in your opinion do you think autism/asperge is a disability?

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just need some opinions on this, im wondering if i should apply for SSI

Can you work? If not, then yes, go ahead and apply. It will take a while, so start soon.

Yes, AS is a disability. However, most disabled people can work; so just being disabled is not enough to be on disability, and even in most cases where you could get SSI, working is still possible. Don't give up on work until you've thoroughly explored your options.

I agree. For SSI/disability AS and autism should only be used as a disability if you actually CANNOT maintain a job because of it...not as a way to simply get out of work just because you don't feel like doing a job. (Not saying that is what you are doing, btw, just giving my two cents.)

In my mind, for the most part whether something is a disability or not is relative to a particular function eg having no killer instinct is a disability in the context of shooting people in a war, in general I would not personally call autism a disability but in the context of doing well in modern society it is. This is all relative though, I'm sure it's possible to have an environment and society where autistics do well and NTs are disabled. I don't view myself as disabled in general but I do view myself as disabled at certain things which include things needed to survive in this environment such as money.

As for SSI if you feel you can't cope and need the money then you should try and claim it

I do not know all the details and/or differences between SSI and SSDI (disability), but I suggest you begin finding an answer to your question by talking with an attorney who handles applications and appeals. S/he should be able to tell you whether or not you already have enough documentation to even bother applying. In my own case, I began with an application stating I am disabled, but I had no historical, medical or psychiatric documentation actually proving that ... so I ended up receiving a letter saying I am not disabled according to their rules (which require professional diagnosis and disability documentation).

I do have an appeal hearing next week, and tomorrow I will find out whether or not my attorney is going to even make any kind of argument on my behalf.

I am disabled now, but was able to both work and return to school before I even knew that I was AS. My current disability is both physical and mental. I would say that if you have been unable to hold on to a job due to complications arising from the AS, then try to seek out assistance. I found that I was always able to obtain employment, but keeping it was another matter entirely. By age 40, I was completely burned out.

You can apply and see what happens. I went to the social security office a few years ago to apply for SSI, I was handed a list of things I can and can't do. I thought, well I am having trouble finding work but I can do all the stuff on this list, like clean house, grocery shop, cook, talk to people.
So, I filled out the application, turned it in, and it was rejected, which didn't surprise me. I felt less disabled after filling it out.
My advice is, get a lawyer to help.

I was denied at first, then it went to trial. I won. I get disability... though not necessarily for Apergers... I get it due to my OCD and inability to properly function outside of my home. Like others here, I used to work... hell I had multiple jobs during one point in my life. I would prefer to be able to go back to that again but burnout sucks and I never did fully recover.

I agree with the advice of talking to a lawyer. I would also recommend talking to a psychologist if you have not already. They might be able to point you in directions to find work you could comfortably do... give you options that perhaps you have not considered. I filed as a last resort. I cannot work and my family needs the additional income I can no longer supply by working. If I could do something I would. If you cannot work, get a psych and a lawyer and they can help. I do not recommend trying to go through that process alone. It is overwhelming, terrifying, confusing and awful. The whole process shut me down for weeks at a time and I had an amazing lawyer and therapist who all but held my hand through it all... not to mention support from a wonderful friend and my husband.

Whatever you opt to do, I wish you well in it.

the question is if YOU are disabled, not if autism/asperger's is a disability.

the problems I can think of most when dealing with autism and the workplace are: the interview and other social complexities, communication ability, sensory issues, dealing with change, stress, attention shifting...

but a lot of people with autism excel at a certain area or would do well in quiet, repetitive work.

I get accused of this once a week, despite my extensive history of unemployment, difficulty holding jobs for a serious length of time, and extreme difficulty actually getting jobs.

Since it's really hard to get on SSI to begin with, especially if one doesn't have documentation of their disabilities, I suspect that most people who are malingering because they don't want to work are going to have a hard time justifying it.

So what I mean is, it seems pretty useless to even bring that possibility up.

It depends on your particular situation. If you've been trying and it's been going really badly for a while, despite your best efforts, and you're running out of money to live on and such, then applying would be a good thing to do. (And the process if really slow, so if you need it you should apply ASAP.)

I managed to scrape along until I was about 30, and then "the roof finally fell in" (burnout).

Oh, and SSDI/SSI is awarded ("awarded"?) based on inability to work rather than just a diagnosis.

And as others have mentioned, a lawyer can help. Depending on the details they may take your case on contingency.

I'd say that my autism is and isn't a disability. In some ways, my autistic tendencies have given people the impression that I'm nuts. At the same time, it's been a blessing.

I hate these discussions.

There is a guy on the History channel program about logging. He lost his arm in an accident. But he is still able to whip a chain saw around like a toy with one good arm and one fake one. He sure as hell is disabled. But he also has found ways around it and he makes people with two arms look bad.

But people seem to love arguing about wtf disabled is. It's simple. I am disabled if an expected ability has been truncated either through circumstance or birth. Period.

What I DO about it it an entirely different question.

Here is a copy of part of a letter from the judge for my appeal hearing next week ...

[img][800:1237]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5489953/hearing1.jpg[/img]

In comparison, getting food stamps was a piece of cake.

your 60 and they rejected your disability?

So far, but I do have the appeal hearing next week. I can show having had "psychiatric treatment" beginning in 1977, but now SSA says I have no history of "mental issues" because I had not seen a psychiatrist or therapist between the early '90s and a few weeks ago. I have a 1998 MRI showing degenerative back trouble, but I never had surgery and just "toughed it out" for as long as I could stand it ... and now my pay stubs reflecting my diminishing capacity to work over several months preceding this past year of not being able to work at all do not seem to be making any impression on anyone. And to top all of that off, I have done some extensive looking and have still found no doctor or psychiatrist anywhere near me who can and will take the time to deal with an old, burned-out cripple like me who has self-assessed AS/HFA.

I wish the best for you if you do decide to apply, but please go talk with an attorney who deals with all of that before getting much hope stacked up for the SSA to easily and conveniently just blow away.