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Message |
    
Rachael
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - 12:46 pm: | 
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Im
15 years old going on 16, im in 11th grade and i plan on going to
college. My parents think that i should go on disability for being
depressed and having bi-polar, but i disagree with them. I want to work
and do things in my life. What should i do, and what would going on
disability do to my life? |
Paul McChesney (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 916
Registered: 5-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, November 25, 2004 - 6:40 am: |
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Rachel,
that's a good question. I am not wise enough to answer your question,
and I don't know enough about your exact situation, either.
I
will list every advantage of each approach and of a third approach.
This will help make sure that you and your parents have considered
every alternative.
Advantages of filing for disability:
1. You get a check every month for a while if you win. For how long? Hard to say.
2. If you win, you would get Medicaid (if you get SSI) or Medicaid (if you get Social Security disability).
Advantages of going to college:
1. You feel like you are doing something.
2.
If you get a degree in something that not just anyone can do, and for
which there is a high demand - an RN degree, for example, and there are
many more - you will find that it will be much easier to get a job
despite your disability. I run into many people who would be disabled,
but because their degree is in such high demand, they are working
anyway.
3. Over time you will get the most money, and probably like what you do best.
You
don't have to go right through college in the normal manner. If you
have periodic spells during which you cannot work, you might be able to
get through gradually over time. Many community colleges are designed
for part time attendance, which fits well with certain disabilities.
Advantages of working:
1. You get more money than by drawing disability.
2.
At your age, if you work only a little for a few years, you will become
eligible for Social Security disability in case you get disabled later,
which is better in many ways than SSI. You get Medicare with it, and
you can marry a rich man and still get benefits.
Advantages of doing all three:
For
some people, work or education are a hopeless dream. For others, they
would be easy if the person would just get the courage to try it. Each
person's situation is a little different, but if work or education are
a realistic possibility, I almost always encourage my clients to try
them. The best way out, if you can pull it off, though the longest and
hardest, is almost always to educate yourself out of your disability.
All
of this is not to say that you should neglect a disability claim. Often
you can file and keep trying to work and go to school; this sometimes
makes a mess, but more often if you lose you would have lost anyway,
and if you fail at work or school the pattern of failure tends to prove
disability. If you try this it would be a good idea for you and your
parents to talk to an attorney.
If you succeed in drawing
disability, there are some great programs that are designed to
encourage people to keep going to school and trying to get back into
the work force.
Finally, I want to mention one thing that
bothers me about the job I have, which is to try to win disability
cases for people. I wish it were not so, and I encourage people not to
think this way, but there are some people who are in some ways hurt by
getting a disability check. They start thinking of themselves as
disabled, and are afraid to let go of that image of themselves. In some
ways you create yourself by imagining what you might be, and then
trying to become that person. There is a real limit to how much this
sort of dreaming can accomplish, but the civilized world you see around
you is built of such dreams, and the power of man and womankind to
dream, and then become what they dream, should not be underrated, and
we are none of us wise enough to ever despair of success. |
Diane Summers
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 22, 2004 - 11:07 am: |
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Hello
my name is Diane, I'm 37 years of age and have suffered with back, leg
and pain in my left foot all my life. In the last year my pain has
gotten worse and has also increased in another area in which my doctor
thinks is my SI (sacroiliac) joint. I was born with mild scoliosis,
nervous stomach spasms, and my left foot is considered a "partial club
or claw" foot. I have also developed terrible arthritis in both knees.
