Do most aspies receive SSI??!

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Just to let you know, they typically turn down everyone the first time. Its the same with SSDI (the difference between SSDI "disability" and SSI is that you had to have worked in the past to apply for disability). It took me a year but I got my SSDI and they retro paid me from the time I started. Mine is based on my back problems, my Asperger's and my Anxiety. My minor kids also get payments once a month through my disability. My kids dont qualify for SSI because my husband makes too much money, they base SSI on your income so if you are a minor and your parents make over a certain amount of money, you will not qualify. As soon as my daughter turns 18 we are going to apply for her SSI. They will help with her income and will pay for her to go to school and make sure that she gets the assistance that she needs. I am moving to France but I still get my benefits unless I start working again.

Yes. I was accepted six months after I applied, without being rejected. I don't know why my application went through so easily; I was told this usually only happened so quickly with terminal cancer patients. Maybe my history of repeatedly trying and failing to keep a job was especially illustrative, or maybe their shrink thought it was an open-and-shut case.

It was still humiliating, and I hate the way they treat you just for not being able to work. It's like you're presumed to be trying to cheat the system unless you can repeatedly prove your innocence.

I scewed over my chances to ever get it. I have worked two jobs for over nine years each. I guess I show the capacity to work even though I never made over $10.00/hr. Even though I needed rides from family to get to the jobs since I do not drive and have gotten lost on buss routes too many times. He He He so embarressed to admit that. Which is funny I never have gotten lost on my parent's 95 acres heavily wooded property or when I walking around my area. There were several times I walked ten miles home from work because I did not want to take a chance of getting lost on the bus again. I also have never lived on my own my entire life. I am completely suited for ssi and will never get it yet the women who rents the upstairs apartment from my parents fakes mental illness and sells her medication gets it with no problems. ( I know she sells her meds because she had to leave so she gave me a paper bag with a pill bottle in it to give to some guy. I opened the bottle and there were multiple types of pills in one of her old medicine bottles. I do not know what they were but they did not look like over the counter pills)

Last edited by Todesking on 17 May 2010, 8:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I did the typical apply and get denied and appeal. Their OWN psychiatrist "strongly recommended" that I be approved, and yet the still denied me. The appeals take 18-22 months (!) so I'm getting by on the few hundred dollars a month I make until then. I'll never make more than that that anyone can foresee, so I really need SSI.

What do you guys think my chances are of getting ssi if I fail my job training program I am taking in July? I have so far put out 43 resumes since October and was not called in for even one interview. All the jobs I ever had I never had to interview for. My friend got me in for the resteraunt job and the machine shop job I was hired as a temp but their only metal finisher quit and I was pressed into the job and did very well at it. I have never gotten any job that I interview for. I come off as weird or like I am trying hide something because I am nervous and will not make eye contact. I have made a interviewer uncomfortable from what my brother who knew the boss told me. So weirded out they did not even hire me even when my brother told the boss who was his friend I get nervous in interviews. Big and weird equal trouble I guess.

I am going to be really screwed when my medical insurance runs out since I need it for my blood pressure medicine.If my blood pressure go up my kidneys will get wiped out and my diabetes will get worst, good bye vision and feet. Maybe I should set up a test with a psychiatrist before it runs out or I can not afford it which ever comes first.

Last edited by Todesking on 17 May 2010, 10:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I was rejected the 1st time I applied but that was rite after I graduated high-school. My dad had set-up a mural funds account with my name on it when I was little(my vision disorder & mental stuff was not diagnosed then) so my SSI rejected my application because I had to many resources. I couldn't remove my name off the account without liquidating it & I wanted to get a job so my dad insisted I leave the money in it. A year or so latter after still looking for a job & having no luck; I had a break-down & my dad let me close out that account. I was approved with no problem when I reapplied but I had mental stuff as well then.

What I hate about SSI is that that I was not allowed to save up any money because it's a poverty program for disableds. Only allowed one house property & vehicle & have to have less than two thousand in assets in order the get the pittance every month. If you live in an area with little job opportunity; you can not save up money to move. You have to spend the money every month in order to keep getting it. The program traps people on the system & encourages abuse. 1ce I started working while I was on it; they started deducting money from my check. For every two dollars I made before taxes; they took one dollar out of what they gave me. After I factored in the taxes, the cost of transportation because I cant drive, my clothes for work, the cost of seeing docs to get meds & stuff to be able to work; I ended up making the same amount of money as if I was not working at all. I worked because I wanted to better myself but the program does NOT encourage that. Being on SSI did allow me to get the state Medicaid but that only covered prescriptions for me because the docs here refused to accept it. When it switched over to Social Security at the begging of the year; Medicaid cut me off because my income is more than the amount I would get from SSI the SSI amount is $674 a month. I will be eligible for the Medicare program starting July but their deducting $110.50 from my Social Security for it. I also ran up some medical debt a couple years ago that I'm still paying off on because I wanted to get treatment for my tremors to keep a job but treatment made me sick & I lost the job. Some job apps do have a spot that ask if your on SSI because the companies may get tax breaks for hiring em & also some gov & non-profit programs may be more willing to help with employment if a person is on SSI. SSI is NOT a perfect program but it's better than nothing.
That was a lot of rambling

It's true, though. I'm trying every trick I know of to get the system to let me get my college degree so I can finally work, but it's difficult and I've nearly been prevented from doing it twice already. Just staying poor and doing nothing would probably be pretty easy, because the only trouble I ever seem to have is when I try to get my tuition paid and my various school-related expenses taken care of. (Mostly with scholarships I earned myself, mind you. Which I am not allowed to touch, and which have endangered my SSI multiple times.)

