Applying for SSI in the united states

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It's basically no news at the moment, but a much more elaborate explanation of no news.

I wish I'd figured all this out years ago. It would have been significantly easier, I think.

Sleep not here yet, so I'll try to describe what happened:

I met my attorney 30 minutes before the hearing, and we discussed things to bring up in the hearing. Due to my particular judge having a low (37%) approval rate, attorney was not hopeful, and I have to admit that neither am I.

The hearing included someone who was recording the hearing, the judge, my attorney, someone from a relevant government department who was tracking how many jobs I could supposedly do were available nationally and locally.

My attorney probably spoke more than I did. I'd written down everything I could think of, printed it out, and re-read it on the way to the hearing. This preparation paid off as I was able to simply quote myself rather than get tangled up in circuitous and tangential explanations. My attorney said I explained myself very well.

Anyway, due to some of my records not yet being available, the judge won't be making a decision until those records arrive. There is a small chance that he may have me scheduled for a more thorough psychological evaluation than I've received to date, to outline my functioning levels, impairments, etc. in more detail.

Also, the judge asked me about my stimming (specifically my rocking, which I was doing to calm myself down because of anxiety, although it wasn't a conscious decision and I hadn't noticed I was doing it).

At the end, the judge gave a list of guidelines for what kinds of jobs I might hypothetically be able to do. The woman who was present to provide this information gave numbers in the low hundreds locally. My attorney asked her to modify her estimations based on my psych report from last October, and her answer with my recorded (usually marked, a few severe, a couple mild) impairments was pretty much "zero" across the board. The question is whether that will be influential in the decision making process.

Afterward, I was socially exhausted and close to shutdown (I did shut down during the ride home). When I mentioned this to the attorney, he suggested I try to practice socializing with people to increase my endurance for socializing. I did not have the energy to explain anything further. But the whole thing was a lot of work.

One good thing is that my attorney figured out what our communication problem was at some point, and told me - and he was right (he said that neither of us were getting through to the other last week, which was the cause of my frustration).

I am not sure what will happen after I'm turned down. It's possible I could appeal with more supporting evidence, but if attorney says that a federal appeal isn't worth it, I don't know.

I don't know either... At least the standards for food stamps are lower than for disability, so you are not that likely to be hungry. The government is doing at least that much right--I haven't been hungry for a long time, and even when I did have food shortages, it was never a matter of not being able to eat at all, just more of a matter of "dang it, I can only afford ramen noodles".

Trust me, you'll find a way to survive. People always do. We're tough. There are food pantries--there's assisted employment--there are probably friends who would help you. When you get stuck and think there is no solution, there often is; only you're stuck on one track and having trouble switching--one of the problems with being autistic is the tendency not to be able to make those cognitive switches. Sometimes it's not that there's no solution; just that you can't see it.

By the way, your lawyer was only partly right about the socialization thing: Yes, practice does help, but you can't deliberately expose yourself to too much because that just piles up stress and puts you in overload sooner. Probably a good approach to practicing socialization would be to practice ways to make it more efficient, so you have to think less to do it.

But it is entirely logical that you were exhausted after the hearing. The last time I was in court, it was because I was becoming an American citizen--a wonderfully happy thing for me, because America is my home and has been since I was a child--but I was still exhausted afterwards. It was a new situation and I had to think very carefully to follow all the protocols; and to hold myself still during the hearing, too. But I managed it, and came off with a new certificate of naturalization and the right to vote, so it was worth it.

Good on you for getting through it. It sounds stressful. I hope you are getting some time to relax now; you need it.

I don't know, I have two decades of trying and failing to support myself, or even hold a job for more than a few months. That's even assuming I can find a job, which is generally extremely difficult for me. This wasn't a first resort, "I don't feel like I can work," this was my last resort. I don't know if I have the energy or will to go through all that again just because I got a judge who tends to turn down appeals.

I've had more endurance for socializing in the past, but I always feel burnt out after being around people, especially in an intense situation like the hearing.

Don't give up hope it not like he's turning down 99% of cases. I would venture to guess that the large denial rate is partly due to those people who ran out of unemployment and are trying to get disability out of desperation. The judge will see through that. In your case it's legit so don't give up.

I hope you're right, and thank you for posting this.

Also, thank you for posting this. Right now I need other perspectives to remind me just how unrealistic I can get when I'm starting to slide back into depression.

Kitty when I got my 1st denial letter a couple of months ago I went into a major depression for about 3 days until I recognized what I was doing and made the decision to snap out of it. The fact that you're aware of it is a good thing and ANYONE would feel like you in a similar situation, AS or NT.

GL verdandi...hopefully the judge will see your need for assistance

I got a letter pretty soon (3 days or so) after my phone interview

Basicly all the no's I said:

are you a felon?
do you own a yacht?
do you have a trust fund?
etc....

