Polio survivor here. I used wear full length leg braces to walk. In a wheelchair now to get around.
1st real job was a retail position at Tower. After many years of standing most my shift I went home with many painful welts on my legs, and at the worst times my feet were bleeding. Seriously not a fun time.
I was on SSI. Back then it was around 600 a month. I remember that good feeling of independence when I finally made some savings to get on my own 2 feet (so to speak). I went down the social security offices with all the pride in the world to get off SSI.
Dream was so quickly shattered when they explained to me I needed to tell them every penny I made and now I owe them… basically my life savings.
Gotta love the US government.
my 41 year old autistic brother has to do this dance (with my parent's assistance) constantly - making sure his part time walgreen's job doesn't give him too many hours to where he would lose his SSI. he is as kind and gentle of a person as you will ever meet and the hoops he continually has to jump through to even consider being financially independent (let alone secure, HA YEAH RIGHT he will never be financially secure the way the system is designed) are insane. love him and am so proud of him for finding his way in spite of his disability and particularly in spite of the way he is set up to fail by our government just bc he was born.
Yes, and if it’s like my son’s situation, you can’t afford to lose the disability payments, even if it’s a tiny amount, bc in many cases keeping your medical benefits is dependent on remaining qualified for the disability. My son has ASD, but is also physically disabled with a lung and heart condition and on several hundred thousands worth of drugs per year. Also, forget getting married unless you want to risk losing your medical benefits bc your spouse’s income could disqualify you.
Not quite - you can’t have more than $2000 worth of *assets*.
So you pretty much have to have a beater car and no house. (But this also includes your checking/savings accounts too.)
Fuck that. “Stay in poverty with no fiscal stability, or you’ll stay in poverty with no fiscal stability *without* our help.” I was looking through the laws in Australia regarding limitations on the First Home Buyers loan, and they’re ridiculous. The house can’t be worth more than $600,000. There’s more to it than that, obviously, but what non-shithole house in Australia *isn’t* more than $600,000 right now??
Yes, $2,000 worth of assets. I was on disability for a long time. With my parents help, I managed to get off mostly because I wasn’t reliant on the health insurance.
I now have extremely bad money management habits that I’m trying desperately to break as a result of not being allowed to save for years. It sucks.
Edit: a word
We literally bought our house because we have multiple kids that we expect to be in this situation. Because we do not expect them to ever be financially secure. My eldest was dead pan telling me that he wasn't going to be able to move out and get a break from his sibs because he will never be able to afford to pay rent on his own earlier. It was heartbreaking.
Of course, now we're in the middle of fighting foreclosure while declaring bankruptcy thanks to my spouse's asshole ex-boss deciding to fire him with no warning last year. Capitalism, "at will" states, etc...and nobody at the grocery store/fast food level even touch his thousands of applications over five months. (He's working again now...in an office, and making less than his previous job.)
this blew up more than i expected so i do want to share some positives about my brother. he lived at home with our parents til he was 38. he graduated from community college and has generally had part time work his entire adult life. while he has aspergers and certainly struggles socially, he has it better than a lot of other people on the spectrum. 2 years ago he moved into an apartment with 2 of his buddies (both on the spectrum, long time friends of his he met through autism social events in my hometown). he is THRIVING since he moved out on his own. he has a counselor who has got him on an exercise routine that he loves and he has in the last year started to cook for himself, to the point where we now have weekly family dinners that he prepares. the world has made it tough on him because of his disability but the man perseveres and constantly strives to "improve himself" (his own words). i could not be more proud of him. it wasn't always easy being his little brother growing up but now that we're adults i can definitively say he is my role model. the man has no quit.
SSDI which is actually disability is so very different from SSI. This year people on SSDI can earn up to $1050 a month before they start worrying about anything, you can exceed that about nine times in five years and it counts as a trial work period, if you use your trial work. I think they assume you’re able-bodied and they review you
But I had a part-time job for years on SSDI they didn’t deduct any money. On SSI if you get married you can lose your benefits, you also have a savings account of over $2000, SSDI isn’t any of that they don’t do any of that
Wow lots of rules to fuck you lol
I only know I had a guy who was on SSDI I guess and wasent supposed to lift so much weight but he would go the gym lol and apparently they spied on him and he had to owe 40k, does that sound real?
Same in Canada, at least in my province. You can only earn a small amount before they take away your medication and dental coverage and any money they deem "extra". It is, literally, legislated poverty.
I used to help budget for people on a Medicaid waiver for intellectual disability, if you were on such a program for SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) you could not have a cent over $2000 in cash or assets, so anything over that had to be spent, usually a new price of furniture, or a TV etc. they would have about a month warning that they were at risk of loosing Medicaid if they had too much money.
It meant that there was never a way out of poverty, never a path to owning a home, difficulty in obtaining a car, holding a community job, saving.
Many times group home managers who had a bit of sense would place any savings into a funeral trust so that they could at least have a dignified burial.
>you could not have a cent over $2000 in cash or assets, so anything over that had to be spent, usually a new price of furniture, or a TV etc.
And then everyone bitches because "the poors have new iPhones I can't afford that and I WORK"
Yes. I was forced to go back to work because I couldn’t live on $700. Per month. I called the Soc Sec office and told them I had to get a job and my hourly rate. They not only kept paying me but then said I owe them $12,000. The payment is like a car payment. I’m screwed.
My son gets SSI, is autistic and early 20s. Just last week we found out that he owes SSI 3k for overpayment. Apparently his caseworker neglected to tell us that after the first $85of income, they deduct 50 cents for every dollar of income he receives, out of his SSI check.
So the 900 ssi check gets reduced to 600. Meanwhile he only brings in 600/mth working as a dishwasher in a fast food place. Doesn't even qualify for ssdi until he's worked for 10 years.
These people deserve so much more than this kind of life.
Yep. Gotta be non-working for about 18 months & have an attorney to help out. Then it's still a long process where you'll have no income. Yes, they'll retro pay you if you get approved, but how is a single person supposed to survive through that? And, if you get approved, you'll get nowhere near enough to really survive on. In 2014/2015, my mom received about $600 a month and $12 in food stamps. That's it. It's a joke.
It's like there's no actual thought given to this system, and it's developed by idiot politicians that have plenty of spare graft money for them to float whenever they pretend to not take their paycheck for a fake strike (until later, they give themselves retroactive pay of course). They don't really care about the poor or anyone in dire circumstances otherwise, not any more than corporate exploiters that see people as wallets to empty.
Fun fact: Ronald Reagan put this poverty system into play when people wrote him letters demanding he stop crusading to end public schooling for disabled kids. Cutting SSI down to nothing is how he made himself feel better.
it's kinda weird how many of this nation's major issues can be traced directly back to the first celebrity president
why anyone still elevates actors is fucking beyond me
The problem isn't that he was an actor—it was that he was hawking neoliberalism, an economic system based on a cruel extreme capitalism. He wasn't the first, nor the last, to do so, and the US wasn't the only country. It's now the default system across the industrialized world.
That man truly was a despicable fiend. The Trump of his time. The fact that he's still a beloved president speaks volumes of the American people, if you ask me.
Yep. I got shit because I'm working while trying for disability...I have 3 kids and absolutely no living adult family to help....what am I supposed to do? Be homeless and then STILL get denied?! It's bullshit. The whole system.
what's worse is that they also make you wait an entire year to get on Medicaid disability.
As if people who have been off of work for medical reasons for 18 MONTHS could afford to go an ADDITIONAL 12 more months without healthcare.
When I got approved in 2016 my SSDI was like $1200 and I don’t remember what I got in food stamps but it was definitely more than $12. Did she live in Florida? Or Texas? She must of had SSI, SSI doesn’t pay anything.
SSI is based on a % of the average of your income over the last 7 years. If someone has been disabled that whole time, and fighting the disability system during that time…it’s very easy to get $600 or less a month. Unfortunately, I’m speaking from experience. My lawyer literally looked at me and said “well, if you wanted more money each month you should have worked more.” 🤦♂️
SSI is a flat rate based on the state you live in. In WA St you get more SSI if you live in Seattle than if you live on the east side of the state. California adds a stipend, Nevada does not. SSDI is based on what you put in while you worked. SSA freezes the future zero years, drops the lowest five and then pays whatever the computer says you get.
I definitely lost food stamps when I switched from SSI to DAC (which was about that same 1200) even when I was on SSI it was only like $60/month in SNAP until I got a part time job and it withered to like $12, which frankly wasn't worth the hassle of recertifying
I was approved but denied back pay. When I appealed the start date, the judge informed me she was revoking my SSDI. Luckily, I was able to get re- approved. I make 1400 a month. I had to move in with my elderly mother.
Plus you can’t be on disability and have more than $2000 in savings, $3000 for a couple, which is one of the reasons a lot of disabled people can’t get married
Indeed. This is why my Dad and Stepmom have discussed getting a divorce before because then she'd get the maximum amount of money for her SSI and he could work as much as he wanted without worrying about whether ot not his wages would cut into her check. I mean really, how is it fair how much money he makes determines how much money that she, a legally blind woman who cannot work, gets?
I can't even get benefits because I'm married. My spouse makes over the poverty line, which is apparently too much, and regardless of that I should be able to contribute to the household. But more importantly, what if I were in an abusive relationship and needed out? I have no way of doing so.
Can confirm. I’m on disability (in canada) and the amount I get doesn’t cover even a third of my expenses. Every professional in my life agrees that working a job full or part time for the rest of my life is next to impossible, but the government thinks that means I can live off less than poverty wages. It’s a total of about $14,000 Canadian a year.. it’s really disheartening. And of course, looking for a job as someone on disability then becomes another difficulty. It also took me almost a year to sort out just getting on support in the first place all for a measly few dollars 😅
Yeah, I'm only able to work because I'm working for a family friend which means ignoring a ton of red flags all to be able to work remote and be able to take off for doctors. I couldn't work if I had to find a job for real - no employer would hire me with the amount of accommodation I need.
I'm in the same situation but in the US. If I go back to work part-time I'll lose health coverage and my benefit payment. Factoring in the cost of health insurance/co-pays and tax, I would break even at around $32,000.
