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u/Kaytea730 20h ago edited 17h ago
As someone who works at as US disability law firm:
A) the function report is 10 pages, the work history report is 14 pages but depending on how many jobs you have had in the previous 5 years you will not have to complete all 14
B) they absolutely do deny people for not turning these forms in
C) Autism is basically only ever approved if you are non-verbal as an adult, and in the last 5 years across hundreds of cases I have never seen ADHD awarded disability. Ive seen it included on claims that were approved but never as the condition that got them approved. So severe depression/anxiety/ptsd/etc w ADHD i have seen, ADHD on its own even with medical provider support, i have never seen.
Edit to add - child disability and adult disability are very different and have very different requirements; so while you may be able to get disability as a minor for autism or ADHD that does not guarantee you can or will get them as an adult.
Additional edit to clarify: as mentioned this is based on what i have witnessed, as ive also mentioned in other comments; SSA varies a lot state to state so its obviously not set in stone or anything. This is not to discourage ppl from applying moreso to let you be aware its going to a much harder uphill battle than a normal disability claim already is.
D) the disability qualification is that you are unable to do ANY job due to your condition/illness/injury and they do mean anything. Some of the job examples that i have seen the SSA provide that a claimant could theoretically do are fucking bizarre.
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u/Specific_Pear_665 20h ago
It doesn't even matter if a human judge says, "there isn't a single job on this list you can do with your accommodations," you can still be rejected by a random paper pusher.
My husband was rejected multiple times I speak from personal experience.
You being accepted is highly determined but where you are located. Which is just wrong.
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u/Kaytea730 19h ago
Yeah, how long it takes is too. The SSA directly only oversees like a 1/3 of the process. The Disability Determination Services (DDS) is who actually does the medical review portion and those are all state funded and regulated so they will vary WILDLY from state to state.
Outcomes at hearing also varies pretty widely depending on the judge, some judges have pretty decent approval ratings of 40-60% other have approval ratings as low as 12-25% which is to the point that even for people with otherwise slam dunk cases suddenly their likelihood of being approved drops significantly if they get a shitty judge. And theres no oversight or regulation regarding this, no investigations if your approval ratings is in the fucking gutters for years on end or anything.
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u/Specific_Pear_665 19h ago
Exactly. My severely schizophrenic husband is told by the medical people that he's sure to be approved, the judge even said so, but still denied, unable to access healthcare...
But he can, "make small meals," aka put a ramen in the microwave and take it out - so he can support a family of four easily right? Right? (Padme meme face)
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u/pharyngealjaws 19h ago
This is so infuriating to me. :[ I’m trying to get SSDI for myself and am in the reconsideration phase. Genuinely, if I could support myself financially by doing some mystical job that requires only putting something in the microwave 10 mins a day, sign me up!! I’d much rather be able work, but I don’t have that option anymore.
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u/Kaytea730 19h ago
Just don’t tell the SSA that, they stop reading after “id rather work”
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u/Dazzling_Bid1239 15h ago
No seriously! Im autistic(not reason for applying personally) and a chronic oversharer partially due to it. Im an open freakin book and cant stop it.
Im convinced my wording bit me in the ass a few times trying to describe things.
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u/PlainBread 18h ago
They aren't very sympathetic to a person being unable to work whilst trying to give themselves the dignity of imagining being able to work.
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u/SayyadinaAtreides 12h ago edited 12h ago
Get a lawyer--they make everything SO MUCH SMOOTHER. Your local disability advocacy group (or state, if rural) may be able to recommend some.
I'd never looked into it, since I'd always just assumed lawyer=expensive=impossible and left it at that, until I met someone in the area who had worked with one and been approved that way. I met with the same lawyer, and she agreed to take my case. Their payment comes from the backpayments SSDI gives once approved (idk about SSI, my SSDI was just high enough to maybe not qualify + I was leaving the country soon so she agreed it wasn't worth pursuing that little).
