The Tea Room Community Group

This is a private group by invitation only. It is a group for those who have a loved one with a brain injury. This group was not founded by me but I will serve as the founder temporarily as one of the first members.

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Brain & Nervous System
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SSDI denied again

grngupy1
grngupy1
Well I just received the notice that my son has been denied for the second time. I just dont know what to do now. I suppose that I do, I will take the matter to a lawyer who specializes in SSDI stuff. But I will admit there are days that I do feel he could work, then those other days happen. How is he suppose to work and support himself when he can not get his act together? What job can he do ? He will need one with more supervision than most that he used to do. But will he be happy with that? probably not. Will he be able to hold his anger issues together while at work ? Who knows. I guess I am just not wanting the grief of having a court hearing and stuff. How do they measure what a persons disability is anyways ? I mean people can not live on a job at Burger King if that is all they are capable of, can they ? Will a job make him feel better about himself ? Probably. Who will hire him now since he went and got himself a felony ? It is a non-strikeable felony but it is a felony. He is on probation for that. Then he gets pulled over for attempting a turn that just recently had been changed and is charged with a DUI even tho he passed all the test. The cops saw his medication bottle (valium) that was just filled the day before but only about 10 pills in a bottle of 90 tabs. He told them over and over that his mother keeps all his medications but they did not believe him. The day I picked up his medications I thought it would be a great idea to get two bottles so he would have one to put his meds in. Thinking that was better than in his pocket with no script to validate that he indeed has a script. But I was wrong.The cops thought he took all of them (80). He kept telling them that if he did he would be dead. Crazy ........and frustrating !
I will do what I have to do......just exhausted even with knowing that SSDI usually does deny many times.


hugs...pam
Group Founderwildflowercat
wildflowercat
Pam it does take some people several times to get SSDI so dont give up. Have you thought about a lawyer? There are some who will take it on a contingency basis.
As far as the DUI he should definitely fight it. Not good to be on his record. Have you got all his doctor's info? It was a good idea to separate the pills, just worked out badly this time. I am so hoping it will work out for him.
Group Founderwildflowercat
wildflowercat
Sorry I am an idiot and it has been a long day. Of course you mentioned the lawyer. I think it is the best way to go and the more documentation you can provide the better.
MollyLovesFlowers
MollyLovesFlowers
Hi Pam,

I have been through the SSDI hoops with my husband and as unfair as they seem, I sort of know "how they measure a person's disability" and it comes down to this: Can the person hold ANY job, be it flipping burgers at Burger King or sitting at a desk watching a security monitor? They don't care if you used to be a lawyer/teacher/CEO and can no longer do that job. If you can flip burgers or scrub floors or even just sit there and watch a security monitor, then your not "disabled." They don't care what the job pays. That's how the system works. And they don't care if you can actually find such a job and get hired.

I know, it sucks.

Don't feel bad because SSDI does reject 90% of all initial applications, but if you go through the appeal process and hang in there (it can take 2-3 years) then it's a 90% approval rate.

Get a lawyer. That's about all you can do now. And hang in there.