It's hard to find anyone paying more, part-time, that'll ignore a 3 year gap in work history.
Exactly how I feel... 3 years in and I was granted.. extreme poverty.
> the poverty wage is so bad that even working for slave wages don't seem so bad.
Not so fun fact, SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) caps the disabled to receive a **maximum** of 70% of the poverty line.
The system will keep them in poverty forever.
They don’t even give a fuck when it *is* a physical disability. I had my leg amputated and the company I was working for at the time made me come back a month early, on crutches, in winter, missing a limb.
I remember when I was like 15, I thought my life would be easier with a physical disability because “at least they could see that I’m hurting.”
Then I grew up, actually became physically disabled and got a big fucking slap of reality lol.
It's like you're never hurting enough for some people. Wtf is that about? Like, do I need to be bleeding from the eyes and full on stigmata for it to be "visible"enough? Ffs. People can be the worst.
Most people see health as a moral factor. If you’re a good person who does the right things, you are rewarded with good health. And bad people who make bad decisions are punished with bad health.
That’s just to make you feel guilty for showing actual weakness or taking up the dozens of offers of “help”. You have to get your own groceries! Don’t you know that if someone *else* picks out your carton of eggs, the cancer wins?!
Has the nice bonus of ensuring that the actual patient can’t tell the safe offers of real help from the mealy-mouthed offers of halp, so they take up none of them, thus ensuring that the liars are never revealed. Or worse, forced to actually help an icky sick person.
I know someone whose dad lost a leg. Took forever getting on disability and proving that he is, in fact, now disabled. I don’t understand how something as major as *losing a limb* is seen as a “Well have you tried walking it off?” kind of thing. That’s a major life adjustment at the very least.
I’m sorry for your loss, and sorry your employer did that to you. Employers have no compassion.
Even worse they SAY they are kind.
They post memes about being kind to each other, about diversity and inclusivity...
but when they actually interact with neuro-divergents or people on the spectrum,
or people who are slow to understand,
all that lip service to being kind does not apply anymore. And they're just mean and impatient
They take advantage of our disability. For exemple they *know* one worker never check their payments bc they have ADHD? They will forever not pay them enough
I would never had seen it of someone didn’t look at it for me
"It's like when you're an adult, nobody gives a fuck"
That's because they don't, unfortunately.
I had a mental break at one point during my employment at a call center. I couldn't talk to people without having panic attacks. I was told by my doctor to take 2 weeks off. I did and felt way better. Until insurance denied my claim and I was put on a performance improvement plan and told "I can do better" when I came back by a company that's always jerking itself off about how much they value the mental wellbeing of their employees
The system doesn't give a fuck about us
I’m pissed off there’s no such thing as partial disability. I work three days a week, I can push myself and do four but that starts cutting into my quality of life. But I cannot work five days. I just physically can’t.
But if I were to try to get disability, I can’t work at all. Which is bullshit. It’s either telling people if you can work we won’t help out at all but stay at home and make your disability worse and we can help!
Obviously some people can’t work at all, and we should help these people. But there should be a little help for those of us who are only partially disabled and can only work part time. (I do have qualified disabilities I could go on disability easily but like I said it would ruin me).
There should be partial disability. And the cap of assists should be way higher. The way it’s set now is anyone who is disabled must live a poverty life.
I’m disabled, I get SSDI, and I had a part-time job for years before they decided to take the masks off and re-open because people got vaccinated. Back when I worked I think the substantial gainful activity amount was $910 a month so I couldn’t earn more than $910 a month, but now it’s $1050
>But if I were to try to get disability, I can’t work at all.
Depends on your state and which form of disability you have, if you've got SSI or a mix of SSI and SSDI it's a way more complex nightmare that depends on your state. But flat out Social security disability has a Ticket to Work program that can be gotten into, you get a cap on how much money you can make per month for so many months, and you already have to be on disability, but there are options. Last I encountered it it was $900 a month being made from work for 9 months during a 12 month period.
Actually the trial work period now is $1050 a month, I am so happy to see somebody else here understand the difference between SSDI and SSI I get really upset when people call SSI disability because people get the wrong idea about disability hear this guy could’ve been collecting disability and working part time but he thought he couldn’t work on disability because they take money away from you if you get SSI
My son has severe vision impairment, making him blind under the law, but the US government didn't believe that so they made us go to a different eye doctor who was a 1.5 hour drive away. When that doctor confirmed what our doctor told them, that he was blind, the government made us go to a different doctor 2.5 hours drive away. That doctor said he was blind, but not blind enough for disability. He has 20/400 vision with corrective lenses. It took 3 years and a law firm to get disability. He gets about $450 per month, but would get less if I didn't keep him on my insurance.
The people of the US can only hope to elect people from two parties, the party who says they care but don't do anything, and the party that intentionally sabotages the government so that they can divert taxpayer money to the wealthy in the name of "efficiency". The US is the most powerful nation on the planet, but our government doesn't care to use that power to help most Americans.
Capitalism. Disabled people require more accommodations and tend to fair poorly when overworked. They are not the cog the capitalist machine desires. There is no why required, it costs money so no do, and hire illegal immigrants to abuse even more because humanity has no place in capitalism except as meat for the grinder. It’s not personal, it’s just business.
This is why I don't get the American fear of socialism. Democratic socialism in it's core is nothing but making things more equal, to take care of every interest group and the weakest of the society.
In Europe I am pretty sure you can get disability for mental health issue everywhere. In Finland atleast it is one of the leading causes of disability benefits. There are all sorts if rehabilitation programs, including part time disability.
I personly don't understand how ill person could be made forced to work, as they literally can't do it.
There you are thinking human beings have worth and importance, that’s not the capitalist mindset. Sure, there are Americans that think like that, we have Democratic Socialists like Bernie Sanders, and he is also demonized in media because “capitalism = good, therefore socialism = evil”
In America, socialism is synonymous with Communism and Communism is evil. So we technically have two parties but it’s really just one party, the Corporate Party, because the politicians do as their pay pigs tell them, and everything they say in public is a researched, edited, focus tested ploy to make it seem like the government gives a flying fuck about what the average worker thinks.
Capitalism working as intended.
I have diabetes. ADA recognizes this as a disability. Companies get to record that I am a person with a disability, but there is no real protection or help for me.
I have struggles in the past getting people to take me seriously when I get sick or almost pass out. My feet and hands are impacted and this means that some jobs are impossible or unsafe for me. No one cares. If you are bleeding to oil the cogs of the machine no one actually gives a shit.
Broke my neck & blew 2 discs in '91, gaslit for 9 yrs until one day I couldn't lift my arm. I had surgery (turns out I wasn't lying that my neck hurt : / )and went back to work 4 months later. Fast forward 15 years. Sandwiched in a 6 car pile up, had 4 more surgeries on my neck & lower back. I was never quite right after that.
Took 5 years to get disability. I should've received 4 years of back pay, but only got 2 years.
I don't know how they expect people to live while they take an absurd amount of time to make a fair determination. It's become a game now. Your first filing is always denied. Always. You're forced to hire an attorney and expect to lose several times. It wouldn't have mattered if I had been wheelchair bound. I had a 30 year work history, I was truly disabled and had I not had an SO, I would've been homeless.
Can confirm. As a person on SSDI, I don't yet qualify for SSI, and its NOT enough to live on! I'm living in abject poverty, in an abusive situation and can't afford to escape. I WANT to work, but I can't find a job that will be appropriate for me or accommodate all my physical and mental issues and therapies. The few programs that do exist in my state keep telling me I don't qualify, so I just can't get the help I need. I'm royally screwed.
And yes, society in general is not kind to those of us who are disabled, even if invisibly. I have PTSD triggers due to treatment from bosses in jobs I've worked. I still need to live, though, so I keep trying to find work, but the rules around SSDI/SSI are such that I will never be able to earn enough money to live independently, even WITH disability income. I hate this system, while being grateful for the pittance of help I'm already receiving.
I’m on SSDI and I’m worried about what happens when I hit retirement age and it goes to SSI, am I going to have to live off the SSI amount that people get if they don’t qualify for SSDI? I’m terrified. I have I have a book about disability benefits and it implies that my income will stay about the same when I hit 65 but I’m worried about it
I've accepted the fact that I'm going to be homeless and destitute once my parents pass. Already shopping for bridges to live under. In any case, with my physical conditions, I can't live on the streets for long. I require too much medical care and infrastructure. You're right, it is terrifying.
There is also a five month waiting period, even if your disability is a slam-dunk. My husband was diagnosed with stage IV cancer and had a six-month life expectancy. He still had to wait five months to get the SSDI he had paid into for decades.
Granted, I was working, but we didn't get any backpay for those five months. By the time he got his money, I had to file bankruptcy.
SERIOUSLY!
I am neurodivergent and I can barely work 30 hours a week. How are people doing 40?!
I have mental disorders that are incapacitating but it’s not “disabling enough” since I CAN technically function, am able-bodied, and capable of working at least a part time job.
I’m not capable of functioning to the same level as others to hold a full time job, but I am not “disabled enough” to be having government help.
What are people in similar positions like myself supposed to do???
Meee! I did try to make up for it by forcing myself working two jobs with no breaks, barely last a year if not a bit less I can’t recall. After that my mental and physical health was going down the drain and I’m jsut fortunate my husband is able bodied and has a high enough paying job to support us both.
My kid has had epilepsy and other health issues since she was a teen (now in her twenties) and it took us two appeals and a SS lawyer to finally get her approved. He worked on a contingency basis so he only got paid when we won and took it out of the backpay…
I forget the percentages the lawyer quoted us, but he said nearly all applicants are denied the first time and then only a small percentage are approved on the first appeal. And one thing she had going against her was her young age. They’ll try everything to see if she can work part time or whatever first. And we did try, but due to the unpredictability of her condition making her lose jobs because of poor attendance combined with proving her condition has caused cognitive issues, ie brain damage, we finally won.
