorder that causes me to be borderline legally blind that wasn't diagnosed till my senior year of high-school. I have other physical disabilities & also mental things like Aspergers but the vision was the primary one. My disabilities wouldn't be considered because when I was a kid my dad set up a mutual funds account with my name on it because he wanted me to have money for college or something major after graduation. SSA considered it a resource & it was more than two thousand which is the SSI limit. Because of the way the account was set up I could not get my name taken off without closing the account. It was 2001 & the stock market was just starting to go down & my dad believed that it was a bad time to close & a good time to buy in before the stock started going back up. I had no desire at all to go to college due to all the struggles I had in school. I wanted to get a job instead & my parents belived that 1ce I started working I'd lose SSI so they didn't want me to close the account. I had no luck finding a job & a couple years latter had a mental breakdown & started seeing a psych. My dad let me close the account & I wrote checks to my parents to pay them back for various expenses I had after I graduated(like my health care, my share of household expenses ect). I had no problems getting on iSSI when I applied again.

The 2nd issue I had was applying for Social Security Disability. I eventually got a job & then got another & worked overtime whenever management let me & I was sort of forced out after two years. I stayed in the SSI system because my disabilities hadn't improved even thou I made too much to get any money in a year. My SSI started again a couple months after I lost the job but I had a review for SSI shortly after getting back on it(I had a couple reviews before that while I was working). During that review the women noticed I had paid enough in to qualify for Social Security Disability so she had me see someone from that department to apply for SSDI. I had been looking for another job & I started a new job rite before I got some paperwork in the mail from SSA to fill out. Like when I 1st applied for SSI my SSDI app wasn't considered due to my income. I lost my job after 3 months because I was out too long for medical reasons. My SSI started again after a couple months & shortly after I had another review. They had me apply for SSDI again & they mailed me the same paperwork to fill out that they had mailed me the other time.

SSI had listed my primary disability as Aspergers syndrome because the psych I had just started seeing when they looked over my medical records thought I had it & apparently SSA believed it limited me more than my vision. I saw other psychs & experts after getting on SSI so I could qualify for an official Aspergers diagnoses in the hopes of getting more assistance with things. Everyone else believed I had Schizoid Personality Disorder instead; they did not get the cause & effect between my issues & believed I communicated too well & seemed too intelligent to have anything on the autism spectrum. When I applied for SSDI the 2nd time they did a medical review & they noticed the discrepancy between Aspergers & Schizoid. They made an appointment for me to see someone who specialized with kids & teens with developmental disabilities. I didn't think he would consider me an Aspie sense none of the other so-called experts did. I was worried that my SSDI claim would be denied & I'd lose my SSI too if that guy didn't think I had Aspergers or Schizoid Personality so I acted like a more like a stereotypical Schizoid or how I'd imagine one would act. I hadn't herd anything a couple months latter so I called to check on my case & I was told that it was randomly selected for quality control review which delayed my app by close to 3months & having to see the developmental disabilities specalist had delayed my app by close to 3months as well so my app process had gotten delayed by 5months which was an extra 5months of worry that I'd be denied & cut off from SSI & have to pay them back. At least when SSA approved my SSDI they gave me the difference from what I got in SSI & what I was qualified for in SSDI from a few months after I lost my 2nd job.


After I got on SSI I tried to qualify for assistance with things related to specific disabilities I have & I got the runaround with everything because they believed I was too functional with whatever area they dealt with; like my vision is too good for me to be considered legally blind but I cant drive & have major employment & other problems because of it. It's like I'm moderately disabled in lots of areas instead of being completely disabled in one in order to qualify for other types of assistance or services despite the fact that I have those same limitations due to being moderatley disabled in various areas :x


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