you will need your doctors to say you cannot do any type of work for starters.......SSD/I will fight almost anything.....I have been critical for 2 years and am finally going to my hearing in Febuary....I have 13 doctors that dont understand why I'm alive and dont want me out of a chair!!....but as far as SSD is concerned if it can think its employable.........now if I wanted to complain I was depressed , had a drug addiction, or loved to drink there wouldnt have been a problem!!!

make sure if you are going to file....Do it thru a disability Attorney from the beginning.....you stand a better chance of having all your paperwork and facts done correctly and better success.

thanks mike. is there someone you recommend?

I use a firm out of Concord NH , but I would suggest someone local to home that is familiar with the hospital and the state regulations.......if you google disability attorney for your area several will come up and you can go from there.......dont try to do it on your own , one simple mistake will cause a denial.....ask me how I know

I think the advice to "Never give up" is good advice. My brother who was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) in March 2013 applied with the help of a disability attorney. It still took 8 months to process his "expedited" claim. He went on hospice last month, just over 1 month after his final approval for SSDI. At least now his wife can afford to stay home to take care of him in his final months. Thank God and the government for small favors. LOL! Good luck with your filing. I hope and pray you will all find health in the new year!

Oh and Pierre, I wholeheartedly agree with your tag line "Life is too short. Live it Now!" That's the attitude that is leading my husband and I to this adventure within the next year!

I've heard that they always turn down your first application. I don't understand why you should have to pay an attorney to get something you deserve. I know there are a ton of people who apply who maybe aren't really qualified but a line needs to be drawn.

Mark S: I know of a person in this park who has tried for over 6 yrs. , Another going on 3 yrs. And the turning one down the first time seems to be the way they do it. You must be speaking like the one who was pulling his boat onto his trailer from the St Johns River. With a load of fish he was selling to some of the local seafood restaurants. He was bragging to me and one of my brothers how well he was doing finacially. He seen my brother with the cane; then says; oh you are disabled also; my (his) back is so messed up I can hardly do any physical work. I said; You seem to be doing well tugging on that boat and unloading and loading your truck with thos burlap sacks of fish.
This guy was doing two illegal things; recieving disability and driving a box truck with an invalid tag. Needess to say what else.
Then their are people like Suse and NurseJudy who deserve it and Mike but have to go thru the same processes to get it. I believe that since my Doctors say their is no cure or resutation for dead heart muscle may be just the reason I recieved it.

You know, the system is overwhelmed with people that just want to get over and that is taking away from those that really have a need. I lived in a town where so many were collecting, I'm not sure what was going on. Most were working under the table doing physical labor with their disabled back, things that I couldn't have done. Some were turned in but there appeared to never be an investigation. I know of someone that was approved after trying a variety of illnesses and doctors that was more than capable of working and spent the day shooting hoops and flipping houses doing the labor himself. So, sadly, I think that is why the system is so backed up.

I truly hope that all that are deserving do get the help that they need and that those that are ripping off the system get what they deserve too.

And, having a son with DS and knowing what he is entitled to, I have still been fighting the system since he was about 4 years old and entered school and then now, as an adult. It is now the rule that you will have to fight for even the things that the laws and rules allow for and without big guns on your side, they'll just push you to the side.

It seems extra cruel to do this with people that are suffering in the first place but the insurance companies do it all the time so I guess the government jumped on the bandwagon!

It is my understanding that there is no way to get SSDI (Disability Insurance) if you didn't pay in to it. However, you can get SSI (Supplemental Income). SSI supplements your income until you have $700 per month, and there is a "spend down". You can't have certain assets (extra cars) or any more than $2000 cash at each monthly check in time.

I have also heard that social security turns down 90% of first time applicants and accepts 80% of second time applicants. A lot of people do the first application themselves and then hire a lawyer to help with the appeal.

I got accepted the first time, after only two months. I suffered pretty bad for years, being disabled but not getting benefits, because I didn't believe that I could get SSDI if I didn't have a doctor willing to say that I was "completely" and "permanently" disabled, which the website says. (A doctor saying that would be admitting that he can't get you well.)

What I learned when I applied is that, while my medical records helped, Social Security sent me to their own doctor and psychologist for evaluations. They also took a statement from the relative that I was living with. Sometimes they ask for more statements from people who know you.

I also learned that they may or may not give you permanent disability. They usually review every few years.

I suspect that I was approved the first time partly because if you look at my earnings record, you see that something has been going on for a long time. People don't usually get by on $1000/year just for the fun of it! Luckily, I did work full time for a few years in my early 20s, which was enough to rack up some insurance benefit amount. I was actually surprised by that. Have you ever had social security withholdings? Those benefits rack up pretty quick. A lot of people have both SSDI and SSI.

I think it helps to have a record of having tried to work and failing several times, which I had. I have a friend with Autism/Asburgers who has been fired from 30 jobs. Once again, I don't think a healthy person would go through that much trouble, for that many years, just to milk the system. Unfortunately I think you have to struggle for a while to let that struggling be visible. Pushing yourself beyond your physical limitations can be dangerous, though.

I wish you luck, and I think it's good advise not to give up. If the paperwork is overwhelming, you can get a case worker who will help you do it for free, if your state has something like "workforce services" that helps people find jobs and get food stamps and other benefits until they do.