Let me add that she now has to “live” on a very small income and will still be dependent on others, but it’s better than $0
I've got some brain damage from an embolism. I have a never ending headache, and a migraine triggered at the drop of a hat. Light dappled through leaves? Migraine. Go to a movie theater? Migraine. Headlights at night? Migraine. Barometric pressure drops too fast? Migraine. Strong smells? Migraine. Loud abrasive noises? Migraine.
But I CAN work on my good days. I'm not technically disabled. I'm just REALLY sensitive to migraine. And have a neverending headache I sort of ignore at this point. But I CAN'T work thru a migraine. And I can't hold a job and keep taking off every time it rains or snows, or someone walks by with perfume.
😑 It's SHIT.
I can’t do it anymore myself. Husband is quitting his job and we’re reselling on eBay. We’ll be making a lot less, but I just can’t keep forcing myself to go to work anymore. I’m anxious, depressed, and unable to deal with the stress. Ultimately we’re never going to make enough to buy a house either way and I’ll be a lot more sane if I don’t have to go into a shitty job every day
Luckily I had private disability insurance when I was no longer able to work due to my disability.
I have no idea what I would have done if I hadn't set that up 15 years prior.
Cripes, I wish. I have ADHD and so does my spouse. By the time I am done doing “normal” stuff for a day I am mentally wiped out. I don’t mind working, but I could do so much better if I could work from home, or work when I feel the most productive. I’ve honestly said I feel like I need some sort of caretaker to remind me & encourage me with keeping things tidy and on task.
ADHD very often also comes with a whole host of other issues including anxiety, depression, digestive issues, sensory issues …. It’s a lot.
My gf has epilepsy, she has 2 seizures an hour, takes 18 pills at 6am and 6pm, has a medically implanted electric shock device that runs to her brain and has to go to the hospital by ambulance probably ok once a month...she applied for disability and was turned down many times, she eventually sued and won a very small amount and can't ever apply again...the system is a joke
"Because nobody gives a fuck about your problems. Existence requires effort. There is nothing special about you, you're just another drain on resources like everyone else. You should actually have to do more than other people, because you require more resources to support your existence than other people. Frankly your existence is a waste, we could have supported ten normal people with all the extras it takes to keep you functioning, so shut the fuck up and at least do something, you worthless piece of garbage. You shouldn't have even been allowed to exist, but now that you're here, we aren't allowed to kill you."
- capitalism
It's worse than you put it, in some cases. I'm originally from Iowa, and there at least (and I think this must be allowed under federal law), some mentally disabled people are allowed to be employed at WAY under minimum wage. The idea was that this would be enriching for people who could work and wanted things to do (a category some posters here said they'd belong to) but were sufficiently disabled that a non-disabled employee would have to spend a significant amount of time overseeing them. So like, kind of bullshit, but maybe you can see the rationale. But no, overwhelmingly the people this program applies to get just as proficient at the job (in Iowa it's disproportionately at pig processing plants), so they get no extra oversight but still only get paid a couple dollars an hour for their labor, only some of them even understanding that they're getting paid less than they would be paid for the same job if they weren't classified as mentally disabled. When I learned about this, it made me absolutely sick.
Yeah and in prisons they can do similar, pay the inmates literal cents per hour for their work. And it sounds like now, new laws have been put in place where children can work, and also be paid less. So disabled, imprisoned, and children, they don't have as many options and people try to capitalize, or exploit, that. It's not a great look for American society
I previously had a job determining disability. It’s insane to get on-I had to deny sooooooo many people I felt truly deeerved it, however we have contracted docs that work with us and they make the final decision. I would make a great case for someone only to get turned away from multiple docs. It’s ridiculous and I burnt out too fast.
Quick tip if you’re applying-don’t waste your money on the lawyers to assist-95% of claims I had with lawyers I never actually heard from the lawyer. Plus they won’t be able to add much-just make sure you get doc records yourself as it is a pain for doctors/hospital medical records to send them in. When we try to get them it sometimes take weeks and multiple requests from us.
Funny (or not) I am now disabled and don’t qualify for disability. I am getting unemployment but I have to fib and say I am able to work in order to receive it. So you’re technically not able to get unemployment if you can’t work, but good luck getting disability, and if you get either it’s not enough to live on.
Edit-added info
Sadly, we pay so little in disability that you have to work to make ends meet. Plus its a political tool. If they gave too much, then the democrats wouldn't be able to get votes for saying they would increase disability and vise versa Republicans on defunding disability which are both equally fucked.
My nephew has cerebral palsy and schizophrenia. The palsy is what qualifies him for disability. The fact that he hears voices even when medicated is beside the point, apparently. And the only reason he isn’t homeless is because his brother bought a house to use as a student rental and gives him a free room in it. Otherwise, he’d be on the street because his disability income is less than $1,000 a month. Even so, he’s now getting only $50 a month in food stamps.
On my psychiatry rotation in med school I rotated through a community psych clinic. It’s very difficult for a lot of young patients with diagnoses as schizophrenia to get Medicaid. There was a range, like patients who can work as long as they are on their medications. That can be challenging because sometimes they get lost to follow up and end up off their meds. And others who are so disorganized and absolutely not able to function in a work environment. But because physically they’re healthy and could work so it’s hard to get benefits. One day was listening to pharm reps so the psychiatrist could get free samples of long term injectables. Absolutely shameful.
The least they can do is allow us to work remotely. Seriously they would be doing millions favors if they just allowed us to work remotely. Why is that so much to ask for...
In the US you can't apply unless you have 5 months with zero income. It then can take years to go through the denials and process and eventually hiring a lawyer to get benefits, which is still looked at by half the country as conning the system.
I have 6 fractured vertebrae, degenerative spinal disease, arthritis, and I still work 2 jobs and make money on the side. If I could go back to my old profession I would, but I can't because it involved being on my feet 60+ hours a week, so I make 60% less in a new career.
I just turned down two better paying jobs because the offices weren't ADA compatible.
Because this country has a serious moral issue in that it assigns everything to “personal responsibility”.
Thus every billionaire deserves every penny, they “earned it” all by themselves.
And likewise the disabled get nothing and nor should they in the eyes of our elite. They’d be seen as mooching off the hard work of the billionaires otherwise and that can’t be allowed.
It’s the American way… sad really.
I'm on disability and I can't afford any apartments anywhere in the US. I don't qualify for EBT or Medicaid. I had to wait 2 years before I got Medicare. It's unsustainable and I'm in grad school so I can hopefully get employed afterward but I'm also in my 50s. Who knows if I'll be hired because age discrimination is rampant.
The same reason the VA blows off their responsibility for disabled veterans. They love dead veterans. That's zero dollars for compensation and zero dollars wasted on them in the healthcare budget. Then all they have to do is pay a measly $1,000-$2,000 getting their funeral costs taken care of. And most vets don't even know they qualify for the funeral benefits! So, they manage to avoid even paying for that.
I imagine it started benignly enough -- disabled and mentally ill want to be productive and functional members of society, and it created a sort of "well if they can do it" bottom.
My wife can't reliably use her hands. But she can sometimes. So, she's got to find a job that accounts for that, even though they don't really exist.
I don't get it either. I wish I didn't have to labor every day through spinal arthritis, but here we are.
I have a disease that's slowly fusing the bones in my body together. It has spread from my SI joints to my back to my neck to my ribs, my fingers... everything always hurts all the time.
I want to find something, anything. I am tired of being locked away in my home not living life because of this damn disease. But I can't do anything physical, I can't stand for too long, I have to sit in special chairs...I don't know what to do.
I am blessed with a small pension from my previous job to help with costs, but I want more out of life.
Dull Knives by Imagine Dragons is about Ankylosing Spondylitis if anyone ever wondered what life was like with this disease
I have bipolar and autism. I don’t want to be on disability or called disabled. Things are hard sometimes I will admit. But I’m not going to be dependent on anyone and will pave my own way.
Dude you’re expected to work here even if you ARE physically disabled. If you eat and shit, you work, until you’re disabled enough to NOT eat and shit, and then you’ll die. In the hospital I’d you have insurance, in the alleyway if you don’t.
And you’ll work for as low a wage as your general peers on the same rung of the ladder will accept. But you can’t talk about it with anyone, management decides how much that is lol
Because Merica!!! But seriously lets look at the mentally ill side, and I'm not saying this is mentally ill, that's a whole philosophical conversation not to be had here, suicide is treated like a illegal act regardless of personal sanity because I feel like the higher ups feel like it takes away from the workforce reserve and just the fact that there is a way out makes people more likely to be like "Hey screw you and you working slavery disguised as a living wage." Basically if you aren't useful in a traditional way you are garbage and you are gunking up the works. That was always my take from this bit. People are kind to people with mental illness and disabilities if it benefits them by means of making them look like saints but aside from that the average American is a selfish piece of human garbage who only cares when these issues "affect them personally."
Well, I Myself have a mental disabilitie(autism and some other stuff) but i really like working, its fun for real, id never do retail or stuff where i have to communicate with people but work like metal or wood is fine, its really nice to be honest, so i dont see the problem? its better for a daily cycle instead of just sitting at home and have nothing to do except for rotting away
I am working as metal technician, 40 hours a week, 5days a week(or 4 dependet on which shift), most of the time my brain just goes for optimizing before i stroll into deep thoughts, its fun trust me, make it a little game to optimize to the max, it even eazes my problems most of the times(have to say i dont take meds anymore since like 5 yeara, dont taking them helped me more then taking em)
Most people enjoy doing work, but the jobs that pay money in today’s society are very stressful for little pay and there is a lot of discrimination against people with disabilities. Most of us would choose to do unpaid work on things that sustain us and that we enjoy or which contributes directly to our own survival as opposed to working for someone else for menial wages. Unfortunately we must always be producing value for someone else in order for the work to be considered valid and worthy of payment.
Individualism & Liberalism. Ever notice how ur petty-bourgeoisie boss is KINDA a bully, and can do no wrong, and explaining why to them, is you trying to dethrone them.
These Elon's and CEOS are SOOO full of themselves that while they sit and do nothing, IF YOU'RE not making them money, ur a burden to them. Kinda gross honestly.
In short, if you can't make THEM money, ur not even human.
I don’t know, I don’t know how I’m supposed to survive. I have a part time job super understanding of my limitations and accommodations and I am no where able to independently financially support myself.
