[Blindtlk] Question about SSI

Fri May 20 14:56:56 UTC 2016

That's because the floating heads down the hall try to sweep such 
mistakes under the rug.

On 5/19/2016 4:50 PM, Larry Wayland via blindtlk wrote:
> You can't be firing people for simple mistakes. I promise the dismissal rate
> would go up by much more than 5 percent.  What needs to be done is to make
> it easier to fix the mistakes.  It seems now days once a mistake is entered
> into a computer it takes forever to get it corrected.
> Larry
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Mike
> Freeman via blindtlk
> Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2016 2:44 PM
> To: 'Blind Talk Mailing List'
> Cc: Mike Freeman
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Question about SSI
>
> What would you suggest other than having two or three different persons
> review each interaction? Can't you just picture what those preoccupied with
> government waste would say to that? Let's use a little common sense here.
> Yes, the persons affected found the whole thing irritating. But that's life.
> NO one ever said it would be a bowl of cherries!
>
> Mike
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kevin via
> blindtlk
> Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2016 11:57 AM
> To: blindtlk at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Kevin
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Question about SSI
>
> Of course, but a government job should have several systems of checks and
> balances in place.  I'm sorry but there's no reason for such a major issue.
>
>
> On 5/19/2016 12:37 PM, Mike Freeman via blindtlk wrote:
>> If simple mistakes like writing in the wrong birthday uniformly
>> resulted in instant firing, the unemployment rate would go up by five
>> percent, at least, I'd bet.
>>
>> At some point, we must acknowledge that all of us are human and that
>> all of us make mistakes.
>>
>> Mike
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kevin
>> via blindtlk
>> Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2016 7:54 AM
>> To: blindtlk at nfbnet.org
>> Cc: Kevin
>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Question about SSI
>>
>> I understand mistakes happen but that was a stupid mistake.  The
>> workers responsible for entering the wrong birthday should have been
>> fired on the spot.
>>
>>
>> On 5/18/2016 9:21 PM, S L Johnson via blindtlk wrote:
>>> 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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