Disability benefits for aspergers?
I'm sorry to he harsh, but what you're doing is horrible. You do not need to be on disability! Social security is looking monet because of people like you who go on disability without needing it! I have all your problems, and i would never take the governments money like that! Shame on you!
i've never been on disability, but it gets so hard! i used to work as a typist and was excellent in it. but i got fired because they had some problems and were laying many people off. then it went downhill. the computer now does the typing, they have a program in the computer that can do that. i used to type words, but now there are only numbers and i keep making mistakes. also they ask for filing and i got fired because i got confused. the only jobs that i can get now are doing surveys over the phone, a terrible job for a aspie, no doubt. that, or selling over the phone. yeah, right, like i can do that.
can't even bag plastic bags at the grocery store. i used to work for mcdoandls and places like that. loved it, because i was super hyper till my supervisor thought i was on drugs (wasn't). but now i'm 45 and exhausted and can't do that anymore. i've tried...
so i'm stuck in a survey job i absolutely hate and life sucks.
be prepared for a looooong wait. you need two docs to say it.
I chose to go on disability once I got diagnosed because I was on unemployment benefits anyway, but disability was a few extra $$$. And it meant I didn't HAVE to look for work.
BUT I want to work, though going on disability bought me a little time to come to understand AS and how it impacts on employment. Once I got all that worked out, I voluntarily joined a job agency, and might, apparently, have a job interview in the next week or so for filling shelves in a supermarket.
There's talk in the Australian media that our current gov is going to re-assess Disability to get those who have shown they can work off of disability and back looking for work (whether there are jobs or not).
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I get DLA payments (£50 a week), I first recieved it when I was diagnosed 7 years ago. I used to hate it because I felt like I was taking advantage and just getting money for no reason. Nowadays it's a godsend because I need it for travel and stuff.
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Wish I had DLA when I was your age, by the way, as it would have made a world of difference at times, but my parents considered that a bad idea.
Unfortunately the Tories are abolishing DLA soon. The replacement, PIP, will be far harder to get, and won't have the bottom tiers that DLA has. Anyone on the lower tier for DLA, like most Aspies who get DLA, will be much worse off from 2013. Time for some more anti-government riots, I think....
Hey, I know this is an older thread, but hopefully I'll get a reply.
I noticed some of you are from Australia, namely Queensland, and even Townsville specifically. I was wondering what course of action you took to obtain disability payments (if you even managed to). Because I've had no luck and I've been unemployed for 5 years now since I left school. I went to see a psychiatrist to try and get help, he didn't seem to know anything, told me asperger's is never diagnosed in adults, then told me I definitely had it. Then he suggested I take all these medications and and look for a job.
Along with asperger's I have a myriad of physical things wrong with me. A back injury, GERD, enchondroma that was fixed with a bone graft made from choral that's rendered my right arm practically useless, ganglion cyst in my wrists among others.
So what doctors/psychologists could any of you recommend in Townsville to help me on my way to getting disability payments?
I quallified for disabilitly for having Asperger's here in the United States. I applied and was approved by Social Security in 6 months. I was diagnosed summer of 2010 and was approved in Jan. of 2011. I had medical proof and filled out the paperwork honestly. It can be a dibilitating disorder. And what's up with all the harsh judgments about people with Asperger's? Sure everybody has opinions, but maybe people should be more supportive? That's my opinion.
The problem for me is I can't get full disability, only SSI/medicaid because I don't have much work experience, I haven't paid much social security from my paychecks. I worked maybe 3-4 years total. Now I'm 30 and have no idea what to do. There are people online that this site with people who understand, but in face to face here in my town no one understands.
The SSI just isn't enough, $698. After rent I'm barely able to pay the electric bill and water bill. I don't have a phone. And I can't afford gas, it takes $50 worth to fill it up
Some of you all were talking about working at Wal-Mart as a greeter-Hell, I can't even keep a job at Wal-Mart period. I was fired about two months ago after working there as a cashier for almost four years.
Now I don't know what to do. When I told my technical school teacher about it, he told me to just forget about working and live off disability (less than $800 per month). He told me that since I am 55 now, it is now too late to have an enjoyable career. When I talked to my primary care doctor and psychiatrist, they agreed.
Don't tell me to go to voc rehab--they are a joke. They have no experience with mental disorders and when I went to them before, they could not place me in a job. If I were to go back now, they will probably tell me that if I can't hold a job at Wal-Mart, I probably won't be able to keep a job anywhere else. In fact, a long time ago, they evaluated me and said I needed treatment, but my mother would not accept it, calling them incompetent.
I blame my parents for my miserable life--they knew all along that something was wrong with me but I got no help. I never received any career counseling in school, probably because of my terrible work history or maybe because no one knew what to do. I have been fired from every job I have had since the spring of 1991--three accounting jobs, three retail jobs either because of incompetence or inability to get along with others. My parents, when they were angry, which was about all the time, would tell me I did not have sense enough to hold a job--and I believed it, I still believe it today. They constantly held the threat of pulling me out of school over my head when I did not please them. When I graduated from college, I could not find a job and begged my parents to take me to a psychiatrist. They refused, saying that after they paid for college, they were not paying for a mental exam too. I even offered to pay for it, but they still refused. Their insurance would have covered it, but no--they did not want the embarrassment. I hate my parents to this day, and I hope they are burning in hell. They have scarred me for life. They took away my chances for a successful career, good friends, and a happy life. I have missed it all.
My college professors and technical school instructors saw me as unemployable and told me not to ask them for a reference or recommendation for neither a job or an internship--they said I needed treatment rather than employment. I believed them then, and I still believe it today.
On top of being cheated out of a life by my parents and being deemed unemployable by professors and teachers, I don't even have a church family. They said for me not to come to any of their functions because I bothered them. To not find acceptance even in the church is about as low as you can get--I withdrew my membership and I am never going to church again. I am a complete social outcast. Why does everyone hate me?
Fast forwarding, I have been in treatment for several years now, but nothing has really helped--I am not getting any better and I probably won't. In fact, about a month ago, I wanted to be hospitalized, but no beds were available anywhere. I wish I could have a massive heart attack and die. If I cannot enjoy a happy, independent life why can't I just die? I envy the fact that now Aspergers is recognized as a mental disorder and that kids who are like me can now get help--but for me help came too late. I have totally given up, in case you haven't gotten the message. Why don't they just put me in a mental hospital and be done with it?
Last edited by cooler8625 on 08 Jun 2014, 2:59 pm, edited 3 times in total.
The SSI just isn't enough, $698. After rent I'm barely able to pay the electric bill and water bill. I don't have a phone. And I can't afford gas, it takes $50 worth to fill it up
I'm in the same boat as you buddy.
55 is to old to start a new meaningful career??? that is ALL i need ot know right now... that im locked into a job that is not suited for me mentally, and stresses me out?? And with AS i cant ge disability which i don really want anyway as ive worked all my life with AS? depressing I cant find new work because of the AS i fail those assessment tests and if i do get beyound that i screw up the interview.. so what do i do. retrain in my passion and hope for the best or just stay locked in a torture job?
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