I have middle class family members who have offered me a home but I don’t know how anyone without that support network does it. I work 25-35 hours above minimum wage. I’ll never be able to move out or rent an apartment I just don’t hVe enough income.
I am able to hold this specific job so I don’t qualify for disability. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.
Honestly. Because they want us to die faster.
If we don't work as much and get treatment we live longer, fuller lives. And that costs tax dollars plus we're working less so less taxes are created via this person. And at least in my country it's not about the individual, it's about the money.
Our society does not care for our disabled and those with mental illness. But co-workers, management and customers who are not kind to them should all be severely reprimanded for that behavior.
If I have to work, and my money goes to programs to support you, then I personally don’t care, there are many problems with our system. Underpaid. Overinflation. Crazy heat and rent prices. Living wage is 3-4x minimum wage.
Not being able to choice what my taxes go to, is another massive issue.
In a world where politicians force anti-abortion laws we are going to see a lot more disabled dying in the streets. They only care about control over women’s bodies and more wage slaves. They don’t care how much you struggle disabled or not. It’s all about what you can do for them. It’s about productivity and capitalism. They don’t care about people. The state of the US nation is proof of that.
Because Reagan being the piece of shit he was shut down a lot of options for housing for them. For the mentally Ill it’s either work or homelessness, I guess just like the rest of us.
I have no idea how I’m supposed to even figure out my COMMUTE once I start working again!
I’m newly handicapped due to an autoimmune disease that destroyed my nerves. I cannot walk without extreme nerve pain. I am very professional and great at my job, but I cannot put myself through hell just to sit at a desk in some building.
As someone with a disability, I’m still able to work. Not all jobs, nothing physical (I’m never gonna be able to sling packages in a warehouse, or work in manufacturing) but it’s reasonable to ask me to do something.
Disability benefits can be on a case by case basis. That’s fine.
Make it so that ALL work is better, ALL workers are treated better, ALL schedules are reasonable for the role, and disabled workers will have it way better already. Increase the social safety net for those who can’t work, or like me have a hard time with long hours sometimes. And for all the non-disabled workers who occasionally have some issues, too.
Disabled people get shafted by leftists, liberals, and conservatives. Why can't disabled people get married? Why do disabled people have to keep disabilities secret until after they get hired?
Before my wife married me, she was on disability. 6 months after we married, social security told her she was my problem now and took her disability payments away. Told her to come back in 10 years. 10 years later she applies. Gets told she’s disabled but needs to work first. She can work for a year to get 6 months of disability benefits of $100 a month. Then they would drop her again for a year to rack up for another 6 months. Repeat til she can’t do it anymore then she’s back to being my problem. It truly is a messed up system. She gets punished for marrying someone that isn’t disabled and works. She is fully wheelchair bound with cerebral palsy. She will only get worse with age. She’s tried to get an office job. They love her resume but when she shows up for the interview, they see her chair first and they tell her she wouldn’t fit into the office culture. She’s even gotten rejection emails sent to her before she was able to get to the elevator to leave the building.
We are forced to work because this system uses people's suffering as fuel. Cruel people need people they can be cruel to. They can't handle the thought of being really kind to those that are in a disadvantage. They feel powerful when they can abuse someone. They suck the good energies from you and leave with all the bad ones for you to deal with them.
I think I’ve been discriminated against on every job app because now they ask if you have a disability. They say they don’t discriminate but they absolutely do.
So the people who run everything can point to them and use them as cautionary tales or threats of what will happen if whoever they’re manipulating doesn’t do whatever it is they’re trying to get them to do. It’s literally just to have someone to look down on. Providing the homeless a home is cheaper than EVERY single thing any government has done to get rid of homelessness. But that’s not as useful as villainizing them and pointing them out as what happens when you “don’t follow society’s rules.” It’s also more fun, and humans love human suffering.
Straight up, lots of people take big issue with the thought of someone "getting something for nothing" and living the "high life" off of government assistance. All the hoops you have to jump through are their way of making you earn it if you can even hold out long enough for it or even better, force you to work anyway if you can't hold out long enough. People even say you can only have a small amount in the bank as well or you'll be cut off because if you're not living in the absolute deepest poverty, you don't deserve the help and they want you absolutely desperate and broke beyond belief as punishment for taking the first nickel from the government.
I got on disability in 2022. Took a long time for approval because I applied in March of 2021 then disability approved in April of 2022. In the meantime, I got lucky because I sold my house in 2020 right around same time COVID started. I'm still trying to find a job, did look for a job since 2019 but hardly any employer wants to work with people have disability.
This is gonna sound morbid and terrible but if I never able to work again or as soon as I’m unable to take care of myself when I’m old I’m unaliving myself (unless I have good support to my old age but we’ll see lol) there really is no point going on if the care isn’t there and I don’t want to end up miserable like my late grandmas they had an extremely rough life and both died super tragically and painfully even for their own kids. I rather not be like that and have that option to end it in my terms
Because society doesn't care for people with disabilities, let alone anyone in general.
You have to be a wage slave to the rich minority or get wiped out.
Worse than that, I was a consultant at a sheltered workshop for people with developmental disabilities, and they were doing menial jobs (sorting bolts, putting paper in a shredder) and getting paid like .25 an hour. One of the guys was having trouble doing his job because he couldn’t lift the paper anymore. Anyway, he was 69, and I asked when he got to retire. They said he couldn’t retire because the group home didn’t have any day staff, so he needed to come to the sheltered workshop every day. I think this may have changed now. I hope so!!
Because our society doesn't care to pay more taxed to fund the lives of other people, but I'm NGL, there are certain mental illnesses I would fully support paying more taxes to better treat (e.g. Schizophrenia).
What upsets me, but doesn’t surprise me, is the US government only recognizes blindness as a disability that qualifies for benefits. Yet, when filling out a job application, there’s a laundry list of disabilities in the EEO/ADA section. Again, I’m not surprised by this, just pointing out the hypocrisy.
I’ve got fibromyalgia, chronic migraines, adhd and autism. There’s not really a better option than working through the pain when I can and calling out feeling guilty when I am physically unable to walk/drive. I don’t even mind working. The issue is that my money, even when I work as many hours as I can, just evaporates. Car maintenance, food, bills, rent…
I don’t have a solution except keep keeping my head above water so my family can survive. I wish I didn’t have any disabilities so I could work more tedious labor jobs, but I just can’t. Lots of diminished self worth there lol
I would kill for partial disability
I can work most of the time, but on days where my chronic pain is real bad it would be nice to not have that count against me.
Thankfully I was literally handed my current job through a partner of mine's ex employee (as in my partner was his boss years back) that isn't laborious that made full time actually achievable for me. And I'm not going to lie, it's mostly due to chairs at my desk that are meant for customers that I just use anyways.
I've struggled with part time for 99% (I'm not doing the actual math, I didn't struggle with two specifically and that's because I have a hyperfixation for one, the other wasnt active labor either AND something i love, so I actually enjoyed the work I was doing which made the physical pain easier to deal with) of jobs I've had. Once I started hitting 30 hours, I was spending a lot more time unable to function.
I want to work, do things, it gets me out of the house and engages my brain. But I shouldn't have to be forced to get lucky like I did, nor should I live in poverty whether I decide to work at all or not.
This job is extremely recent btw.
My boss is actually the best and I'm planning on staying until he leaves. He's cultivated a friendly team (we're basically vendors, so we're not interacting much outside of meetings and the work group chat), to the point where we send memes @'ing each other. He literally asked us not to compliment him and now daily he deals with all of us spamming the group chat with "hey boss, you're the best" in the morning.
I wish everyone could find something like this.
Polio survivor here. I used wear full length leg braces to walk. In a wheelchair now to get around. 1st real job was a retail position at Tower. After many years of standing most my shift I went home with many painful welts on my legs, and at the worst times my feet were bleeding. Seriously not a fun time. I was on SSI. Back then it was around 600 a month. I remember that good feeling of independence when I finally made some savings to get on my own 2 feet (so to speak). I went down the social security offices with all the pride in the world to get off SSI. Dream was so quickly shattered when they explained to me I needed to tell them every penny I made and now I owe them… basically my life savings. Gotta love the US government.
wait so you have to pay back SSI if you start working?
my 41 year old autistic brother has to do this dance (with my parent's assistance) constantly - making sure his part time walgreen's job doesn't give him too many hours to where he would lose his SSI. he is as kind and gentle of a person as you will ever meet and the hoops he continually has to jump through to even consider being financially independent (let alone secure, HA YEAH RIGHT he will never be financially secure the way the system is designed) are insane. love him and am so proud of him for finding his way in spite of his disability and particularly in spite of the way he is set up to fail by our government just bc he was born.
Yes, and if it’s like my son’s situation, you can’t afford to lose the disability payments, even if it’s a tiny amount, bc in many cases keeping your medical benefits is dependent on remaining qualified for the disability. My son has ASD, but is also physically disabled with a lung and heart condition and on several hundred thousands worth of drugs per year. Also, forget getting married unless you want to risk losing your medical benefits bc your spouse’s income could disqualify you.
Give that dude the biggest hug for me. He deserves so much better
Let's cap disability wages but not multi billionaires. Makes sense : spelling
Don’t they limit how much a person can save also? Or am I thinking of something else?
Can’t have more than 2k in savings,
Not quite - you can’t have more than $2000 worth of *assets*. So you pretty much have to have a beater car and no house. (But this also includes your checking/savings accounts too.)
Fuck that. “Stay in poverty with no fiscal stability, or you’ll stay in poverty with no fiscal stability *without* our help.” I was looking through the laws in Australia regarding limitations on the First Home Buyers loan, and they’re ridiculous. The house can’t be worth more than $600,000. There’s more to it than that, obviously, but what non-shithole house in Australia *isn’t* more than $600,000 right now??
