Receiving disability benefits for aspergers unusual or not?

Post Reply New Topic

I left when I was 17, actually. And then I tried for years to take care of myself, barely surviving until it was down to either homelessness or going on disability.

Think again, and think hard, about why you are calling people "leeches on society" or "coddled social misfits". Think what it might be like to really not be able to work. Putting people down when you haven't thought about what their lives are like, much less walked a mile in their shoes, isn't something you should be doing.

Yeah, that lady has no clue. Autistic people can be very smart and very autistic simultaneously. I'm pretty good at learning, but I still need a good deal of help. Even more extreme examples include people who are non-verbal and need 24-hour care... and are going to college. Given scattered skills, it's not unknown to get some really unusual combinations that result in people being capable of things you'd never thought they would have been, or being incapable of things you'd think would be easy for them.

Find yourself someone who either knows about autism, or is willing to learn. Spell out the problems you are facing. You can probably start with a counselor; see if they know someone who knows more than they do. Perhaps someone who works with people who have learning disabilities like dyslexia? They usually have previous experience with the phenomenon of people being very good at one thing, very bad at another. Autism isn't a learning disability, but we often benefit from the same things that people with a learning disabilty or ADHD might benefit from.

If you ain't walked in the shoes of another, don't front.

I moved out when I was nearly 20, I got my first job when I was 18 and it was at a thrift store and working in the high school library. I also did some community work in school in middle school and high school like picking up recycling from classrooms, going to the town library and dusting bookshelves. I worked at home watering trees for my parents making over $100. My parents helped me, so did my school. I was also motivated to work and want to be independent.

Back in the days, I am sure people who were too disabled to work or make it through life lived at home or in a institution or were homeless. I heard through hearsay they died because they couldn't survive.

I get high rate care (DLA). I need this because the stress I get as a result of my AS.
From what I've heard, it's not unusual at-all. Less than 20% of Aspies work, so many are kind of dependent on it.

I don't see how I'll ever work but I don't know if I could get social security either. I've thought about trying now that I have Medicaid but I'm just about fed up with going to doctors (I recently had cancer) and I have trouble talking to psychologists and don't know where to go so it seems pointless and potentially dangerous. What if they want to put me on medication or hospitalize me?

If I were to look for a job I wouldn't even know where to apply. I have no education, no experience, and no license or car. Most jobs want you to have one or more of those things. Any job I got would have to be within walking distance or on the bus line. Otherwise I'd have no way to get there. I'd have problems dealing with customers and coworkers. I have trouble even leaving my house on a regular basis. I now also have the worry that if I did get a job if it didn't give insurance I could lose my Medicaid and I need that for all my follow up doctor visits for the cancer.

I'm just lucky I have my mother to support me.

I have almost aways had a job. Applying for DLA is not something that even occurred to me. The main thing with ESA and DLA in theis country (UK) is that the people that do the report ATOS are useless and I am not looking forward to that interview. I will have to be assessed by ATOS because of my employer and any adjustments that have to be made. However I am lucky with my job as it suits me. I sit at a desk, answer questions by phone and tap away at a computer. The only real issue I have is my collegues think its funny to change the position of stuff on my desk (everything has to be at a right angle or parrallel) although that has died down too. I could never work in a shop or deal with the public face to face. Anyway the only benefit I receive is Child Benefit and I did get Child tax Credit until the income limits came down about a year ago.

The image of scroungers is done by a very small majority. I work in the benefits system and yes you do get people who take the piss, there always will be, but as I said they are the minority. I have spoken to people who are mortified that they are claiming and they are usually the ones that gets screwed over as they just don't get the system.