<p>My wife deals with a chronic illness plus the long term side effects of medication. She is off ssi by her choice because for all those you read about that should not receive the benefit there are many more that could qualify but do not because of guilt or the fact that the benefit is not enough to live on.
In my wife’s case it is guilt she does not want to collect it. She is really not able to replace the ss income now by working. She gets sick too often. I have a co-worker who I am sure would qualify but struggles everyday at work because if he did not come to work he could not support his family. I would bet none of us could do what he does. Another co-worker died last week I also am certain he could and should have been on disability. He needed a liver transplant at the end. He had suffered from cancer and other illnesses for years and the medication took a toll. He would have certainly qualified for ss but never applied.</p>
<p>Tom1944, I am sorry to read about your wife. For what it is worth I am telling your wife it his ok. She should go sign up for Ssi even though it is a ridiculous process. </p>
<p>I love your posts because what you write is what I see. A young lady I know just signed up for Ssi. She should have been getting it for years. To make matters worse, her parents have very little. I had know idea she wasn’t getting Ssi. I assumed she was. She wants to work too. She has the capability to work. If she gets hired with enough hours, she will be off Ssi. She still will live on poverty level money.</p>
<p>There are many with chronic health conditions that can’t hold a 8 hour/day job, particularly one that involves standing on your feet, including food service, retail and even most pharmacists. My kids could never hold such jobs and those are about the only choice for many if they don’t have the education and training for other positions.</p>
<p>My friend’s H recently died. He had cancer but couldn’t afford to quit working because it was all they lived on. She was disabled due to a lung condition the required a lung transplant. They scrimped along and I’m sure working with his cancer shortened his life as well. Many can be disabled even though they don’t APPEAR disabled. Some of us can’t be around people who would make us sick because when most people would only get sick for perhaps a few days, I may get sick for weeks to months!</p>
<p>Yes, IF you have an accommodating employer AND a great skill set, you MAY be able to find or cobble together a job and make wages, but many people don’t have these options and all the jobs in their towns involve standing for long periods of time and/or heavy lifting.</p>
<p>Yes, people on SSI do get SOME money, but it’s really not a princely sum for most–about $500-600/month, I believe (at least that’s what my printout says I’d get if I were to become disabled). In our state, you could never even pay rent on a modest place for that amount.</p>
<p>Thank you. I think most people do not understand what it is really like to not be able to work. My wife describes her illness as feeling as if she has the flu everyday. Imagine living with that. Now go to work.</p>
<p>If you saw my wife you would think she is perfectly healthy, She is very thin and does personal training. Problem is she struggles and ultimately is not able to work enough to make a liveable wage if she needed to support herself.</p>
<p>Are there people who abuse ss disability sure but there are many more who struggle everyday rather than collect it.</p>
<p>Fwiw, I know what the conditions are that are causing these women to supposedly qualify for SSI. They have to fill it out on forms when they come in to the shelter for federal funding purposes. I wouldn’t presume to judge whether or not a stranger should or should not qualify.</p>
<p>Very interesting article. My first job out of college - and of course this is going way way back, was taking applications for Social Security. I remember wondering if I would ever (I never did) encounter the happy couple retiring and applying for their hard earned social security benefits. It never happened. Most were not eligible for Social Security and were applying for SSI, which is a benefit for people who do not have enough work credits to qualify for Social Security benefits. Likewise, if you are disabled with sufficient work history you can qualify for Social Security benefits, but without sufficient work history your disability benefit falls under SSI.</p>
<p>What I have never heard of is children qualifying for SSI disability benefits based on what appears to be (from the article) being “classified” as learning disabled in the school system. As the parent of a kid who was in “special ed” I am familiar with the process and many of the “benefits” ie, special teachers, classes, even a bus (the short bus), but I never heard about a cash payment for children.</p>
<p>My on again off again boyfriend is on SSD now. It is making him crazy. He has always worked physical labor jobs but after three spinal fusions, two rotator cuff surgeries, a knee replacement, ulcers and really bad gout, he really can’t do a physical job anymore. He’s very intelligent but never got an education so there is little he is qualified to do at age 51. He originally got a worker’s comp settlement and he used that to pay for his last two surgeries and to buy a (cheap) house so he would always have a roof over his head no matter what. Still, it is very hard for him to live on his income and he won’t qualify for Medicare for another year. His has huge bills from his knee replacement. Because of his settlement and owning a house, he doesn’t qualify for Medicaid. He wants to take classes in computer repair and get a certification in that but he can’t get financial aid because of that settlement. He can fix anything already, but he has no way to prove that to someone. Computers are small enough that he could work on them without too much physical discomfort. He does what he can on the side to earn more money. He helped a friend out at his pizza place for about 12 hours a week. He fixes cars for friends and family who give him a little money for that. The problem is, he can