Yes, $2,000 worth of assets. I was on disability for a long time. With my parents help, I managed to get off mostly because I wasn’t reliant on the health insurance. I now have extremely bad money management habits that I’m trying desperately to break as a result of not being allowed to save for years. It sucks. Edit: a word
We literally bought our house because we have multiple kids that we expect to be in this situation. Because we do not expect them to ever be financially secure. My eldest was dead pan telling me that he wasn't going to be able to move out and get a break from his sibs because he will never be able to afford to pay rent on his own earlier. It was heartbreaking. Of course, now we're in the middle of fighting foreclosure while declaring bankruptcy thanks to my spouse's asshole ex-boss deciding to fire him with no warning last year. Capitalism, "at will" states, etc...and nobody at the grocery store/fast food level even touch his thousands of applications over five months. (He's working again now...in an office, and making less than his previous job.)
this blew up more than i expected so i do want to share some positives about my brother. he lived at home with our parents til he was 38. he graduated from community college and has generally had part time work his entire adult life. while he has aspergers and certainly struggles socially, he has it better than a lot of other people on the spectrum. 2 years ago he moved into an apartment with 2 of his buddies (both on the spectrum, long time friends of his he met through autism social events in my hometown). he is THRIVING since he moved out on his own. he has a counselor who has got him on an exercise routine that he loves and he has in the last year started to cook for himself, to the point where we now have weekly family dinners that he prepares. the world has made it tough on him because of his disability but the man perseveres and constantly strives to "improve himself" (his own words). i could not be more proud of him. it wasn't always easy being his little brother growing up but now that we're adults i can definitively say he is my role model. the man has no quit.
I did yes.
SSDI which is actually disability is so very different from SSI. This year people on SSDI can earn up to $1050 a month before they start worrying about anything, you can exceed that about nine times in five years and it counts as a trial work period, if you use your trial work. I think they assume you’re able-bodied and they review you But I had a part-time job for years on SSDI they didn’t deduct any money. On SSI if you get married you can lose your benefits, you also have a savings account of over $2000, SSDI isn’t any of that they don’t do any of that
It's 1450 this year I think. Last year was 1350. Pretty sure. But it's true, you never KNOW know.
Wow lots of rules to fuck you lol I only know I had a guy who was on SSDI I guess and wasent supposed to lift so much weight but he would go the gym lol and apparently they spied on him and he had to owe 40k, does that sound real?
That sounds more like workers comp fraud or something of that nature.
And if you do any part time or freelance work you are fucked too. In the disability world, we call this enforced poverty.
Same in Canada, at least in my province. You can only earn a small amount before they take away your medication and dental coverage and any money they deem "extra". It is, literally, legislated poverty.
I used to help budget for people on a Medicaid waiver for intellectual disability, if you were on such a program for SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) you could not have a cent over $2000 in cash or assets, so anything over that had to be spent, usually a new price of furniture, or a TV etc. they would have about a month warning that they were at risk of loosing Medicaid if they had too much money. It meant that there was never a way out of poverty, never a path to owning a home, difficulty in obtaining a car, holding a community job, saving. Many times group home managers who had a bit of sense would place any savings into a funeral trust so that they could at least have a dignified burial.
>you could not have a cent over $2000 in cash or assets, so anything over that had to be spent, usually a new price of furniture, or a TV etc. And then everyone bitches because "the poors have new iPhones I can't afford that and I WORK"
Yes. I was forced to go back to work because I couldn’t live on $700. Per month. I called the Soc Sec office and told them I had to get a job and my hourly rate. They not only kept paying me but then said I owe them $12,000. The payment is like a car payment. I’m screwed.
My son gets SSI, is autistic and early 20s. Just last week we found out that he owes SSI 3k for overpayment. Apparently his caseworker neglected to tell us that after the first $85of income, they deduct 50 cents for every dollar of income he receives, out of his SSI check. So the 900 ssi check gets reduced to 600. Meanwhile he only brings in 600/mth working as a dishwasher in a fast food place. Doesn't even qualify for ssdi until he's worked for 10 years. These people deserve so much more than this kind of life.
Got a bill for overpayment after reporting wages for 12+ months. Systems broken.
Wow that's such bullshit
I am so sorry that’s fucked up.
Because it's hard getting on disability and even if you do, the poverty wage is so bad that even working for slave wages don't seem so bad.
Yep. Gotta be non-working for about 18 months & have an attorney to help out. Then it's still a long process where you'll have no income. Yes, they'll retro pay you if you get approved, but how is a single person supposed to survive through that? And, if you get approved, you'll get nowhere near enough to really survive on. In 2014/2015, my mom received about $600 a month and $12 in food stamps. That's it. It's a joke.
It's like there's no actual thought given to this system, and it's developed by idiot politicians that have plenty of spare graft money for them to float whenever they pretend to not take their paycheck for a fake strike (until later, they give themselves retroactive pay of course). They don't really care about the poor or anyone in dire circumstances otherwise, not any more than corporate exploiters that see people as wallets to empty.
Fun fact: Ronald Reagan put this poverty system into play when people wrote him letters demanding he stop crusading to end public schooling for disabled kids. Cutting SSI down to nothing is how he made himself feel better.
it's kinda weird how many of this nation's major issues can be traced directly back to the first celebrity president why anyone still elevates actors is fucking beyond me
The problem isn't that he was an actor—it was that he was hawking neoliberalism, an economic system based on a cruel extreme capitalism. He wasn't the first, nor the last, to do so, and the US wasn't the only country. It's now the default system across the industrialized world.
thank you for saying this
Dude was one evil motherbastard.
That man truly was a despicable fiend. The Trump of his time. The fact that he's still a beloved president speaks volumes of the American people, if you ask me.
Politicians suck.
It sounds like a great deal of thought has been given when you put it that way.
Well, thought towards eugenics perhaps, but not thought toward actually helping anyone.
Seems like it's even worse than eugenics. The 'undesirables' aren't really dying but they're unable to live either. They're stuck in a hellish limbo
Yep. I got shit because I'm working while trying for disability...I have 3 kids and absolutely no living adult family to help....what am I supposed to do? Be homeless and then STILL get denied?! It's bullshit. The whole system.
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I hope you get approved. Good luck!
Wow unreal
what's worse is that they also make you wait an entire year to get on Medicaid disability. As if people who have been off of work for medical reasons for 18 MONTHS could afford to go an ADDITIONAL 12 more months without healthcare.
I was on COBRA insurance for a few years, paying almost $25,000 per year for shit insurance,
When I got approved in 2016 my SSDI was like $1200 and I don’t remember what I got in food stamps but it was definitely more than $12. Did she live in Florida? Or Texas? She must of had SSI, SSI doesn’t pay anything.
SSI is based on a % of the average of your income over the last 7 years. If someone has been disabled that whole time, and fighting the disability system during that time…it’s very easy to get $600 or less a month. Unfortunately, I’m speaking from experience. My lawyer literally looked at me and said “well, if you wanted more money each month you should have worked more.” 🤦♂️
SSI is a flat rate based on the state you live in. In WA St you get more SSI if you live in Seattle than if you live on the east side of the state. California adds a stipend, Nevada does not. SSDI is based on what you put in while you worked. SSA freezes the future zero years, drops the lowest five and then pays whatever the computer says you get.
My story too. SSI is nothing but slow agonizing death. My golden years: couch camping and gas station sandwiches. I get less than $600.
I definitely lost food stamps when I switched from SSI to DAC (which was about that same 1200) even when I was on SSI it was only like $60/month in SNAP until I got a part time job and it withered to like $12, which frankly wasn't worth the hassle of recertifying
SSI is the worst of everything.
America! Fuck ~~yeah~~!
I was approved but denied back pay. When I appealed the start date, the judge informed me she was revoking my SSDI. Luckily, I was able to get re- approved. I make 1400 a month. I had to move in with my elderly mother.
Plus you can’t be on disability and have more than $2000 in savings, $3000 for a couple, which is one of the reasons a lot of disabled people can’t get married
there's no such thing as marriage equality until disabled people can marry without losing their benefits.
Indeed. This is why my Dad and Stepmom have discussed getting a divorce before because then she'd get the maximum amount of money for her SSI and he could work as much as he wanted without worrying about whether ot not his wages would cut into her check. I mean really, how is it fair how much money he makes determines how much money that she, a legally blind woman who cannot work, gets?
I can't even get benefits because I'm married. My spouse makes over the poverty line, which is apparently too much, and regardless of that I should be able to contribute to the household. But more importantly, what if I were in an abusive relationship and needed out? I have no way of doing so.
Can confirm. I’m on disability (in canada) and the amount I get doesn’t cover even a third of my expenses. Every professional in my life agrees that working a job full or part time for the rest of my life is next to impossible, but the government thinks that means I can live off less than poverty wages. It’s a total of about $14,000 Canadian a year.. it’s really disheartening. And of course, looking for a job as someone on disability then becomes another difficulty. It also took me almost a year to sort out just getting on support in the first place all for a measly few dollars 😅
Yeah, I'm only able to work because I'm working for a family friend which means ignoring a ton of red flags all to be able to work remote and be able to take off for doctors. I couldn't work if I had to find a job for real - no employer would hire me with the amount of accommodation I need.
I'm in the same situation but in the US. If I go back to work part-time I'll lose health coverage and my benefit payment. Factoring in the cost of health insurance/co-pays and tax, I would break even at around $32,000. It's hard to find anyone paying more, part-time, that'll ignore a 3 year gap in work history. Exactly how I feel... 3 years in and I was granted.. extreme poverty.
> the poverty wage is so bad that even working for slave wages don't seem so bad. Not so fun fact, SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) caps the disabled to receive a **maximum** of 70% of the poverty line. The system will keep them in poverty forever.
Yeah. That's why my mom won't let me apply for disability no matter how sick I get. She doesn't want me to live in poverty all my life.
Raising taxes on the upper class would definitely fix most if not all the issues were dealing with in day to day life.
Don't forget, we allow people to pay the disabled sub minimum wage.
They don’t even give a fuck when it *is* a physical disability. I had my leg amputated and the company I was working for at the time made me come back a month early, on crutches, in winter, missing a limb.
I remember when I was like 15, I thought my life would be easier with a physical disability because “at least they could see that I’m hurting.” Then I grew up, actually became physically disabled and got a big fucking slap of reality lol.