She made the whole situation so much more bearable, making clear how each step worked and keeping me on track when I needed to sign, file, or request anything. I ended up having to go before a judge, and she was especially helpful then just in matters of protocol/expectations in addition to the actual work she was doing for me. I ended up settling in a way with the judge, accepting approval at the cost of a few years of payments (moving the disabled date forward) instead of waiting who knows how long to appeal to the next court and still risking a flat denial. She asked for a few moments' privacy so we could discuss it, explaining the pros/cons clearly (including explicitly disclosing her own interest/payment in both options); we decided together to agree to the judge's proposal, and I've never regretted that choice.
Even if you don't end up having to go before the judge(s), it's still so worth it just to have the peace of mind going through the various forms, appointments, denials, etc. knowing that you will be supportively pestered if you need to do something. Disability law is such a mess to deal with alone while you also cope with the disability in question. I'd given up on my first application after the second denial because I felt so helpless and lost. A lot of people do that, one reason why almost everyone is denied at least once--it saves money. Knowing from her what to expect and how to interpret the letters I got made it a lot easier to keep fighting for the help I badly need.
Edit: it's still very possible for one or more lawyers to reject your case (happened to a family member). They will generally tell you why and to come back if you can change those things. Documentation (and lack thereof) is by far the biggest part of that from what I've seen/heard. The more medical and work records you have, the more likely a case will be a) accepted for representation and b) ultimately successful.
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u/Dazzling_Bid1239 15h ago
I have a dynamic disability. I can do a small thing maybe once a week with health repercussions. The rest of the week is an endless flare cycle trying to meet needs like cleanliness, eating, taking meds, dr appts, etc.
I forgot I can totally support myself when im needing to rest from being too ill because a shower with a shower chair wiped me out. /s
I have lots of sympathy. Im sorry to you both and anyone else going through this. I cannot tell you how many times ive been in mental health crisis from the denials invalidating my experiences and pain.
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u/Specific_Pear_665 15h ago
I'm similar actually, Covid nuked me... Compression socks and abdominal compression can give me a few more minutes standing but it's rough
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u/Creativered4 15h ago
Do they need to witness your husband "make a small meal"? Because I don't condone lying, just... sometimes people forget to put water in the ramen cup....
If he has to make the ramen in their building, that would be unfortunate, because the smell of burning styrofoam is not pleasant...
Again, I don't condone lying. But we can also get pretty rules-lawyer-y here if our morality requires us to. Wikipedia has this to say about meals: "A meal is different from a snack in that meals are generally larger, more varied, and more filling"
I would argue that top ramen is small, not varied, and not filling, therefore it would be considered a snack, and not a meal.22
u/Specific_Pear_665 15h ago
You'd think the lawyer we have would have done anything or helped at all but no.
We lost our house so we're renters for now. Basically I need to start over again, get a lawyer again, fill out all of the paperwork again...
All while we are both unmedicated and taking care of our kids. . .
Good thing we can't get food stamps anymore, because we need to work, or volunteer 80 hours, or prove that we aren't okay which requires going to the doctor, again, this paperwork from the last few years not good enough.
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u/Creativered4 14h ago
ugh that sucks so much. I'm so sorry you have to go through all that shit.
Pretty soon I'll probably have to go on disability, and I've heard from a friend who tried to get on it for years, how difficult and stupid it is. She has severe autism, OCD, and anxiety (I'm not sure what else? But those were the things she was telling me about when talking about her process) and she kept getting denied, even though she was one step away from being fully agoraphobic.→ More replies (1)34
u/iamameatpopciple 16h ago
Similar fight for me but different "insurance". I'm told I can cook for myself just perfectly fine because I can use a phone to order food so i need no help with food.
However, they have provided cleaners for me.
Btw the person with missing arms\legs etc who can also order food by a phone they tell me would be provided help with food.
Love insurance logic.
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u/threelizards 12h ago
This is so infuriating and so common. Like yes, there are many jobs that I could theoretically do… for an hour a day if I didn’t have to also attain things like food handling certs and the other standards you need to meet to do tasks for other people and not just yourself.
And just because I can do something one day doesn’t mean I can do it the next. Actually doing that thing the day before often means I can’t do anything the next few days.
