[Blindtlk] Question about SSI

Fri May 20 17:36:45 UTC 2016

I don't think that is the case for simple mistakes like entering a birth
date wrong.  Little mistakes like that are always going to happen, no matter
how diligent people are, or how many checks and balances there are. We are
just human and all humans all make mistakes.  Like I said before, what needs
to be done is fix computers so corrections can be easily made when errors
are recognized.  With a lot of systems used today the information is in
several different places in the data base and when one change is made the
fix is not propagated throughout the system So it keeps showing up.
Larry

-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kevin via
blindtlk
Sent: Friday, May 20, 2016 9:57 AM
To: blindtlk at nfbnet.org
Cc: Kevin
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Question about SSI

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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