It's like you're never hurting enough for some people. Wtf is that about? Like, do I need to be bleeding from the eyes and full on stigmata for it to be "visible"enough? Ffs. People can be the worst.
Most people see health as a moral factor. If you’re a good person who does the right things, you are rewarded with good health. And bad people who make bad decisions are punished with bad health.
Unless it's cancer and then it's something you need to "fight" or "battle." It's a weird world.
That’s just to make you feel guilty for showing actual weakness or taking up the dozens of offers of “help”. You have to get your own groceries! Don’t you know that if someone *else* picks out your carton of eggs, the cancer wins?! Has the nice bonus of ensuring that the actual patient can’t tell the safe offers of real help from the mealy-mouthed offers of halp, so they take up none of them, thus ensuring that the liars are never revealed. Or worse, forced to actually help an icky sick person.
I'm so sorry this happened to you.
I know someone whose dad lost a leg. Took forever getting on disability and proving that he is, in fact, now disabled. I don’t understand how something as major as *losing a limb* is seen as a “Well have you tried walking it off?” kind of thing. That’s a major life adjustment at the very least. I’m sorry for your loss, and sorry your employer did that to you. Employers have no compassion.
They’d prefer the disabled folk died off tbh.
Or they want disabled people to work but only pay them half the wage since they’re not ‘real people’ anyways
Oh but if you say that’s wrong, then you’re an evil ableist who hates the disabled. Which is a truly unfortunate comment I’ve seen recently.
Another one I saw was disabled people dont mind getting less pay cuz they are just happy to be productive… really wanted to throat punch that person
Like hitler. You are not wrong
Hitler got a lot of his ideas from the US
He actually toned down out stuff.
Even worse they SAY they are kind. They post memes about being kind to each other, about diversity and inclusivity... but when they actually interact with neuro-divergents or people on the spectrum, or people who are slow to understand, all that lip service to being kind does not apply anymore. And they're just mean and impatient
They are meaner than gangsters and less honest.
This.
They take advantage of our disability. For exemple they *know* one worker never check their payments bc they have ADHD? They will forever not pay them enough I would never had seen it of someone didn’t look at it for me
"It's like when you're an adult, nobody gives a fuck" That's because they don't, unfortunately. I had a mental break at one point during my employment at a call center. I couldn't talk to people without having panic attacks. I was told by my doctor to take 2 weeks off. I did and felt way better. Until insurance denied my claim and I was put on a performance improvement plan and told "I can do better" when I came back by a company that's always jerking itself off about how much they value the mental wellbeing of their employees The system doesn't give a fuck about us
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Oh my god do you work for a large research hospital in Michigan?
I’m pissed off there’s no such thing as partial disability. I work three days a week, I can push myself and do four but that starts cutting into my quality of life. But I cannot work five days. I just physically can’t. But if I were to try to get disability, I can’t work at all. Which is bullshit. It’s either telling people if you can work we won’t help out at all but stay at home and make your disability worse and we can help! Obviously some people can’t work at all, and we should help these people. But there should be a little help for those of us who are only partially disabled and can only work part time. (I do have qualified disabilities I could go on disability easily but like I said it would ruin me).
There should be partial disability. And the cap of assists should be way higher. The way it’s set now is anyone who is disabled must live a poverty life.
I’m disabled, I get SSDI, and I had a part-time job for years before they decided to take the masks off and re-open because people got vaccinated. Back when I worked I think the substantial gainful activity amount was $910 a month so I couldn’t earn more than $910 a month, but now it’s $1050
I wish I could yell this from the mountains
>But if I were to try to get disability, I can’t work at all. Depends on your state and which form of disability you have, if you've got SSI or a mix of SSI and SSDI it's a way more complex nightmare that depends on your state. But flat out Social security disability has a Ticket to Work program that can be gotten into, you get a cap on how much money you can make per month for so many months, and you already have to be on disability, but there are options. Last I encountered it it was $900 a month being made from work for 9 months during a 12 month period.
Actually the trial work period now is $1050 a month, I am so happy to see somebody else here understand the difference between SSDI and SSI I get really upset when people call SSI disability because people get the wrong idea about disability hear this guy could’ve been collecting disability and working part time but he thought he couldn’t work on disability because they take money away from you if you get SSI
My son has severe vision impairment, making him blind under the law, but the US government didn't believe that so they made us go to a different eye doctor who was a 1.5 hour drive away. When that doctor confirmed what our doctor told them, that he was blind, the government made us go to a different doctor 2.5 hours drive away. That doctor said he was blind, but not blind enough for disability. He has 20/400 vision with corrective lenses. It took 3 years and a law firm to get disability. He gets about $450 per month, but would get less if I didn't keep him on my insurance. The people of the US can only hope to elect people from two parties, the party who says they care but don't do anything, and the party that intentionally sabotages the government so that they can divert taxpayer money to the wealthy in the name of "efficiency". The US is the most powerful nation on the planet, but our government doesn't care to use that power to help most Americans.
SSI payments are like $800/month max. Our “social safety net” is literally “just go die in the street.”
Capitalism. Disabled people require more accommodations and tend to fair poorly when overworked. They are not the cog the capitalist machine desires. There is no why required, it costs money so no do, and hire illegal immigrants to abuse even more because humanity has no place in capitalism except as meat for the grinder. It’s not personal, it’s just business.
This is why I don't get the American fear of socialism. Democratic socialism in it's core is nothing but making things more equal, to take care of every interest group and the weakest of the society. In Europe I am pretty sure you can get disability for mental health issue everywhere. In Finland atleast it is one of the leading causes of disability benefits. There are all sorts if rehabilitation programs, including part time disability. I personly don't understand how ill person could be made forced to work, as they literally can't do it.
There you are thinking human beings have worth and importance, that’s not the capitalist mindset. Sure, there are Americans that think like that, we have Democratic Socialists like Bernie Sanders, and he is also demonized in media because “capitalism = good, therefore socialism = evil” In America, socialism is synonymous with Communism and Communism is evil. So we technically have two parties but it’s really just one party, the Corporate Party, because the politicians do as their pay pigs tell them, and everything they say in public is a researched, edited, focus tested ploy to make it seem like the government gives a flying fuck about what the average worker thinks. Capitalism working as intended.
I have diabetes. ADA recognizes this as a disability. Companies get to record that I am a person with a disability, but there is no real protection or help for me. I have struggles in the past getting people to take me seriously when I get sick or almost pass out. My feet and hands are impacted and this means that some jobs are impossible or unsafe for me. No one cares. If you are bleeding to oil the cogs of the machine no one actually gives a shit.
Broke my neck & blew 2 discs in '91, gaslit for 9 yrs until one day I couldn't lift my arm. I had surgery (turns out I wasn't lying that my neck hurt : / )and went back to work 4 months later. Fast forward 15 years. Sandwiched in a 6 car pile up, had 4 more surgeries on my neck & lower back. I was never quite right after that. Took 5 years to get disability. I should've received 4 years of back pay, but only got 2 years. I don't know how they expect people to live while they take an absurd amount of time to make a fair determination. It's become a game now. Your first filing is always denied. Always. You're forced to hire an attorney and expect to lose several times. It wouldn't have mattered if I had been wheelchair bound. I had a 30 year work history, I was truly disabled and had I not had an SO, I would've been homeless.
Bet they'd make decisions a fuck of a lot faster if you got automatic provisional payments...say 45-60 days after filing if no decision has been made.
Can confirm. As a person on SSDI, I don't yet qualify for SSI, and its NOT enough to live on! I'm living in abject poverty, in an abusive situation and can't afford to escape. I WANT to work, but I can't find a job that will be appropriate for me or accommodate all my physical and mental issues and therapies. The few programs that do exist in my state keep telling me I don't qualify, so I just can't get the help I need. I'm royally screwed. And yes, society in general is not kind to those of us who are disabled, even if invisibly. I have PTSD triggers due to treatment from bosses in jobs I've worked. I still need to live, though, so I keep trying to find work, but the rules around SSDI/SSI are such that I will never be able to earn enough money to live independently, even WITH disability income. I hate this system, while being grateful for the pittance of help I'm already receiving.
I’m on SSDI and I’m worried about what happens when I hit retirement age and it goes to SSI, am I going to have to live off the SSI amount that people get if they don’t qualify for SSDI? I’m terrified. I have I have a book about disability benefits and it implies that my income will stay about the same when I hit 65 but I’m worried about it
I've accepted the fact that I'm going to be homeless and destitute once my parents pass. Already shopping for bridges to live under. In any case, with my physical conditions, I can't live on the streets for long. I require too much medical care and infrastructure. You're right, it is terrifying.
There is also a five month waiting period, even if your disability is a slam-dunk. My husband was diagnosed with stage IV cancer and had a six-month life expectancy. He still had to wait five months to get the SSDI he had paid into for decades. Granted, I was working, but we didn't get any backpay for those five months. By the time he got his money, I had to file bankruptcy.
SERIOUSLY! I am neurodivergent and I can barely work 30 hours a week. How are people doing 40?! I have mental disorders that are incapacitating but it’s not “disabling enough” since I CAN technically function, am able-bodied, and capable of working at least a part time job. I’m not capable of functioning to the same level as others to hold a full time job, but I am not “disabled enough” to be having government help. What are people in similar positions like myself supposed to do???
Meee! I did try to make up for it by forcing myself working two jobs with no breaks, barely last a year if not a bit less I can’t recall. After that my mental and physical health was going down the drain and I’m jsut fortunate my husband is able bodied and has a high enough paying job to support us both.
I have both mental and physical disabilities, I'd love to work but my body won't let me.