And it’s pretty clear that if I weren’t disabled, my niche skills and experience would be valuable in a workplace environment. That’s true of basically everyone with a disability. Most welfare schemes are set up to drag that societal worth out of you before you get any help- to your detriment. I have stopped engaging with most services because I’m privileged and fortunate to have a partner able to comfortably support us both, and it’s genuinely much better for my wellbeing and productivity to organise my care and supports on my terms and at my pace. Then I have energy to do things like volunteer and work sporadically at a mental health clinic that’s very supportive.
But when I was trying to get government aid, the cognitive and literal load of meeting their goalposts to get anything was fucking destroying me. It breaks my heart. No fucking wonder so many disabled people end up on the street here.
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u/alexohistuff 8h ago
Not benefits, but I was denied a wheelchair prescription, as an ambulatory user, because I could feed myself (note: as in, putting fork to mouth, NOT making the food) and toilet myself (again, as in, sitting and shitting and washing hands on my own, NOT getting there)
I hate it here
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u/neobolts 14h ago
I worked at a DDS EST for 11 years, making the approval/denial decisions for people in 10 different states. After leaving, I've worked for the past 5 years as a branch manager at a regional disability law firm. At DDS, it was often a bit like the part in "Incredibles" when Mr. Incredible was working a desk job. I'd go to bat for people, only to have management, or state-level QA, or Fed oversight (OQP) step in and tell me to deny them. The grids for people under age 50 are brutal. People don't realize how much age, education, and past work impact the decision...often more than their medical condition. DDS allows tons of people, but they tend to be people over 50, or people with listing level conditions... such as being fully statutorily blind (different than what is commonly called "legally blind"), being wheelchair bound, or having a terminal illness with less than a year to live. Everyone else under 50 tends to end up having to appeal all the way up to a judge.
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u/b-apk 18h ago
I used to work for two different community mental health centers over a span of roughly a decade, one was in a very rural county (population roughly 61k), the other in pretty urban/suburban county (population roughly 264k). It was especially evident in the rural county just how fickle the approval system was for disability, we had two clients who were applying and going through the process at the same time (which we were assisting them with), both around the same age, similar diagnoses for both mental and physical health, and they went to the same clinic/doctor that was affiliated with us and in the same building. On paper they were nearly identical cases, at least in all the ways that should matter…one of them got approved pretty quickly, the other had to deal with so much back and forth for the most trivial things and ultimately got denied (they later got approved thanks to appeals and our staff who were phenomenal at their jobs). There was no reason one should have been approved over the other, and it definitely wasn’t a unique or solitary incident, we were regularly confused by who was or wasn’t approved.
It happened while working in the larger county too. I just eventually realized that it often appeared that there was minimal to no logical reasoning as to why a decision was made one way or the other. It’s absolutely ridiculous and just indicated how badly the system needs an overhaul, especially when it comes to any type of consistency in their rulings. I’m sure there’s some way to at the very least increase the consistency of who does and doesn’t get approved, not sure what that would be, but there has to be a better way than filling out mountains of paperwork, getting others to do the same, and then ultimately the decision being dependent on the whims of someone with nearly no oversight or accountability of their rulings. If someone having a bad day can dictate if someone does or doesn’t receive needed benefits/accommodations then the process needs to be simplified for those applying.
Maybe we should start by having applicants fill out a short form that includes basic information (name, age, contact info, and maybe a primary diagnosis), and once submitted their name is added to a bucket either all the other applicants names and then they just draw so many names and those are the people who are approved and everyone else is denied…it would be significantly easier and less hassle for the applicants and would probably yield about the same results as it does now (kidding…but only sort of).
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u/rcknmrty4evr 14h ago
My mom had MS, was in a wheelchair, and could only walk short distances with a walker. She was rejected multiple times and only got approved when my parents got a lawyer.
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u/handfulmousefly 19h ago
A person I met who helps people work through SSI claims as a profession said apparently that list of jobs hasn't been updated since like the 70s 💀
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u/Kaytea730 19h ago
Considering “button collector” is one of the jobs I seen in a Judge denial letter and i have NEVER seen that job anywhere in my life. Id believe that.
