** Won't you please share the joy of WYFP by recommending?
WYFP is our community's Saturday evening gathering to talk about our problems, empathize with one another, and perhaps share advice. Everyone and all sorts of troubles are welcome. May we find peace and healing here. :-)
Many longtime WYFP readers know that I have a combination of mild to moderate disabilities (traumatic brain injury and asperger's syndrome) that have kept me unemployed for 3 or 4 years, during which time I've been trying to get Social Security Disability benefits. I applied, got turned down, moped for too long to start the appeal process and then re-applied, received a presumptive approval of my claim (some will remember this), then had the claim turned down. I appealed it, with some new medical evidence, and just yesterday afternoon I received a phone call letting me know a real, final decision has been made in my favor. I will start receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments right away.
It was not a foregone conclusion how this would turn out. My case was not an easy one to prove, since to most people I don't
seem disabled even though my experience of work and everyday life was that I had some distinct limitations. I was a fairly worthless employee and lost 7 jobs in a row because of problems related to my disabilities. I have intelligence and various skills and abilities, and both I and other people felt like I ought to be able to succeed at something; very painful experience proved otherwise. But failing turned out to be a funny kind of blessing. My needs will be taken care of, I've explored other ways of useful and meaningful participation in the world, and I have grown as a person through this experience.
People often thank me for posting WYFP, even though some weeks that's been practically all I've done--post a blank diary and let people comment on it! I don't want to sound like a slacker, because I believe in diligent hard work, as much as I am able to do, but I actually love that, that WYFP is a contribution that people find valuable pretty much regardless of what I do with it. Somehow there is a kind of metaphor for my life, of being powerless and seemingly not possessing or contributing anything most of the time, and yet "miraculously" effective, wealthy and useful anyway. I enjoy that much more than I would enjoy the prospect of conventional success, because it has a strong quality of "the grace of God." I don't think you have to be religious to know what I mean. I can have a relaxed sense that the universe is an essentially friendly place where I am loved. Not because I do something, but even more so because I'm disabled--weak and in need. I've learned that to acquire a sense of this in one's life, which is resilient even in the face of adversity and suffering, is incredibly precious.
So, I think I am more grateful for WYFP than anybody. And I am grateful to you all, to the Social Security Administration, to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and everyone who has seen to it that Americans who cannot work due to disability or old age will be provided for, though we always have to keep working to help those who fall through the cracks.
Now, I wanted to let everybody know I got approved for SSDI, but WYFP is actually about our problems which we are suffering from and struggling with, so please share yours, or share some comfort with someone else!
Update: A kossack who is a Social Security Administration worker emailed me some tips to pass on, which may benefit some who are seeking SSDI/SSI benefits:
- Having an attorney or an experienced, qualified paralegal helps. A lot. I can't recommend it enough. The whole process is a Himalayan mountain to climb, and no one ever makes it to the top without a Sherpa. The two main professional organizations for SSI attorneys are NOSSCR http://www.nosscr.org/ and NADR http://www.nadr.org/ . They can provide referrals for someone local to you. Don't go to your Uncle Bob who's a part-time tax attorney, unless he's wrangled with SSA before.
- When the state Disability Determination Service (DDS) turns you down, don't get discouraged. That's what they do. Some states are worse than others, but they routinely turn down benefits for people who are clearly qualified. APPEAL. ASAP.
- If an ODAR Administrative Law Judge turns you down after a hearing, don't get discouraged. Some of them are insufferable idiots and others are hardasses. APPEAL. ASAP. If you are legitimately disabled, chances are pretty good that you will eventually get a favorable ruling, as Elizabeth did.
- Take advantage of the resources online: the ODAR website http://www.ssa.gov/oha/ has lots of information about the process, as do a couple of non-official sites like Disability Doc http://www.disabilitydoc.com/ and others.
- When in doubt about forms or where your case stands, call your local Hearing Office and ask to speak to the Case Technician working your case. Believe it or not, despite the mind-numbing bureaucracy of the appeals process, most of us little people working the cases genuinely want to help the legitimate claimants.