[Blindtlk] Question about SSI

Thu May 19 11:56:07 UTC 2016

Paratransit could use that better system too.

On Wed, 18 May 2016, S L Johnson via blindtlk wrote:

> Date: Wed, 18 May 2016 21:21:51
> From: S L Johnson via blindtlk <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
> Reply-To: S L Johnson <SLJohnson25 at comcast.net>,
>     Blind Talk Mailing List <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
> To: Blind Talk Mailing List <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: S L Johnson <SLJohnson25 at comcast.net>
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Question about SSI
> 
> Hello:
>
> When I was still working I was a disability rights advocate for an
> independent living center.  One day one of my consumers came into my office
> all  upset because she did not receive her SSI check.  When I called social
> security for her they told me they had her listed as deceased.  I said that
> was impossible because she was sitting with me in my office.  I made an
> appointment and took her to meet with them in person.  What a job it was to
> prove that my consumer was not deceased but very much alive.  It turned out
> that someone at social security entered the incorrect birth date for someone
> with the same name as my consumer and declared her dead instead of the
> person who really had died.  It took me several meetings and phone calls to
> fix the problem.  Sometimes our government officials do make big mistakes
> and they are too stubborn to admit they are wrong.  It can take a lot of
> time and effort to correct their mistakes.  Good luck to you.  Perseverance
> pays off and eventually all the paperwork gets done and the benefits begin
> arriving in your bank account.  I do think they should have a better system
> for those of us who were born with a disability or who have been diagnosed
> with a permanent disability.  Even though I was born blind and have had
> multiple sclerosis since 1976 I m still sent paperwork every three years
> saying they have to evaluate to see if I am still disabled or not.  My
> doctors get tired of always having to fill out this stuff.  A few years ago
> my doctor got frustrated and put on the form when you find a cure for
> multiple sclerosis and make my patient get her sight back, then I guess you
> can say she is no longer disabled.  I wonder what they thought when they
> read that?  I can understand re-evaluating someone who has a temporary
> disability due to an accident or illness.  However, I think re-evaluating
> those of us who have been diagnosed with a permanent disability so often is
> just a big waste of time and money because our condition will never change.
> Anyway, it is the way they do it and we have to just deal with it and
> hopefully things turn out right.
>
> Sandra
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mark Tardif via blindtlk
> Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2016 6:21 PM
> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
> Cc: Mark Tardif
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Question about SSI
>
> Wow, that blows me away.  It can be so frustrating dealing with Social
> Security sometimes.  Back when I first applied for SSI, way back when I was
> in college in 1975-76, they screwed up my file totally and had me as being
> married.  You should have heard how my then girlfriend reacted, even though
> I was able to reassure her that this simply wasn't true.
>
>
>
> Mark Tardif
> Nuclear arms will not hold you.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ericka via blindtlk
> Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2016 11:56 AM
> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
> Cc: Ericka
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Question about SSI
>
> No kidding Mark. I had quite an interesting experience was so security
> administration today. One lady insisted that she couldn't fax anything to me
> unless it was to my home. First she was in shock someone asked to get
> anything faxed. I told her three times that I had a fax machine at the house
> before she insisted she could only fax information to me at my home. What
> part of I have a fax machine at my home do you not understand? After I gave
> her the fax number she disappeared to never come back again. I think she
> hung up on me! After 25 more minutes of waiting when I called back I got a
> guy with an Indian accent that actually did everything right and was
> respectful. Go figure!
>
> Ericka Short
> "What is right is not always popular; what is popular is not always right."
>
> from my iPhone
>
>> On May 17, 2016, at 5:47 PM, Mark Tardif via blindtlk
>> <blindtlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> You would be surprised, Ericka.  I was working with an agency recently and
>> I don't know how many times I had to give them my phone number, and they
>> still occasionally tried to call me at wrong numbers, including my old
>> Florida number with a 772 area code.  You gotta retrain these dummies all
>> the time. It's like a professor I was listening to once saying that you
>> study material, it's discussed in class, it's reviewed again, and even
>> then the exams come back in ways that you wouldn't recognize.
>>
>>
>>
>> Mark Tardif
>> Nuclear arms will not hold you.
>> -----Original Message----- From: Ericka via blindtlk
>> Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2016 10:44 AM
>> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
>> Cc: Ericka
>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Question about SSI
>>
>> In this day and age, how can someone lose documentation? That's the only
>> reason I can think of that she can't find it in needs a new copy. Why
>> you'd have to come in is beyond me. Good luck Sami. Training center
>> approach is good!
>>
>> Ericka Short
>> "What is right is not always popular; what is popular is not always
>> right."
>>
>> from my iPhone
>>
>>> On May 16, 2016, at 7:31 PM, Sami Osborne via blindtlk
>>> <blindtlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> That's a good point, Mark.  My mom told me that it didn't seem to her
>>> that the person she spoke to didn't seem to know much about SSI.  What's
>>> even
>>> more ironic and disturbing to me is that this woman that she spoke to is
>>> the same one who we spoke to during my last in-person appointment six
>>> months ago.  It seemed to me that she did a very accurate job of
>>> explaining everything about SSI to us.  So now I have no idea why she
>>> would suddenly contact us again six months later and say, "We need proof
>>> of your blindness" when the documentation is very clear as someone
>>> pointed out.
>>>
>>> Anyway, thanks Mark and everyone for all your comments and suggestions.
>>>
>>> Thanks again,
>>>
>>> Sami
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: Mark Tardif via blindtlk <blindtlk at nfbnet.org
>>> To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org
>>> Date sent: Mon, 16 May 2016 17:10:56 -0400
>>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Question about SSI
>>>
>>> Oh that teacher-hating, union-hating Walker character, yes.  Our governor
>>> LaPage is just as bad.  In fact, he is the fifth least popular governor
>>> in
>>> the country, according to some polls, and with good reason, too.  Anyway,
>>> this does sound a bit strange and it makes me wonder if the worker your
>>> mom
>>> talked with knew what they were doing.  I do remember when I first
>>> applied
>>> for SSI way back in 1976 having to appear at the local office, but not so
>>> that they could have proof of my blindness, just so we could get the
>>> application done more easily.  As people have said here, documentation
>>> from
>>> my doctor took care of the blindness issue.  It also sounds strange that
>>> 6
>>> months after you were supposedly approved, suddenly you have to show up
>>> to
>>> prove your blindness.  Sorry, that doesn't sound right at all.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Mark Tardif
>>> Nuclear arms will not hold you.
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Ericka via blindtlk
>>> Sent: Monday, May 16, 2016 12:16 PM
>>> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
>>> Cc: Ericka ; nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Question about SSI
>>>
>>> Something seems weird.  I've never heard of this.  Then again, Wisconsin
>>> isn't
>>> the same state when I was applying 20 years ago.  Perhaps we do this now
>>> with
>>> the idiot governor we have.
>>>
>>> Ericka Short
>>> "What is right is not always popular; what is popular is not always
>>> right."
>>>
>>> from my iPhone
>>>
>>> On May 16, 2016, at 7:15 AM, Sami Osborne via blindtlk
>>> <blindtlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> I'm having a rather frustrating issue with Social Security here in NY,
>>> who
>>> are providing me my SSI benefits.  A few weeks ago, I received a letter
>>> in
>>> the mail from Social Security telling me that I need to show up in person
>>> at their office because they wanted to prove that I'm actually blind even
>>> though I provided them with all the documentation and was approved almost
>>> six months ago.  What bothers me is that as I said, they asked me to show
>>> up in person at their office.  My mom thought that we could just talk to
>>> them on the phone, and she called and spoke with them (I couldn't because
>>> I'm at my blindness training center for the week and only go home on
>>> weekends).  My mom said that she even spoke with them two or three times.
>>> The first time they said that they would call me personally at home to
>>> set
>>> up the appointment for showing up in person, but obviously I wouldn't
>>> have
>>> been able to speak with them since I'm not home during the week.  My mom
>>> gave them my cell phone number, but they haven't called me that way
>>> either.  This is a very frustrating issue in my opinion.  I have asked
>>> other friends of mine at the training center that I'm at if they had to
>>> show up at their Social Security office six months after they were
>>> approved for SSI benefits, and they said no.  My mom thinks that it
>>> depends on the state, and that the reason they do that is probably
>>> because
>>> they want to make sure that you're not cheating in getting SSI (by the
>>> way, the people at the training center that I'm at come from all over the
>>> country).
>>>
>>> So I'd like to know if you guys have gone through a similar experience,
>>> and if so, have you had to show up in person at the office or just talk
>>> with them on the phone?
>>>
>>> Hope to hear from you soon, and for those of you who just finished with
>>> college, I hope you're enjoying the end as your semester!
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Sami
>>>
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