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I'm fed up with SSI

Do you think SSI is very unfair to people with Autism?

  • Total voters
    4
Ephraim Becker

Ephraim Becker

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
A month ago, SSI got an alert that I started working. SSI scheduled an appointment because of this. At the appointment in Rockaway Park (my mother met me there), the SSI person told me that I need to report my earnings every month to SSI through the app. When May came, I tried filling in my monthly earnings together with my SSN, my full name, and my date of birth. I entered my monthly amount and I got an error saying that they don't have my information on file. There was nothing I can really do. Calling them is only available from 7AM - 7PM with long waits which is very inconvenient for me.

Today, SSI mailed a letter saying that if I don't report my earnings in 10 days then starting June, they will end my SSI.

This is so not fair to me that SSI only really cares about elderly people and people hard-of-hearing. They don't care about people who have a very hard time waiting in a queue for a long time. The app they have for reporting my earnings is useless. It doesn't save sessions, it's very hard to enter my information, it gave me an error saying that they can't find my information on file, it's no available after 11PM. I'm very uncomfortable with calling people in general or waiting on a long line at the Social Security office.

Can you please help me?
 
Ephraim Becker said:
I entered my monthly amount and I got an error saying that they don't have my information on file.
Click to expand...

With that type of error I'm inclined to think your only recourse is to call their toll free customer service line tomorrow morning as soon as their business hours permit. Where yes, you'll be queued and likely have to wait anywhere from 45 to 60 minutes. A pain to say the least, but you probably have no choice.

Where they are likely to tell you why you were locked out of the system, and what you must do to get back in. Which may or may not involve having to visit your nearest SSI office in person.

Been there, done that...etc. etc.. Very frustrating.
 
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Can’t you go online and set up an appointment that way? You can create a social Security account online. Then you can ask for an appointment via the Internet and avoid that nasty phone wait.

Otherwise, call, out your phone on speaker, and do something relaxing while you wait. Adult coloring books, reading, games, or whatever you can do to calm yourself while waiting on the phone. Or, you can go in person, Go at least 45 minutes before SSi opens, and be the first in the line.
 
Government websites are often pretty poorly designed, but the system is just generally screwed up, not biased against people who can't stand in line or find it "inconvenient." Do you really think a website is going to know about your personal problems? Everyone on SSI, or food stamps, or any other kind of assistance, has to go through the same crap. Whining about it may make you feel better, but it isn't going to change anything. You've already gotten a couple of good suggestions. You'll probably get more. It's up to you to follow up, as required.
 
I work 10:30AM-1:30PM in lower Manhattan. I'm upset that SSI had a TTY phone number for the hard of hearing and all those ADA accessibility but nothing really about autism. Why is SSI screwed up so much like this?

Edit: I have an appointment with my social worker at 4PM so there's no time at all to go to the SSI office.
 
Ephraim Becker said:
I work 10:30AM-1:30PM in lower Manhattan. I'm upset that SSI had a TTY phone number for the hard of hearing and all those ADA accessibility but nothing really about autism. Why is SSI screwed up so much like this?

Edit: I have an appointment with my social worker at 4PM so there's no time at all to go to the SSI office.
Click to expand...

So, except for the one afternoon that you have an appointment with your social worker, your afternoons are mostly free. If getting off work at 1:30 doesn't give you enough time to get to the SSI office, either skip lunch and do the last of the day's work during that time, or ask to get off a little early. Most employers are willing if given a good reason.

SSI may be screwed up, but not because they don't have special accommodations for autism. The world doesn't revolve around autism or around your personal preferences.
 
I'm afraid that for many, it's an eye-opening experience to have to deal directly with Social Security or the Internal Revenue Service. The gist of it all is that you do everything their way, or else.

They don't take prisoners. Autistic or otherwise.
 
My father called SSI today to tell them about my issue with the app. My father got back to me and told me to fax it in but WeWork doesn't have a fax machine. My father then told me to drop the pay stubs at the SSI office. So I went to the SSI office today to give them my pay stubs in an envelope. The security guard told me that I have to get a number and wait to be called and that there's no box for me to put it in so I decided to just leave. Luckily, they have a fax machine at the place that I go for an appointment with my social worker and they faxed it for me there. I asked if I can do it every month and they said yes.
 
Catana said:
Government websites are often pretty poorly designed, but the system is just generally screwed up, not biased against people who can't stand in line or find it "inconvenient." Do you really think a website is going to know about your personal problems? Everyone on SSI, or food stamps, or any other kind of assistance, has to go through the same crap. Whining about it may make you feel better, but it isn't going to change anything. You've already gotten a couple of good suggestions. You'll probably get more. It's up to you to follow up, as required.
Click to expand...

You supposedly can make an appointment and bypass the long phone wait when you sign up to Social Security.org.​
 
Update: I don't receive SSI anymore because I make too much money at work nowadays. I'm still worried that I still need to come to the office to give my pay slips for 2018. Do I need to go to the SSI office if I don't receive SSI benefits anymore?

I'm thinking of making a website to introduce the ssiPhone and hosting it on github pages as a parody to SSI advertising the phone as experiencing the power of slowness and printing out the url to hang on the doors to the SSI offices.
 
Do you have a case manager who can help you navigate calling into SSI? I don't know the difference between a social worker and a case manager but my person helps me make phone calls when I need to.
 
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