Sorry to hear of your troubles,
Hugs,
Molly
deleted_user
deleted_user
Pam, Molly is correct. I helped my husband apply for SSD...denied twice...we then hired a good SSD lawyer...took it to the Administrative Judge level & he won!! It was 2 years thru the process before we got it, but he did! It was very stressful & a lot of work...but completely worth it because my husband was the only one bringing in an income. Molly is right about how they measure a person's disability. My husband was advised by the SSD lawyer to go to Vocational Rehab...where they proceeded to send my husband for intense testing @ a brain injury center...it took him 3 days to go thru these tests...they tested every aspect of his ability to work...even part-time. I forget what this testing was called...but after the tests were evaluated the brain injury rehab center & vocational rehab worked together to formulate a report as to whether my husband was capable of working or not....it came back 'not'. This document is still important for us to keep, it holds most of the information that gives anyone no doubt that he is considered 'disable' & could not work! Has your son done any Vocational Rehab? If not, it might benefit you to look into it. Don't give up with the SSDI...it is not easy, but they don't make it easy on purpose...keep at it...get a lawyer...they really helped us a LOT. We had no clue with all this & the lawyer gave us much guidance! Good Luck!!
grngupy1
grngupy1
We have not gone thru any vocational rehab yet. I am talking with a friend who is an occupational therapist who works for the CA dept of Rehabilitation. I was waiting until my son stayed sober long enough to get him in there to be tested and trained for a new career. I just think that my son has screwed himself over with all his legal troubles. But I do know for a fact that if he did not have the BI he would never ever have been in trouble. He graduated from the Fire Academy and was taking his EMT class when he was assaulted, so good things were happening for him before the BI. He will not be able to be a fire fighter due to the BI alone. I think that he would be able to hold a part time job for awhile.But I dont think he will be able to hold on to it for very long. With the headaches he gets and how long he is down with them I dont think an employer will want to deal with that. And who would want to deal with someone who is moody ?
I will be calling the lawyer tomorrow and giving him all the info and go from there.
I guess what is the most frustrating is that I know people who are on SSDI and they really do not have any issues that are keeping them from working. Just not fair !


hugs...pam
normaeh
normaeh
In our province it goes differently for which I am grateful.How ever what the give does keep bone at poverty level.How ever if they get work say an extra hundred a month the take fifty off the cheque until there is no more subsidy left. so my son would get something until he made1700 a month.

Keep fighting dear I was fortunate the rehab hopital social worker filled his papers all outand got it on first try.allthe i's weredotted and t's crossed.

you really doneed someonewho can give them the right answers.

Employers have enough head aches with out what our person would cause, but heis in a restore training to work.
loveya
norma
deleted_user
deleted_user
I feel for you. My son was denied too. But, Praise God after all his therapy and time he was cleared to work so atleast he can get a job. He was technically disabled until his dr cleared him. All the darn paper work!! He now has a job, but of course its not nearly as techical as his old job of course because of some brain damage, but he does feel good to have a job.

It does help that we own 2 houses so he can live in one for very cheap rent, or he could not make it on his own. No way, he would of course be back home. Praying the Good Lord helps you with all this and works out for the best.
Kelly
grngupy1
grngupy1
I called the lawyer and have an appt in June. I also went online and filled out the request for a hearing paperwork. Holy smokes I had no idea it was going to take that long. Good thing my boss is cool with that kind of stuff. I probably did not fill it out as well as I should have but oh well the lawyer can just do his part and get all the right verbage in there for me. It is out of my hands for the moment.

hugs...pam
Group Founderwildflowercat
wildflowercat
It is possible to get SSDI with a chronic depression and mental health diagnosis. A doctor could help with that. A substance abuse problem is understandable with those problems. Your lawyer could help with that also. So hoping for the best for you.
Haymom7
Haymom7
One of our son's neuropsychologists did some different testing, the results of which ended up getting his application for ssi (not ssdi, he wasn't eligible for that) to fly through surprisingly smoothly. He point blank stated in his report that my son's lack of executive functioning skills, especially the inability to initiate, rendered him 100% disabled. He said something to the effect of "this lack of executive functioning makes it impossible for him to access the remaining cognitive abilities he has left." This was hard to read and is still depressing to think about, but it at least got my son $523 a month income and, more importantly, healthcare once he turns 26 and can no longer be covered under our policy.

Maybe since the money is so much less for ssi compared to ssdi, it was easier to get accepted. ? Regardless,
keep plugging, Pam, and don't give up. I do hear lots of horror stories about first time rejection for ssdi, only to be accepted the second time around.

Hugs,
HayMom
grngupy1
grngupy1
Haymom,

this is our 2nd denial. I have made an appt with the SSI Attorney, but I had hoped to not have to go that route.
I guess if it goes thru then 40% less of something is better than 40% less of nothing. We first applied in Jan 2011. I have heard that it can be a 2 or 3 year process. Maybe he will get his act together enough to land a small job. He has been much better this last couple of months. As close to his normal as I have seen in years. He looks pretty good also. Of course keeping off the drugs helps a ton. Keeping fingers crossed that he keeps up with the sobriety.

hugs...pam
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