Autism

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

My son is 8 years old and was diagnosed with autism when he was 2 years old. I have never tried to get ss for him and im not sure what the requirements and regulations are on this matter

Sarah (not verified)
Thu, 11/05/2015 - 10:10 Permalink

Sarah, I'm not sure what you mean by SSB. A child can apply for SSI at anytime. Back pay for SSI is only awarded back to the date of filing for disability-- even if the applicant was disabled long before applying for disability benefits. I hope I was able to answer some of your questions!

David (not verified)
Thu, 11/05/2015 - 10:11 Permalink

I have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder for quite a few years now and have never looked into getting social security benefits. My disorder seems to be getting worse even though I take medication. My disorder is completely interrupting my life and ability to function normally at work. I experience prolonged bouts of depression,anxiety, and paranoia. I need some help. How do I go about getting social security benefits?

Megan (not verified)
Thu, 11/05/2015 - 10:11 Permalink

My 54 year old brother lives in San Antonio and has had the diagnosis of schizophrenia for most of his life, starting around age 18. I believe he is on SSI for his disability. He is very difficult to deal with, as he refuses to take medication, and, at this point, the disease has progressed so much that most of the time it is very difficult to communicate with him. My 83 year old mother tries to help him as much as she can, though he cannot live with her--it is bad for both of them. I live in Tennessee, so I am of limited help. My brother has been living in an apartment for a couple of years, but just got evicted today. Apparently his toilet has been leaking water for quite a while, and it has saturated areas of his apartment and also of some of the apartments around him. My question is--is there a list of apartments or living situations somewhere that cater to people with disabilities? I am not sure, but I believe this complex where he lived had some allowance for his disability. Again, he is very difficult to deal with and talk to, but I'm trying to do what I can to help my mother from afar and try to find out options for them to pursue. I may have to come to San Antonio to try to help, but for now, I'm trying to do what I can from here. Any help anyone can give me would be very much appreciated!! Good luck to everyone else as well. Dealing with mental disabilities is so tough--for the person who has one and also for their families and caregivers who try to make life reasonable for them as well. Thanks!

Mom Michelle (not verified)
Thu, 11/05/2015 - 10:11 Permalink

My daughter has ADD and I believe Autisum as well. She is going to be 21 soon. She has never worked, always had special help throughout her entire school period, can not drive, did receive medication when she was younger, had counseling, not currently seeing a doctor due to financial issues, lives with me, I'm disabled on SSDI with no other income or assets. She has had problems since kindergarden and I don't think she will ever be self sufficient. Do you think she can get SSDI? She wont be able to fill out the forms, so I will have to do everything. Please help. Thank you!

Kassia (not verified)
Thu, 11/05/2015 - 10:11 Permalink

Our son was adopted independently and at that time we did not apply for any adoption assistance. It was not evident at 3 yrs old that he would have the issues he does have now. He is 11 and has a diagnosis of ADHD. We always felt the MD would up the medications but they continued to have little if any impact. We continued to feel something was wrong as he would function well in some areas but not in others. I was able to get a referral for Executive Functioning Testing and the insurance approved it. We completed our testing and the MD feels he is on the Autism Spectrum - I guess they don't really use Asperger's any more as a term. We have been given info about the Waisman Center at UW Madison and WEAP (WI early autism project). He has high verbal and perceptual function but low working memory and low processing speed. We have a IEP in place at school and it will need to be changed based on this information. I am not sure how the rest of this process works. We have insurance and income. I just know that this will be a life long struggle for him. If I apply now and am denied based on our income, will he be able to apply again at 18 and possibly be approved. Would the denial help or hurt him?

Matthew (not verified)
Thu, 11/05/2015 - 10:11 Permalink

Jennifer you can review the criteria Social Security uses on their website to define autism as well. I have high functioning autism diagnosed by a doctor but would not be considered autistic by social security because their outdated definition says that all autistic children are mutes and unable to speak which is of course nonsense. What I would recommend is having the psychiatrist focus on the other mental health symptoms like depression, anxiety, irritability and so on as those can be disorders in of themselves if severe enough such as Major Depressive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder etc. etc. He can probably more easily qualify based on these diagnoses since social security has more broad definitions of those conditions. What we know as well as an "autistic episode" can also easily be characterized as a panic attack it's pretty much identical just with a different neurological cause.