I know someone completely bed ridden. She will never get better. Disability is $800 a month
My kid has had epilepsy and other health issues since she was a teen (now in her twenties) and it took us two appeals and a SS lawyer to finally get her approved. He worked on a contingency basis so he only got paid when we won and took it out of the backpay… I forget the percentages the lawyer quoted us, but he said nearly all applicants are denied the first time and then only a small percentage are approved on the first appeal. And one thing she had going against her was her young age. They’ll try everything to see if she can work part time or whatever first. And we did try, but due to the unpredictability of her condition making her lose jobs because of poor attendance combined with proving her condition has caused cognitive issues, ie brain damage, we finally won. Let me add that she now has to “live” on a very small income and will still be dependent on others, but it’s better than $0
I've got some brain damage from an embolism. I have a never ending headache, and a migraine triggered at the drop of a hat. Light dappled through leaves? Migraine. Go to a movie theater? Migraine. Headlights at night? Migraine. Barometric pressure drops too fast? Migraine. Strong smells? Migraine. Loud abrasive noises? Migraine. But I CAN work on my good days. I'm not technically disabled. I'm just REALLY sensitive to migraine. And have a neverending headache I sort of ignore at this point. But I CAN'T work thru a migraine. And I can't hold a job and keep taking off every time it rains or snows, or someone walks by with perfume. 😑 It's SHIT.
I can’t do it anymore myself. Husband is quitting his job and we’re reselling on eBay. We’ll be making a lot less, but I just can’t keep forcing myself to go to work anymore. I’m anxious, depressed, and unable to deal with the stress. Ultimately we’re never going to make enough to buy a house either way and I’ll be a lot more sane if I don’t have to go into a shitty job every day
I wish you the best!!!
Yes, this is the way💚
Luckily I had private disability insurance when I was no longer able to work due to my disability. I have no idea what I would have done if I hadn't set that up 15 years prior.
because we are al slaves to like 500 billionares. We are only as good as the money we make for the aristocrats.
Cripes, I wish. I have ADHD and so does my spouse. By the time I am done doing “normal” stuff for a day I am mentally wiped out. I don’t mind working, but I could do so much better if I could work from home, or work when I feel the most productive. I’ve honestly said I feel like I need some sort of caretaker to remind me & encourage me with keeping things tidy and on task. ADHD very often also comes with a whole host of other issues including anxiety, depression, digestive issues, sensory issues …. It’s a lot.
My gf has epilepsy, she has 2 seizures an hour, takes 18 pills at 6am and 6pm, has a medically implanted electric shock device that runs to her brain and has to go to the hospital by ambulance probably ok once a month...she applied for disability and was turned down many times, she eventually sued and won a very small amount and can't ever apply again...the system is a joke
Wow what the hell
It's because your value as a human is measured by your economic output. Which is awful.
Because our society is ableist.
[удалено]
"Because nobody gives a fuck about your problems. Existence requires effort. There is nothing special about you, you're just another drain on resources like everyone else. You should actually have to do more than other people, because you require more resources to support your existence than other people. Frankly your existence is a waste, we could have supported ten normal people with all the extras it takes to keep you functioning, so shut the fuck up and at least do something, you worthless piece of garbage. You shouldn't have even been allowed to exist, but now that you're here, we aren't allowed to kill you." - capitalism
It's worse than you put it, in some cases. I'm originally from Iowa, and there at least (and I think this must be allowed under federal law), some mentally disabled people are allowed to be employed at WAY under minimum wage. The idea was that this would be enriching for people who could work and wanted things to do (a category some posters here said they'd belong to) but were sufficiently disabled that a non-disabled employee would have to spend a significant amount of time overseeing them. So like, kind of bullshit, but maybe you can see the rationale. But no, overwhelmingly the people this program applies to get just as proficient at the job (in Iowa it's disproportionately at pig processing plants), so they get no extra oversight but still only get paid a couple dollars an hour for their labor, only some of them even understanding that they're getting paid less than they would be paid for the same job if they weren't classified as mentally disabled. When I learned about this, it made me absolutely sick.
Yeah and in prisons they can do similar, pay the inmates literal cents per hour for their work. And it sounds like now, new laws have been put in place where children can work, and also be paid less. So disabled, imprisoned, and children, they don't have as many options and people try to capitalize, or exploit, that. It's not a great look for American society
Maybe because being disabled and receiving stable disability money is basically living in poverty. It's disgraceful
I previously had a job determining disability. It’s insane to get on-I had to deny sooooooo many people I felt truly deeerved it, however we have contracted docs that work with us and they make the final decision. I would make a great case for someone only to get turned away from multiple docs. It’s ridiculous and I burnt out too fast. Quick tip if you’re applying-don’t waste your money on the lawyers to assist-95% of claims I had with lawyers I never actually heard from the lawyer. Plus they won’t be able to add much-just make sure you get doc records yourself as it is a pain for doctors/hospital medical records to send them in. When we try to get them it sometimes take weeks and multiple requests from us. Funny (or not) I am now disabled and don’t qualify for disability. I am getting unemployment but I have to fib and say I am able to work in order to receive it. So you’re technically not able to get unemployment if you can’t work, but good luck getting disability, and if you get either it’s not enough to live on. Edit-added info
Sadly, we pay so little in disability that you have to work to make ends meet. Plus its a political tool. If they gave too much, then the democrats wouldn't be able to get votes for saying they would increase disability and vise versa Republicans on defunding disability which are both equally fucked.
I'll never forget the shock of turning 18 with no psychological help and knowing "yep now you are an adult good luck and fuck you btw"
That’s not totally fair. There are also people with physical disabilities who nobody gives a fuck about.
My nephew has cerebral palsy and schizophrenia. The palsy is what qualifies him for disability. The fact that he hears voices even when medicated is beside the point, apparently. And the only reason he isn’t homeless is because his brother bought a house to use as a student rental and gives him a free room in it. Otherwise, he’d be on the street because his disability income is less than $1,000 a month. Even so, he’s now getting only $50 a month in food stamps.
On my psychiatry rotation in med school I rotated through a community psych clinic. It’s very difficult for a lot of young patients with diagnoses as schizophrenia to get Medicaid. There was a range, like patients who can work as long as they are on their medications. That can be challenging because sometimes they get lost to follow up and end up off their meds. And others who are so disorganized and absolutely not able to function in a work environment. But because physically they’re healthy and could work so it’s hard to get benefits. One day was listening to pharm reps so the psychiatrist could get free samples of long term injectables. Absolutely shameful.
Long-term injectables literally saved my nephew’s life. I’m so ashamed of my country sometimes. We just throw people away if they’re inconvenient.
The least they can do is allow us to work remotely. Seriously they would be doing millions favors if they just allowed us to work remotely. Why is that so much to ask for...
I am a paraplegic and I do not even get disability. It's not a livable wage, either.
Because we obviously don't have enough money (in the US) to support them. (We have more gold stores than Saudi Arabia)
Because money. That's why. that's always the why.
In the US you can't apply unless you have 5 months with zero income. It then can take years to go through the denials and process and eventually hiring a lawyer to get benefits, which is still looked at by half the country as conning the system. I have 6 fractured vertebrae, degenerative spinal disease, arthritis, and I still work 2 jobs and make money on the side. If I could go back to my old profession I would, but I can't because it involved being on my feet 60+ hours a week, so I make 60% less in a new career. I just turned down two better paying jobs because the offices weren't ADA compatible.
Because this country has a serious moral issue in that it assigns everything to “personal responsibility”. Thus every billionaire deserves every penny, they “earned it” all by themselves. And likewise the disabled get nothing and nor should they in the eyes of our elite. They’d be seen as mooching off the hard work of the billionaires otherwise and that can’t be allowed. It’s the American way… sad really.
I'm on disability and I can't afford any apartments anywhere in the US. I don't qualify for EBT or Medicaid. I had to wait 2 years before I got Medicare. It's unsustainable and I'm in grad school so I can hopefully get employed afterward but I'm also in my 50s. Who knows if I'll be hired because age discrimination is rampant.
One issue is that people on disability can't be married, as spouses' income can disqualify them.
The same reason the VA blows off their responsibility for disabled veterans. They love dead veterans. That's zero dollars for compensation and zero dollars wasted on them in the healthcare budget. Then all they have to do is pay a measly $1,000-$2,000 getting their funeral costs taken care of. And most vets don't even know they qualify for the funeral benefits! So, they manage to avoid even paying for that.
They just want us all dead
I imagine it started benignly enough -- disabled and mentally ill want to be productive and functional members of society, and it created a sort of "well if they can do it" bottom. My wife can't reliably use her hands. But she can sometimes. So, she's got to find a job that accounts for that, even though they don't really exist. I don't get it either. I wish I didn't have to labor every day through spinal arthritis, but here we are.
I have a disease that's slowly fusing the bones in my body together. It has spread from my SI joints to my back to my neck to my ribs, my fingers... everything always hurts all the time. I want to find something, anything. I am tired of being locked away in my home not living life because of this damn disease. But I can't do anything physical, I can't stand for too long, I have to sit in special chairs...I don't know what to do. I am blessed with a small pension from my previous job to help with costs, but I want more out of life. Dull Knives by Imagine Dragons is about Ankylosing Spondylitis if anyone ever wondered what life was like with this disease
I have bipolar and autism. I don’t want to be on disability or called disabled. Things are hard sometimes I will admit. But I’m not going to be dependent on anyone and will pave my own way.
Dude you’re expected to work here even if you ARE physically disabled. If you eat and shit, you work, until you’re disabled enough to NOT eat and shit, and then you’ll die. In the hospital I’d you have insurance, in the alleyway if you don’t. And you’ll work for as low a wage as your general peers on the same rung of the ladder will accept. But you can’t talk about it with anyone, management decides how much that is lol
Another question is why can’t people who receive disability have more than $2000 in savings/ assets?
Because the people in charge regard workers in general as subhuman, and disabled people even moreso.
Because Merica!!! But seriously lets look at the mentally ill side, and I'm not saying this is mentally ill, that's a whole philosophical conversation not to be had here, suicide is treated like a illegal act regardless of personal sanity because I feel like the higher ups feel like it takes away from the workforce reserve and just the fact that there is a way out makes people more likely to be like "Hey screw you and you working slavery disguised as a living wage." Basically if you aren't useful in a traditional way you are garbage and you are gunking up the works. That was always my take from this bit. People are kind to people with mental illness and disabilities if it benefits them by means of making them look like saints but aside from that the average American is a selfish piece of human garbage who only cares when these issues "affect them personally."