The only thing personal about the information was a small quote
"I live with my parents and I don't pay any rent"

Thanks carlos, my anonymous mexican interviewer. Luckily i can call anytime and ask for Carlos.....i wonder if they name all their employee's carlos and ask them to speak in a foreign accent.

Anyways, need to go in there and change two things from the interview including that quote..=/ dunno just looks ugly to me.

No information given about my coniditions, wonder if carlos wrote them down- is that sort of thing not sent out to the person with the conditions to make sure they remember their conditions and if they don't then SSI can pull a big GOTCHA! denied move.

hmm...well...over and out.

They should send you something called a function report, where you absolutely must describe your difficulties and impairments. And if you forget something or don't think of it as relevant at the time, and then you mention it later, they will ask you why you didn't bring it up in the function report.

It's very easy to get this wrong and effectively be denied because of an inability to properly explain yourself.

thanks for the advice verdandi always helpful =)

You MAY want to let them know your mother recently decided to charge you $550 for rent, unless you can survive on $200 a month. Also makes you eligible for a $50 rebate every year. I have not filled out a renter"s form in five years so it may have gone up

ya going in there to change that specifically...damn you carlos.

SSI is very hard to get, regardless of the diagnoses a person has and you should never apply unless you are actually unable to work due to your issues. If you're only applying because you can't find a job and can not get unemployment benefits, you're just wasting their time, as well as making it harder for those (like myself) who truly are unable to work. So, if you do apply, make sure it's because you know that you can not work. And know that it IS going to be very difficult and take quite a long time. You will also most likely have to get a lawyer in order to win your case.

Yes, I agree here 100%. Getting SSI is a battle of waiting and other things and in the time you wait you could get any kind of job, if you're capable (I'm not and have tried stuff in the past too before this). It took my dad who's actually physically disabled a long time and it was very hard on us because we were down one paycheck and had to depend on mom.

Also to the people with food problems: It may have been mentioned before but if you live in the US at least (dunno if they're in other countries, I'm ignorant) the Salvation Army is GREAT. We went once and they gave us so much food and this was just when my mom got fired and we were living on my dad's SSI. I think we still have some of the canned food left. They gave us macaroni, ramen, shrimp gumbo etc etc. If you're starving or hungry and not picky they are always willing to help you and usually give you more than needed.

well i plan to look for work while i apply....

someone my mom knew who was on disability for 9 years suddenly got booted off it- reason? "he could have been looking for work in this time" at least that is what my mom was told...

Whether i think i'm capable of working or not is a moot point imo.....if the person sitting across from the hiring table thinks i am incapable of working are they going to hire me?
I personally think i can work, should that disqualify me from disability? I guess many of you would say yes.

Inability to find a job+medical evidence siding towards reasons why=disability imo...

by many of your definitions medical evidence alone and lack of a job are not enough

lawyer+medical evidence+truly believing you cannot work= disability in your mind

but by that logic and i believe the logic ssi or ssdi whichever....uses if you could sit down and type a message on the internet you are capable of working.

I'm not at the point where I will say I am incapable of working...while that might be the so called requirement as an aspie I have to take that statement literally.

"I am incapable of working"

So....by that definition none of the things you do in your daily life are considered working?

Whether small or big i consider every action I do a form of work. Brushing my teeth, taking my dog for a walk, typing this all out, tearing down electronics I buy a goodwill for entertainment, or installing them if they are suitable.

I'm sure this will brew a big argument...but i just think the whole disabled thing when it comes to mental disorders is a lot harder to define then say a spinal injury which leaves the person paralyzed.

Are they both forms of disability? Yes.

Technically blinking is a form of work, i'm sure you must burn at least half a calorie doing that.

The question of disability should be are you able to hold a steady job part time or full for more then 3 months...

For me the answer to that question is no....if I have fooled the person into hiring me by pretending to be socially normal for the brief interview I will be hired....(big if for me lately....i've had a couple interviews in the past 2 years of being unemployed and have not been able to fool the interviewers) Although that could be because there were multiple interviewers which makes it harder for me to speak the more people there are around. However I have been hired 4 times and each time with 1 acception being the people who hired me didn't speak English so the job was given to me on my friends word that I would be a good worker....I didn't have to say a word which was nice. However each of these jobs including that one I have not been able to last longer than 3 months, eventually my "sporadic" behavior due to my mental issues eventually leaves me exposed to my co-workers and especially the higher ranking employees as an irregular undependable person.

I believe that there are people more worse off then others financially...but does financial issues make one disabled? There are people who have taken out loans they could not afford who are now in terrible shape financially....does that make them disabled?

Anyways...i've got 0 dollars to my name...but i do have a roof over my head and am usually not hungry. I am thankful for that....but does that make me not disabled?

Probably a giant can of worms but o well....i have to go shovel some dirt.