This is after the voc rehab people said that the only way I'd get a job is if I got one in a specialized area, and the only way to do that was to get a degree, which I had already known and they confirmed. And still the system prevents me from doing anything.

They also expect you to be really, really ultra-organized. Complicated forms are the norm, and if you make a mistake, they kick you off the program.

On Saturday I got a letter that said they were stopping food stamps because I hadn't sent them the right paperwork. I'll probably have to reapply. Thankfully I was paranoid enough to stock up on canned goods, and have a supply so I won't be hungry.

I am applying for it for my AS and reoccurring Major Depressive Disorder, My case worker says I have a good shot at it.

I'm on a disability pension for "ASD".

Filled out the forms with doctors' signatures. Saw a lady who asked me some questions and looked at me; apparently I was a little cognitively impaired that day because I didn't know who the Oz prime minister was, but my self-help skills were deemed very good. Then went and saw a government psychologist, who funnily enough, became a psychologist because her daughter has AS (whilst I made it known I had AD, she would have nothing of that and said AS), but she couldn't help her.... Enter pension.

I must have had someone laughing, as one of the questions on the form was, "What else can we do to help you?" I put, "A new brain would help."

I get it, and it was the typical apply, denied, and getting it through the appeal with the help of an attorney who does SSI appeals for a living. I do have a job, but I'm lucky if I get to work 6 hours a week, so I'm well under the income limit before they'd cut me off. They recently switched to a system where you report income by phone, but they screwed up to the point where I had to show them my December pay stubs twice. Once, by mailing them, and the second time by actually taking the time to go to the local office. It's a headache sometimes dealing with them as sometimes they don't know what they're doing, but it's worth it for the medical benefits alone.

I'm currently receiving SSI and in the process of getting my SSDI active once again for the second time. I have had SSI since I started college in 1999 after graduating high school, at my grandmother's request. I did not want it at the time, but she insisted that I do so, and got it on the first try, fairly easy. They give it out to the deaf people like candies, which is a bad thing in most cases. MANY deaf people take advantage of SSI so that they do not have to work ever again, even with the little income they receive every month. It's maddening.

I have worked for a total of 4 and a half years in a total of 12 years. I am currently 29. The longest job I have had was 2 years and one month, the second longest being 10 months, and the 3rd longest by 3 months. I have worked with 9 different companies. For most of them, I was fired from the job due to either attendance issues or sporting an attitude that they find they didn't want me around anymore. I have quit a couple of jobs due to fear of being fired or having to move out of state. I have tried working, and have learned now that I can only manage part-time jobs without being frazzled / having a shutdown from the job off-hours. I was fortunate to work for Target for two years, but it took a toll on my relationship with my wife, my son and myself at the time. I am now divorced now. Not being able to find a job is a very small part of it.

I have major anxiety issues with getting a job, working around other people, and have motivation issues. The jobs that I worked for: the 2 years, the 10 months, and the 3 months were walk-in, apply and getting the job on literally the same day. I'm still amazed I worked for Target for 2 years! I actually liked that job, mostly enjoying helping out the customers in the store, oddly enough. I always have a social blunder every time I deal with my bosses, and co-workers.

Anyway, back on topic of the SSI; I was cut off from SSI/SSDI for not reporting my income in a timely fashion when I worked for Target part-time - they deemed that I earned more than 900 a month, which I only happened for like a few months. With SSDI, if you have 10 months of work earnings over a certain amount (in this case I think it was 950) they will cut you off from SSDI. The 10 months don't have to be consecutive. I learned that the hard way. I was SSI/SSDI-free for up close to two years when I reapplied in June 2008. They got me back on SSI quickly, and I still have both Medicaid and Medicare (the latter from SSDI). I do not have to pay for Medicare because Medicaid covers it.

I am hoping my current appeal to get SSDI back up along with the fact that I have tried working in the past and was unsuccessful at holding down a job and that now with the knowledge of what the heck was wrong with me all these years (Asperger's), that hopefully they can process my claim expeditiously so that I can be able to work part-time again (I prefer to be able to work, and with part-time jobs I seem to last a lot longer at the job than the full-time ones) and not have to worry about the stringent limitations that are imposed on SSI recipients.

A little info on my diagnosis:

Axis I: Asperger's Disorder, Dysthymic Disorder
Axis II: Schizotypal PD and Dependent Personality traits most likely part of profile of Asperger's
Axis III: Bilateral Deafness, history of scarlet fever (not sure why that is on Axis III)
Axis V: 45

I received SSDI not merely due to having AS mind you but, rather also having diabetes as well which has created some troubles for me as a person.. Actually speaking of diabetes is something that I'm not fond of for the mere fact most people get this image in his/her mind of someone on a sofa eating bon-bons,cookies,etc.. This was not the case for me as, I developed diabtese type1 late in life and in fact, wound up being in a coma prior to me learning I had it which, resulted in me suffering brain trauma..Anyways, I'm not sure how many people in the spectrum are on SSI but, I'd feel there might be a moderate number of such persons overall..


ProfessorX

Sounds like the actual merits of these programs are highly dubious, so long as you can at least get entry-level, no-english-required caliber work and just chip away and save for treatment costs! Granted, to each their own. That kind of work doesn't tend to help with depression, I know, but these aid services sound even worse.

I don't receive any SSI. Though I am open to the idea if I ever get laid off.

Gee, this sounds familiar. I've never received Social Security for a disability, but my daughter did receive it after her father died. They did the same thing with regards to my earnings. Apparently, they don't actually want anyone in the program getting beyond the bare poverty limit. It was great when I was first widowed and we needed the money to survive, but once I was able to get back on my feet, it just became a frustrating nightmare. I was glad when my daughter turned 18 and I could cut loose from them.

Could you avoid the money hassels if you put you cash in trust fund or a blind trust?