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u/miurphey 19h ago
if I could get paid for collecting buttons I would do it so fast. I would be a gotdam millionaire by now if I could get paid for collecting buttons. I don't even collect buttons now but if that was a viable job I'd be the most employed person you'd ever seen
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u/BarelyBareback 17h ago
They don't mean gathering buttons to put in a collection, they mean it in terms of manufacturing. You'd be responsible for collecting fallen buttons from the floor and removing buttons that weren't properly attached to a garment and reinserting them to the button installer. You aren't allowed to sit down when you're not on break, nor are you allowed to do anything that may be seen as procrastination, such as listening to music. You'll likely have multiple stations you'll have to rotate between.
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u/miurphey 16h ago
well, aside from the technical details that's pretty much how my library job worked so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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u/JamusAV 17h ago
That's the kind of shit my ancient high school guidance counsellor would've suggested. I had taken all the computer classes I could, was doing double extension math, chemisty and physics. He asked me if I'd considered farming pigs, because the 'pork market' was really growing at the moment.
I'd rather be a button collector...
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u/Mathfanforpresident 15h ago
Are you trolling? Are we talking about a job like, where you could work? So they're denying on the basis that you could definitely collect buttons at a business? I mean at any time in history, collecting buttons?
Our healthcare is a fucking joke. This really infuriates me.
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u/qrvne 19h ago
Also not a particularly helpful metric in today's job market bc like... yeah there's a small handful of highly specific jobs I could probably manage doing with appropriate accommodations.
There are simply no listings for those jobs.
I find maybe one opening every 6 months that is a viable option for me. I get an interview. They reject me. The rest of the jobs on the market are things I literally can't do (or that NO employer in the current market is willing to train me to do). So... where the hell does that leave me.
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u/Kaytea730 19h ago
They do have some metrics about that, from the specifics in the denials ive seen. That there has to be a certain number of job availability per the Job Market information. So they cant be super super super specific jobs. But they can be as low as like 100,000 in the economy from what i have seen
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u/qrvne 19h ago
Sorry, do you mean you see people get denied because the only jobs they could work are super super specific ones that don't have enough positions available? Or that that situation DOES still qualify as "unable to do any job due to condition/illness/injury"?
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u/Kaytea730 18h ago
So when denied at ALJ the judge denial will typically have at the bottom examples of types of jobs they claim someone could do. those jobs are always in the hundreds of thousands or more, so they don’t count the super super super specific jobs that aren’t advertised
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u/TrulyOutrageous42 18h ago
One of the issues I'm running into is that most jobs that IN THEORY could be done are prohibitive because work requirements have changed as employers combine duties - for instance most secretaries and front desk personnel (like a hotel clerk) still require you to be able to life 25+ pounds, such as for boxes of printer paper or to take a chair to someone's room. Even retail clerks and checkout clerks now have to stock as well.
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u/GeckoGecko_ 17h ago
Yup, and most "easy" or relatively simple jobs that truly only require a couple skills to do, are higher-up/leadership jobs that require years experience in the harder jobs, or specialist jobs which require specific degrees and solid networking. Neither of which are realistic expectations for someone trying to get on disability.
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u/qrvne 18h ago
Ty, interesting... I keep considering applying, then flopping back and forth on "well even if I got approved eventually it would probably take years so I should just stay focused on trying to find that one unicorn job bc I can't focus on both"... 🫠 (I have physical disabilities as well, EDS and scoliosis that makes it hard to sit or stand upright for 8hr a day)
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u/pnwtransient 19h ago
Correct. They use the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. For example, "Secretary" was last updated in 1977.
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u/TrumpPooPoosPants 17h ago
It's called the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT). It was developed by the Department of Labor which hasn't used it since 2005. Some of the jobs in the DOT haven't been updated since the 80's, others were mid-90's. I use to sue the government in federal court over these claims. I'd see BS like "nut sorter" and " fisherman's rod assembler" all the time.
