Am I disabled?

Interesting question, as addressed here.

The Oregonian has an editorial on their recent 2 part series about the slowness of the Social Security Administration in processing the claims of disabled workers.

Part 1

Part 2

I have some fragmented thoughts on the topic...as a disabled person and as an eligibility worker.

I have never not been disabled. I have always imagined that to become disabled later in life and having to learn to live with a disability would be far harder than being born with a disability and knowing no different.

I can only imagine the angst of becoming disabled and not being able to do the job you once did. Your first inclination would be to apply for a disability payment. After taking however long it takes to start the healing process, you might come to see abilities that you have in spite of your disability that might be applied toward a job.

Many people who first meet me see my cerebral palsy, my affected speech and the different way I walk. Before they really know me, they probably do not view me as very employable. I have come far from when I was two, before I could walk or talk, when doctors could not tell my mom and dad what my life would be like. I think if I had not gone to college and had I not gotten work, people probably would not think it too odd.

Some people are disabled beyond being able to work. I am just saying that working any job, if you can, is better than not working. It makes you part of something.

I use to figure out eligibility for foodstamps. I had to use all the information at hand -- as reported on the application by the client, and whatever information I could glean from the computer screens I had access to. You need to be as perfect as possible. You want to give benefits as soon as possible to those people who truly need the benefits. You also need to ferret out those who do not qualify for benefits.

The tough side of eligibility is that not all people who need benefits will get them. The thought use to cross my mind --- why not just give benefits to whoever wants them. Use the honor system. Have people put their information into a computer, and have the computer figure out the benefits. Get rid of all the eligibility workers and auditors. Look at all the money we would save!

...Right....

People would cheat. Other people would find out they could cheat. Pretty soon, everybody would be getting foodstamps.

Lets bring it back to people who apply for Social Security Disability or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The prime reason that the process takes about five years of frustration is that the eligibility requirements are screwed down tight.

Why? Lack of money to adequately fund this federal entitlement program.

My solutions would require more money. More doctor reports, more information, more eligibility specialists. Triage cases. Quicker responses. Because of the complexity of the determinations and the size and length of the benefits, you really could not leave these determinations up to a computer.

I would add as part of a triage some sort of vocational counseling, just to open the applicant's eyes to what vocational possibilities might exist for them. Something more than just a letter that I got from the Social Security Administration when I applied for SSI after high school stating that I could be a security guard. Part of a smart triage would determine which applicants would need vocational counseling, and which would not.

Just takes more money. How do lawmakers convince their constituents, all of us, to pay more taxes to cover the costs? It's not exactly a popular issue that people would want to pay more to fix. Unless you are disabled yourself, or have a close friend or relative who is, the topic is probably of little interest to you. In fact, we have all heard stories of people cheating the system.

Blaming the government is too easy. Are we willing to pay more money so that disabled workers who apply for Social Security Disability are treated in a quicker and fairer way?

I have my doubts....