[Blindtlk] Question about SSI

Thu May 19 13:14:57 UTC 2016

Public transportation in general could use lots of help. The place is the need transit the most don't have it – the rural communities. Just not fair that you have to live in a metro city to get transit. 

Ericka Short
"What is right is not always popular; what is popular is not always right."

 from my iPhone

> On May 19, 2016, at 6:56 AM, Jude DaShiell via blindtlk <blindtlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 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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>> 
>> 
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