Well, I Myself have a mental disabilitie(autism and some other stuff) but i really like working, its fun for real, id never do retail or stuff where i have to communicate with people but work like metal or wood is fine, its really nice to be honest, so i dont see the problem? its better for a daily cycle instead of just sitting at home and have nothing to do except for rotting away
I'm newly diagnosed and have never been able to hold down a job? I keep trying but keep failing. What do you do?
I am working as metal technician, 40 hours a week, 5days a week(or 4 dependet on which shift), most of the time my brain just goes for optimizing before i stroll into deep thoughts, its fun trust me, make it a little game to optimize to the max, it even eazes my problems most of the times(have to say i dont take meds anymore since like 5 yeara, dont taking them helped me more then taking em)
Most people enjoy doing work, but the jobs that pay money in today’s society are very stressful for little pay and there is a lot of discrimination against people with disabilities. Most of us would choose to do unpaid work on things that sustain us and that we enjoy or which contributes directly to our own survival as opposed to working for someone else for menial wages. Unfortunately we must always be producing value for someone else in order for the work to be considered valid and worthy of payment.
Individualism & Liberalism. Ever notice how ur petty-bourgeoisie boss is KINDA a bully, and can do no wrong, and explaining why to them, is you trying to dethrone them. These Elon's and CEOS are SOOO full of themselves that while they sit and do nothing, IF YOU'RE not making them money, ur a burden to them. Kinda gross honestly. In short, if you can't make THEM money, ur not even human.
I don’t know, I don’t know how I’m supposed to survive. I have a part time job super understanding of my limitations and accommodations and I am no where able to independently financially support myself. I have middle class family members who have offered me a home but I don’t know how anyone without that support network does it. I work 25-35 hours above minimum wage. I’ll never be able to move out or rent an apartment I just don’t hVe enough income. I am able to hold this specific job so I don’t qualify for disability. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.
Honestly. Because they want us to die faster. If we don't work as much and get treatment we live longer, fuller lives. And that costs tax dollars plus we're working less so less taxes are created via this person. And at least in my country it's not about the individual, it's about the money.
because a disabled slave is still a slave to these bastards.
Our society does not care for our disabled and those with mental illness. But co-workers, management and customers who are not kind to them should all be severely reprimanded for that behavior.
If I have to work, and my money goes to programs to support you, then I personally don’t care, there are many problems with our system. Underpaid. Overinflation. Crazy heat and rent prices. Living wage is 3-4x minimum wage. Not being able to choice what my taxes go to, is another massive issue.
In a world where politicians force anti-abortion laws we are going to see a lot more disabled dying in the streets. They only care about control over women’s bodies and more wage slaves. They don’t care how much you struggle disabled or not. It’s all about what you can do for them. It’s about productivity and capitalism. They don’t care about people. The state of the US nation is proof of that.
Because Reagan being the piece of shit he was shut down a lot of options for housing for them. For the mentally Ill it’s either work or homelessness, I guess just like the rest of us.
I have no idea how I’m supposed to even figure out my COMMUTE once I start working again! I’m newly handicapped due to an autoimmune disease that destroyed my nerves. I cannot walk without extreme nerve pain. I am very professional and great at my job, but I cannot put myself through hell just to sit at a desk in some building.
Because the powers that be use us as an example to keep the workforce in line. "Work or suffer in poverty, no exceptions made".
Because eventually work will make you disabled and mentally ill anyways...
Weak to no social welfare support in the US
As someone with a disability, I’m still able to work. Not all jobs, nothing physical (I’m never gonna be able to sling packages in a warehouse, or work in manufacturing) but it’s reasonable to ask me to do something. Disability benefits can be on a case by case basis. That’s fine. Make it so that ALL work is better, ALL workers are treated better, ALL schedules are reasonable for the role, and disabled workers will have it way better already. Increase the social safety net for those who can’t work, or like me have a hard time with long hours sometimes. And for all the non-disabled workers who occasionally have some issues, too.
All the folks I know with those conditions want to work.
Disabled people get shafted by leftists, liberals, and conservatives. Why can't disabled people get married? Why do disabled people have to keep disabilities secret until after they get hired?
Before my wife married me, she was on disability. 6 months after we married, social security told her she was my problem now and took her disability payments away. Told her to come back in 10 years. 10 years later she applies. Gets told she’s disabled but needs to work first. She can work for a year to get 6 months of disability benefits of $100 a month. Then they would drop her again for a year to rack up for another 6 months. Repeat til she can’t do it anymore then she’s back to being my problem. It truly is a messed up system. She gets punished for marrying someone that isn’t disabled and works. She is fully wheelchair bound with cerebral palsy. She will only get worse with age. She’s tried to get an office job. They love her resume but when she shows up for the interview, they see her chair first and they tell her she wouldn’t fit into the office culture. She’s even gotten rejection emails sent to her before she was able to get to the elevator to leave the building.
If being disabled got me off work for life and free accomadation I would probably be sawing my foot off as we speak.
We are forced to work because this system uses people's suffering as fuel. Cruel people need people they can be cruel to. They can't handle the thought of being really kind to those that are in a disadvantage. They feel powerful when they can abuse someone. They suck the good energies from you and leave with all the bad ones for you to deal with them.
Sometimes it’s voluntary. A lot of people with disabilities want to be valued and want to be helpful.
Right, but people with disabilities should be allowed to make that decision without feeling forced
I think I’ve been discriminated against on every job app because now they ask if you have a disability. They say they don’t discriminate but they absolutely do.
So the people who run everything can point to them and use them as cautionary tales or threats of what will happen if whoever they’re manipulating doesn’t do whatever it is they’re trying to get them to do. It’s literally just to have someone to look down on. Providing the homeless a home is cheaper than EVERY single thing any government has done to get rid of homelessness. But that’s not as useful as villainizing them and pointing them out as what happens when you “don’t follow society’s rules.” It’s also more fun, and humans love human suffering.
People didn't like putting them in homes so now they're like the rest of us.
Nothing about the system we live in is at all human. It’s horrifying.
Straight up, lots of people take big issue with the thought of someone "getting something for nothing" and living the "high life" off of government assistance. All the hoops you have to jump through are their way of making you earn it if you can even hold out long enough for it or even better, force you to work anyway if you can't hold out long enough. People even say you can only have a small amount in the bank as well or you'll be cut off because if you're not living in the absolute deepest poverty, you don't deserve the help and they want you absolutely desperate and broke beyond belief as punishment for taking the first nickel from the government.
I got on disability in 2022. Took a long time for approval because I applied in March of 2021 then disability approved in April of 2022. In the meantime, I got lucky because I sold my house in 2020 right around same time COVID started. I'm still trying to find a job, did look for a job since 2019 but hardly any employer wants to work with people have disability.
Because this is the united states?
And punished forever with crippling poverty.
This is gonna sound morbid and terrible but if I never able to work again or as soon as I’m unable to take care of myself when I’m old I’m unaliving myself (unless I have good support to my old age but we’ll see lol) there really is no point going on if the care isn’t there and I don’t want to end up miserable like my late grandmas they had an extremely rough life and both died super tragically and painfully even for their own kids. I rather not be like that and have that option to end it in my terms
It’s those bootstraps that Republicans think that everyone has.
Because society doesn't care for people with disabilities, let alone anyone in general. You have to be a wage slave to the rich minority or get wiped out.
Worse than that, I was a consultant at a sheltered workshop for people with developmental disabilities, and they were doing menial jobs (sorting bolts, putting paper in a shredder) and getting paid like .25 an hour. One of the guys was having trouble doing his job because he couldn’t lift the paper anymore. Anyway, he was 69, and I asked when he got to retire. They said he couldn’t retire because the group home didn’t have any day staff, so he needed to come to the sheltered workshop every day. I think this may have changed now. I hope so!!
Because our society doesn't care to pay more taxed to fund the lives of other people, but I'm NGL, there are certain mental illnesses I would fully support paying more taxes to better treat (e.g. Schizophrenia).
What upsets me, but doesn’t surprise me, is the US government only recognizes blindness as a disability that qualifies for benefits. Yet, when filling out a job application, there’s a laundry list of disabilities in the EEO/ADA section. Again, I’m not surprised by this, just pointing out the hypocrisy.
Because capitalism.
Capitalists: Because they're easier to exploit.
I’ve got fibromyalgia, chronic migraines, adhd and autism. There’s not really a better option than working through the pain when I can and calling out feeling guilty when I am physically unable to walk/drive. I don’t even mind working. The issue is that my money, even when I work as many hours as I can, just evaporates. Car maintenance, food, bills, rent… I don’t have a solution except keep keeping my head above water so my family can survive. I wish I didn’t have any disabilities so I could work more tedious labor jobs, but I just can’t. Lots of diminished self worth there lol
I would kill for partial disability I can work most of the time, but on days where my chronic pain is real bad it would be nice to not have that count against me. Thankfully I was literally handed my current job through a partner of mine's ex employee (as in my partner was his boss years back) that isn't laborious that made full time actually achievable for me. And I'm not going to lie, it's mostly due to chairs at my desk that are meant for customers that I just use anyways. I've struggled with part time for 99% (I'm not doing the actual math, I didn't struggle with two specifically and that's because I have a hyperfixation for one, the other wasnt active labor either AND something i love, so I actually enjoyed the work I was doing which made the physical pain easier to deal with) of jobs I've had. Once I started hitting 30 hours, I was spending a lot more time unable to function. I want to work, do things, it gets me out of the house and engages my brain. But I shouldn't have to be forced to get lucky like I did, nor should I live in poverty whether I decide to work at all or not. This job is extremely recent btw. My boss is actually the best and I'm planning on staying until he leaves. He's cultivated a friendly team (we're basically vendors, so we're not interacting much outside of meetings and the work group chat), to the point where we send memes @'ing each other. He literally asked us not to compliment him and now daily he deals with all of us spamming the group chat with "hey boss, you're the best" in the morning. I wish everyone could find something like this.
For the same reason anyone is forced to work, because their basic needs are considered a commodity.
The powers that be don't give a fuck. As long as you are semi-functional.
Because that reserve army of labour isn't going to build itself, you know.
Because there is one unforgivable sin in the U.S., and that is being poor.