In my "younger years" I simply "lived" with the pain, not complaining
much about it to anyone. At this point not only am I experiencing alot
of pain with my SI problem, but at times can barely walk because of the
pain in my knees and my "club foot" cramps and hurts more intensely and
often than ever in my life. I am tired all the time....and barely make
it through the day without a nap at some point. I haven't worked for a
year now due to all of the above, but I have worked all my life since
age 15. I've recently had an MRI to my back and spine and it showed
that I had a congenital fusion of two of my vertebrae, and narrowing of
some of my vertebral space. What is your opinion of my applying for
disability? My help with our income would be a great benefit to our
family, with the constant fatigue and pain that I feel it's difficult
for me to work. Please give me your honest opinion as to what I should
do. Thank you in advance. |
Paul McChesney (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 917
Registered: 5-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, December 01, 2004 - 12:53 pm: |
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Diane,
without seeing the medical records and knowing what your work skills
are it's a guess, but you should probably file. My rule of thumb is
that if you can see you can't work, you should consider filing. A
separate question is whether you should also continue to struggle to
work. If there is no health risk, and if you can hold up to it, the
answer to that question is almost, but not always, "yes." There are a
lo tof posts on my forum on this working-while-disabled approach. |
Anonymous
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 24, 2005 - 10:27 pm: |
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I
am a 55 year old male and have been diagnosed with DeQuervain's I am
currently in vocational rehab. However, it is causing me a great deal
of pain. Because of the amount of computer work. I also have spinal
stenosis, PTSD (30% Vietnam service connected) and ankolosing
spondylitis. I am on VA Voc Rehab seeking a single subject teaching
credential but the work on the computer drains me. I do not know what
to do. I have a phone interview for SSDI in a couple of weeks. I still
want to work. But, I am not sure if teaching is right. The VA has been
helpful but I think that we should have explored other careers given
the fact I have problems using my hands. It is quite depressing and
that does not help the PTSD. Any thoughs or suggestions? |
Paul McChesney (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 1040
Registered: 5-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 06, 2005 - 6:56 am: |
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You
have a lot of problems that might or might not combine to enable you to
win a disability case. It is usually smart to try to cover all
possiblities; in your case that would be to pursue a disability claim,
keep working on the teaching unless it becomes clear it is not possible
for you to do that, and explore other career possibilities, too. Take
care and good luck. |
Anonymous
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 22, 2005 - 11:44 am: |
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My
wife has had seven operations on her vertabrae the last one fused her
spine fron C2 to T1. She cannot drive a car, sit for more than two
hours nor stand for more than 15 minutes without feeling weakness in h
arms and legs or feeling dizzy. Should she apply? She has been working
for most of her life since age 19. She is now 48. |
Paul McChesney (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 1176
Registered: 5-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 29, 2005 - 7:16 am: |
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That is a pretty serious operation. If she cannot persist for 8 hours at even a sit down job, she should apply. Take care. |
Jennifer Johnson (Jenniferej)
New member
Username: Jenniferej
Post Number: 1
Registered: 8-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 16, 2005 - 10:39 am: |
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I
suffered from severe preeclmapsia during the birth of my son. Which
left me with epilepsy. I have been having seizures for 18 years. I
received SSI for a short while back in 1993. In 1994 I got married and
was cut of due to my husbands income. In 1999 I had brain surgery to
try and repair the damage done to the nerve on my brain, damaged by my
expereience with preclampsia. I recently applied again for disability
since my seizures have started back. I also have a letter stating from
my nurologist that he doesn't think I could work a full time job due to
the type of seizures that I have. I am working parttime at a mental
health clinic cleaning offices. But they are also worried because when
I have a seizure I have no sense of who I am or where I am. I will do
whatevere someone tells me to do at that time. Is their a possiblity
for me to get disability. I have considered hiring a lawyer, should I? |
Paul McChesney (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 1439
Registered: 5-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 7:21 am: |
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Jennifer,
if you are having seizures on a frequent basis despite medication,
there is a good chance that you could win a disability claim.
That
does not necessarily mean you should file; if you have a job that is
working out for you, you are fortunate; if you quit you might not find
another. I am not saying your job is safe, of course. That is a
question that you must weigh carefully.
I take it that you
have gone back to work and worked enough to qualify. This illustrates
an important point: If you have a serious health problem, it is even
more important that you work, and report earnings, than if you are
healthy, so that if your condition worsens you will have the protection
of Social Security.
(Message edited by admin on September 24, 2005) |
Mark Vadas (Mjvad)
New member
Username: Mjvad
Post Number: 1
Registered: 10-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, October 03, 2005 - 12:50 pm: |
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I
am 31 and have had 3 back surgeries and countless procedures since I
was 27. I am on 8 different medications that make it hard for me to
concentrate. However, I would like to do something. So, I have 3
questions: (1) Do you know of a good site or organization that will
help in finding work for a disabled person? I live in Mt. Pleasant, SC.
(2) Can I work and still receive SSD? If so, how much can I make and
still receive full benefits? (3) My wife owns her own business and if I
become an “official co-owner,” is there a government grant or loan
available to disabled persons that I can obtain to start my own
business or invest in her business? |
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