only work on something like that for an hour or two and then he has to rest and recuperate so it takes a long time to get things done. He’s always been a hard worker and goes through these bouts of depression when he gets hopeless about getting out of this situation. That’s why we’re “on again, off again”. When he goes through those depressions, he has been shutting me out, saying that he has nothing to offer me. Truth be told, he’d be a fantastic house husband. He’s a great cook and makes me dinner almost every night. It is sooooo nice to come home and get that text “I have linguine and Italian sausage, want some dinner?” Together, our income would be fine, but he’s very proud and insists that he must find the solution and resolve this on his own. He doesn’t want to be dependent on me and honestly, I appreciate and understand that. He needs to know he can support himself. Right now, his 86 year old mom is selling her house and moving in with his sister and is giving them each half the proceeds from her house. He’s using that money to finish paying the medical bills and get that certification, so he’s feeling hopeful again. You’re barely above the poverty line when you’re on SSD. As mentioned above, you can make some money. They take away $1 for every $2 you earn if you are working so there is incentive to work at what you can do, even if it isn’t full time.</p>
<p>My wife was telling me that in her school, a lot of parents of elementary school kids come in to have teachers sign documents stipulating that their kids have disabilities so they can collect ss.</p>
<p>Himom, thanks for your post. </p>
<p>Tom1944, I just can’t imagine what it is like to live with flu conditions everyday. Also, it has to be extremely difficult for you.</p>
<p>The “This American Life” episode from this past weekend covers the children issue. Very touching story. I don’t know how to link, but I got it on I-tunes on Monday.</p>
<p>It is episode #490, Trends with Benefits.</p>
<p>2016barnardmom, another great post. </p>
<p>Well NJres, I do not like to write about it but I have a special needs child of my own. I used to believe in survival of the fittest, but I learned quite a bit about life from her. I am a better person because of her. My empathy expanded. </p>
<p>My kid gets Ssi. She qualifies for Medicaid, but she is not on Medicaid because it is a pain in the butt and we can afford for her not to be on Medicaid. Getting Ssi has been a struggle and dealing with the SS office is still a struggle. My daughter wants to work. We are hoping she can work 20 hours a week. That should get her off Ssi. We have no idea what we are going to do about housing for her in the future. I have to have enough money saved for 30 years after I die so I know she doesn’t have to rely on any govt programs. </p>
<p>People say they support the disabled but they want programs like Ssi and Medicaid cut. Your support is all talk. It’s meaningless. These programs are cut and the disabled are harmed. You want the programs cut? Fine. You don’t support the disabled. You have no clue. </p>
<p>Can you tell I am tired of some of these arguments? Lol</p>
<p>What is the children issue that you’re referring to?</p>
<p>I know many people who have chronic mono. To look at them, they seem fine and normal. They do what they can to get an education and hope they can get jobs with understanding bosses. A few win the lottery and beat the odds and become self-sufficient while the others just struggle, some relying on SSI, most on generosity of loved ones. For most they would give anything to be “normal” and get a job. Since these conditions are invisible and sometimes temporarily improve they get very little support, even from loved ones–far less in the workplace.</p>
<p>“For most they would give anything to be “normal” and get a job”</p>
<p>I liked your whole post Himom. I am just highlighting this…</p>
<p>DocT- maybe different by state. In NJ, children with special needs do not qualify for SSI until age 18, unless family income is very low.
At age 18, adult child can then qualify for SSI on their own presumably low income.</p>
<p>Dstark- right there with you.</p>
<p>“DocT- maybe different by state. In NJ, children with special needs do not qualify for SSI until age 18, unless family income is very low.”</p>
<p>Same in California.</p>
<p>It also isn’t as simple as getting a teacher’s signature to show that a kid is disabled.</p>
<p>As a special educator, I’m occasionally asked to fill out paperwork for a child to qualify for SSI. Where I work, in order to qualify, the kids have to be severely impacted. The student with ADHD who gets some accommodations, but generally does well on Ritalin, isn’t going to qualify. The kid with profound ADHD, who can’t attend aftercare because he’s been kicked out of 3 of them, and yet who can’t be left unsupervised long enough for mom to take a shower, and who takes antipsychotic meds because the ADHD meds trigger mania, does qualify if his family’s income is low enough.</p>
<p>Similarly, a child with dyslexia won’t qualify. A child with a borderline IQ, combined with LD’s severe enough that they have trouble following a conversation, or making basic computations (e.g. figuring out if their $5 bill is enough to pay for 2 $1.50 candy bars), will. </p>
<p>Honestly, SSI is only for families living in poverty. Living in poverty is hard. Living in poverty when you have a child who can’t attend aftercare so you can work, or who requires parents to take off multiple times a month for Dr.'s visits, or who requires special expensive shoes to hold orthotics, is super hard. If SSI makes it a little easier, then I’m good with that.</p>
<p>CuriousJane, I appreciate what you do for a living and your post.</p>
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<p>I do believe SSDI properly awarded is a crucial lifeline. It’s unfortunate that sometimes the bad eggs get publicity instead of the many lives it helps, who would be in more poverty and more desperate without it. </p>
<p>Our family is crossing our fingers that none of us or anyone near and dear needs to have this lifeline, but we really believe it needs to exist.</p>