Aspies For Freedom

this isn't my choice, but i'm going to get redigaonsed in two weeks, to see if i'm elibgle for soical security benifits now (21st birthday coming up) becuase of my autism diagosis.  it's very questionable i think, becuase i'm about to finish college, but i still have autistic traits.

i'm just worried that this is going to get out into the community and we're going to get spammed afterward.  again, i'm being forced to do this...not sure of the result.  i may be ineligibe though.

any ideas?

Who would spam you?

the pro cure groups.  but at 21, i'm at the age where i dissapear.

i also fear everyone will find out and call me a ***, etc.

I don't see it as necessarilly inconsistent to say, "love me as I am and don't try to cure me" while also saying "I wish it were otherwise but being as I am is making it difficult to earn a living."  Whether or not you will actually need financial assistance is yet to be seen.  Be proud of finishing college, but know that making a living is not the same as being in school.  Different skills are needed and respected, unfortunately.

OK, lol, that is support from an NT who's been coming here (and everywhere else) and wondering why the heck everyone keeps looking for someone else to pay for everything!

You may find you need the financial assistance, and you may find you don't.  I suspect there will be some way for social security to check and see if you need the money above and beyond the diagnosis.  I would have to say that diagnosis itself should not be enough; more should have to do with the reality that each individual faces.

I don't think very many of us lead perfect lives.  My husband and I leave a lot of money on the table just by being who we are.  We've accepted that, and aren't looking for anyone else to make up the difference.

But I also know that not everyone has all the skills it takes to eeck out a living.  The strangest little things can prevent that.  No one should starve or have to go homeless by lack of having a life skill or two.

Another way to look at it is this:  when it comes to offering services to parents, it seems that few people are asking the parents if they need it.  Our school must provide any necessary assistance to any special needs child regardless of whether or not the parents could afford to provide it themselves.  Most families probably need this pass on being asked to prove need; some families don't.  But no one is out there crying, "hey, you're rich, so you shouldn't get any autistic support services for your child!"  There is an inherent assumption that certain things should not be left to individual financial choices; that providing them equally for everyone ultimately serves society.  And, well, maybe adding in financial need simply makes deciding who gets the money too complicated.

Lol, am I rambling?

I don't know how other parents will look at it.  But I do know that many of them are out there hoping their children will get assistance when they grow up.  Why shouldn't you get what they want for their own children?

Debbie

PS - we've never looked into supplemental social security.  Maybe we should, maybe we shouldn't ... and maybe this is just another of the million ways my husband and I just leave money on the table.

thanks.  i was mainly concerned becuase of the curebies putting me on their list, and having my rights taken away and so forth, but i doubt that's happening.

i haven't held a job yet, but i'm not sure how hard it will be getting a job.  i may need the money, i may not.  we'll see.

Depending on where you live, there are privacy laws that prevent organizations from giving out your name and address to third parties without your permission.  There also might be "not call lists" available and other laws concerning that.

Read any forms carefully and they will usually state who is allowed to have information and who it can be given too.  If you are not sure, ask.

As for curbies sending you mail or calling you.  Call them and tell them to remove you from their mailing/call list.  (or get someone else you live with).  They do not need any other information - that you moved, your diagnosis status etc.  There may be laws where you live about these matters.  

When you get your medical evaluation, ask for a referral to a social worker - or you can ask for one at your student services (all will be confidential).  They will assist you in finding funding, housing, etc.   I had a friend in NJ with a disability who found out she was eligible for a whole truck load of programs, fundings and benefits only she had to apply for them.  No one in your country will just automatically give them, you have to ask and go through a process.

By your parents?  That sucks.  I don't think you need to worry about prospective employers finding out about the evaluation, though.  Those forms won't be posted on the Web or anything like that.  And Social Security doesn't give lists of applicants to spammers.

You should be aware that if you appeal a denial of benefits, that will become a matter of public record, like any other court case.  But considering how slowly bureaucracies move, there's a good chance you'll have graduated from college and found a job before a decision is even made on your application, and then your parents will no longer be in a position to coerce you.

It's a shame your parents don't understand that if you have a hard time finding a job, it is not because your autistic traits make you less capable, but because of intolerance and discrimination.

it's kinda of a now or never deal here.  and secondly, i haven't actually looked for a job before, so i don't know how it's going to go.

plus if i'm denied, i'm going to have to get my own health insurance, and that's not going to be pleasant.  i'm just mostly concerned that this is going to go public that i'm autistic, but i already have a dx anyway.

i'm not 100% against it, but i'm just afraid of curebies margalizing me and everyone finding out.

i'm going to have to apolizgie...it wasn't a rediagosis as i thought, it was just an evautation to see if i was elbigble for soical security (ssi).  i'll find out if i'm getting soical security in about 2-3 weeks.  i'll let you know of the results.

No worries.  Your anxiety was real, and it doesn't matter if it had a solid basis or not, you still seemed to need help dealing with it.  That's what we're here for.

Pardon me for being curious Bravesj858, but are their any deficits in particular that keep you from getting a job? Usually (based on my personal observation) a person applies for social security after a lot unsuccesfull sollicitations for a job, but in your case (as you haven't for a job) it must be different.

Especially when you said that you were about to finish college, one might think that you'd have a few ideas(i.e. types of jobs) to pursue your working career - even if you want to use it as an 'inbetweener' giving yourself time to decide what you really want. Of course, this is not a given.

So, would you please enlighten me(us) on how it came to this?

it's really werid, i don't know the speficis of it, but long story short, we had to do this before my 21st birthday which is coming up in a few weeks.

i have no clue what i want to do though, ever since the lab fiasco last year (i don't want to get into it, i'm not working in a science lab though).

a year ago, i had plans to go to grad school and become a researcher, expect they werent really my plans.  i went through alot of stuff that sent me on the brink of depression, and i would have been miserable if i went to grad school to sum it up.  i'm graduating with a biology degree, i didn't really need any speical services at all in college, but my parents handle the bills.

i'm going to spend 2007 mostly on some projects, etc, and prehaps, one or more of them could turn into a paying job.

i'm going to get a bit of career couslening for the next few months for figruing out a plan b though.

Good luck with that. And it's good to hear that you're 'taking time' for your self to figure out what you want later in life. I was close too depression too a couple of years ago and had to quit my study to 'recover' and pursue the actual kind of career that I wanted - at my own rate, and overall, in a way that suited me best.

I was however largely financially independent from my parents, so I had the liberty to accomodate things for myself. I hope that you'll have (or get) the same kind of freedom to get things on track again.

i was denided soical secriy.

i guess that's it.  whatever.