Cheryl (not verified)
Thu, 11/05/2015 - 10:12 Permalink

My granddaughter was diagnosed with Autism when she was 6 years old. She is now 10 years old. She is in the SPED program in school and doing well there. She will always have Autism I am told. I was wondering if she could receive SSI benefits for Autism. She lives with me and I am the primary caretaker even though I don't have custody. My son (her father) lives with me also and has joint custody of her. She is high functioning, but this will never go away and I would like to know if we should pursue trying to get SSI for her.

D (not verified)
Thu, 11/05/2015 - 10:12 Permalink

Hi Cheryl,
If she is high functioning she may not have a high chance of qualifying, but you can read more about qualifying for disability benefits with Autism here. There are a lot of qualifying symptoms that she'll need to display to be eligible for SSI benefits. Good luck, and I wish your family the best.

Anonymous (not verified)
Thu, 11/05/2015 - 10:12 Permalink

My son is 8 yrs.old and is low functioning autism. He only speaks a few words. We were getting ssi but it was stopped and now I have to repay because we got an extra car(even though the car we had is not being used) we were told we can only have one car . Also, my mom has an account with $5000.00 in it and I never realized my name was on the account. I was told I cannot have my name on it even though I do not actually have access to it. The extra car we have, we have to keep and get fixed since we have 6 other children in our home it is hard having only one car. We are in the guidelines as for as the money we make. Not only do we need the ssi for our son but I cannot afford to pay what we were getting back. Can you help please!!!

D (not verified)
Thu, 11/05/2015 - 10:12 Permalink

Hi there,
I am very sorry to hear about this situation! The first thing I would do would be to tell your mom to remove your name from the account.
As for the car, an option would be to potentially register it under a different name. If the car you have is not being used, get rid of it. There is no reason to disqualify yourself from SSI benefits if you're not using the car. You can sell it, and if the cash it too high, you can set up a dedicated account to be used for you son's needs through the SSA. Again, I am very sorry to hear about this situation! Hopefully you can get back the benefits you need.

Neomi (not verified)
Thu, 11/05/2015 - 10:12 Permalink

my child has been getting ssi since was three years old for autism. social security wants her to see one of there doctors, can they reverse her autism? To my understanding once you are diagnosed with autism you will always be autistic.

Dean (not verified)
Thu, 11/05/2015 - 10:12 Permalink

Hi Neomi,
This is true, there is currently no "cure" for autism. Your daughter is being sent to the SSA's doctor so they can evaluate her autism personally. This is because autism qualifications change as a child ages, and the SSA is most likely checking to see if she is still disabled.

Melissa (not verified)
Wed, 02/15/2017 - 16:55 Permalink

My son was diagnosed with autism when he was about 5 yrs of age.. was seen by a physcian... I have the reports and the Dr's. Name. Would you need help reports for me to claim.

Thu, 02/16/2017 - 16:30 Permalink

Hi Melissa,

It's always a good idea to provide medical evidence when applying for disability benefits.

Best Wishes,
Eric

stephanie (not verified)
Wed, 03/15/2017 - 22:15 Permalink

hi i am in the process of looking into if my son is able to get ssi for his austim. i recall it being the school staff that gave him the lable. can the school staff give him that label when they do testing for special ed ? I also wanted to know if im allowed to work while my son is getting ssi i work as a school bus driver and only make around 15,000 a year. i have to collect unemployeement if i want to have an income over the summer and on brakes due to a lack of work. being a school bus driver is just about the only thing i can do with a child who has a disabilty and 3 other child in the house all under 10. i gess i just need to know my steps i would need to take and if it would be worth it for my to apply would the ssi just was out the other assaistance i receive?

Bryan

In reply to by stephanie (not verified)

Thu, 03/16/2017 - 09:18 Permalink

Hi Stephanie,
You may need to take your son to a doctor to have them assess your son's condition. You also would be allowed to work while your child is on SSI benefits.

Debra (not verified)
Fri, 04/14/2017 - 20:01 Permalink

My 14 year old son has autism spectrum disorder can i apply for ssi for him.his school diagnosed him 6years ago.

Bryan

In reply to by Debra (not verified)

Mon, 04/17/2017 - 14:01 Permalink

Hi Debra,
You may be able to apply for him, however as he is a minor his benefits would be calculated based on your income and financial resources.

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