This post I rarely discuss finances, and without exploiting my finances too. This story is more about changes I didn’t expect and how I have a mother who can’t shut the fuck up once.
This involves the Supplemental Security Income of Social Security, what others around the world would call our Social Security a “pension”, but unlike SSI, you don’t earn as much as Social Security Disability Insurance (or SSDI) this really applies to normal people who worked for 40 straight quarters (or 10 straight years) and suddenly had a life changing disability. For many people on the PDD end of autism, we got screwed at birth, so then it would hang over well into adult years and to your dying grave.
I am saying this loosely, even for high functioning autistics, people like me need to have benefits… because I am not enough work wise too.
The annual re-determination process (aka re-de) is in August, where my mother has to file the annual paperwork to say I am totally and permanently disabled and we have to supply the state the last checking and savings monthly statement, etc. Because my mother neglected a certain detail that changed this year, I did not get my bi-monthly benefits beginning in September.
my mother tried to call the office one time in early September but because I didn’t fill the consent to talk, it further delayed. We tried calling the office again later in the month and was on hold for nearly 20 minutes.
Despite the Cisco CallManager on-hold music, it got my mother really anxious. My grandmother was dying to be blunt.
Last Wednesday, we went to our local DHHS office, and much to my chagrin, there was no wait, my name was the only one on the digital display, and for all intensive purposes, we were applying for benefits (aka it was like being 18 all over again with the paperwork.) However that part got expietitied because of the long term supports (i.e. my day services connection.) My mother did apply for Food Stamps because other benefits in a re-de last year shrunk because of a misunderstanding of how the funds were supposed to be used.
Obviously, I do not want to share the details, nor embellish it. I do want to say there is some shame living with a pre-existing autistic condition. That’s explained in a follow up phone meeting on Friday.
