has anyone had troubles with Supplemental Security Income?

[tictaktini]

I am 100% disabled due to seixures, have had them since I was 10 and am now 41. I went to college for a short while but had to quit due to seizures and they are threatening to take away my SSI. Can they do that ?? Does anyone know, that is my income alone.

[CindyD]

Have they written you as to why they are going to take your SSI, if that is their intention? Is it because you took some college classes or what? If they are just requesting a meeting to follow up on your circumstances and you do not have other outside income (I'm not an attorney and I don't get any SSI benefits, but my grandparents did before they died and things have probably changed for the worse since then), I would comply with their meeting request and make sure that you have all your documentation that shows you don't have any other income but the SSI when you go to the meeting and that you haven't done any income producing work because of the college courses you took. Also, I live in Georgia and the state laws may be different, so I hope someone else on the forum will be willing to jump in and help you out a bit with more first hand info if they have it. Hope everything works out for the best with you.

Cindy

[Bernard]

Hi tictaktini, welcome to the forum.

I don't have any experience with SSI, but I wanted to say hello.

[little fruitcake]

I was interested in your SSI benefits? Did they stop them due to your college courses or some other reason? I receive benefits and I would like to take classes but need to contining my benefits. I hope everything worked out for you.

[paradise survivor]

Aloha- SSI can be tricky so you have to read all the paperwork carefully or have someone help you. 'The devil is in the details', however, it is for those who can not work. Some of us manage to work and some of us are not able to work at all. Lots of variables in that equation....

[Rockerbaby1127]

I also have had denials for SSI. I even got an attorney to get my benefits after being denied and eventually he ended up dropping my case. Granted this is alabama and things may work completely different i was denied i am 19...have been fired because of my limitations from siezures and have had them since i was 14 months old. I had a doctors recommendation and everything.. the government is just rediculous... its just like food stamps or medicare/caid... all the benefits seem to go to all the wrong people!

[Allyson]

I'm not sure how exactly the benefits work, but maybe you'd have some luck with suing employers that have fired you due to the seizures? If you're able to do the job, then your employer has to provide reasonable accomodations for your disability. I don't know your exact details, but no employer can just fire someone because they have epilepsy of have to miss some work for doctors appointments and what not.

[John-Forrest]

I tried to get SSI around ten years ago and neurological problems were one of the things I tried to get it for. About that time, I had a friend with "mental illness" who was getting it who suggested I'd have a good chance; she had some kind of borderline bi-polar condition and seemed perfectly well-functioning to me. Anyway, I took it to court and they told me as long as I could push a broom or fold clothes, I wasn't qualified. (This is pretty insulting, since I have a Master's Degree.)

I'm lucky to get MassHealth, a universal health insurance program in Massachusetts; I'm barely eligible and they keep re-evaluating me every few years.

Definitions of what "disabled" is has been getting a LOT stricter in recent years.