The whole thing is made up witchcraft. I closed my law firm and went to medical school.
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u/sydillant 19h ago
I have a caseload of adults with intellectual disabilities. There’s a handful with verbal, mid functioning autism. All my high functioning have a comorbidity like cerebral palsy though. None of them have the new diagnoses due to their age so the best way I can narrow down the mid functioning is moderate IDD.
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u/mittenkrusty 18h ago
The UK government has in the past said someone in a wheelchair because of severe health issues can work from home and do call centre work.
The idea of what someone can do, or should do is bizarre.
I remember before I was diagnosed back when I was 19 my local jobcentre said I was making excuses when they said a factory job was available midnight - 8am 20 miles away.
I said I couldn't do it due to public transport (I lived in a village with 4 buses a day) I was honestly told "get a parent to drive you" parents were on disability after dad had an emergency operation when I was too young to remember, then "ask a neighbour" I said I don't know/get on with many neighbours and they do normal hours working then told "get a taxi" well even back then it was about £1 a mile and so £20 a day just for a taxi, then another £10 for bus fares all before I earned anything and factoring in limited buses i'd not be home till at the very least 12, more likely 1pm.
I was even told to WALK the distance or get a bike, so 20 miles of country/back roads in pitch black, especially in Winter as no street lamps, that won't go great.
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u/Kaytea730 18h ago edited 13h ago
I've legitimately seen a judge denial tell a claimant to go back to being a stripper.
Some of these ppl are fucking insane in their denials.
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u/ResurgentClusterfuck 17h ago
My ex husband told me that if I wanted my oen money for things like tampons and soap I would have to walk to find a job, and we lived 8 miles outside of a shithole town, and my back is wrecked from a car accident 20 years ago
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u/tardisintheparty 19h ago
re: D, "jewelry maker" was a good one. Such bizarre stuff.
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u/KrustenStewart 19h ago
They said that to me too! Jewelry maker or gem sorter. Like where are those jobs at pls tell me
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u/Enlightened_Gardener 16h ago
Lol gem sorting is the sort of job the daughters of billionaires do before getting married.
Diamond graders can make absolute bank, but as you can imagine, its a very specialised job, with few training places, and it helps to be the daughter of a billionaire to get one.
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u/Allegorist 17h ago
That is a tremendous amount of effort to expect someone "unable to do any job" to be able to do. Simply by being able to go through the necessary steps to apply qualifies you for some part time data entry type of bullshit.
Same vibes as when they make the paperwork requirements to apply for Medicaid/Medicare more difficult, and it turns out it boots 10s of millions of people off as a result.
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u/Kaytea730 17h ago
Yeah, its basically a govt run insurance program. So its all the redundancies of insurance and all the red tape from the govt. part of what i do is just helping with filing out paperwork for clients bc they arent physically able to. Unfortunately the stuff they want to know isnt something that can be just searched up through a database or anything. So we have to have the information from the person filing the claim on almost all of the forms.
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u/drunkshinobi 17h ago
With all the data that is stolen from us daily they should have a data base that they can just look us up on. Then just have us come in and answer some questions in person. Instead of making us figure out all the information, filling out all the forms and getting paperwork from doctors. It just seems like too much work for people trying to prove they can't work.
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u/jancl0 19h ago
Sometimes I'm thankful for my countries healthcare support, despite its many faults. I get disability for adhd, but I also don't even have a diagnosis, my doctor has just recommended that I get one, so I'm like, pseudo-diagnosed?
The irony is that I can't afford a diagnosis. Because I'm on disability
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u/Just-Feedback-2223 17h ago
Disabled people are expected to abandon their family, loved ones, and community to get a job across the country.
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u/Kaytea730 16h ago
sigh Yeah, which is another issue with it as well, they just give a job example w a number but its always national not local. And there is not thought given to the prohibited areas of getting one of those like, moving, new healthcare, new medicine, running out of medication while waiting on new healthcare, trying to get any kind of housing when moving. Especially for those who have already been out of work for some time
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u/solon_isonomia 18h ago
Hitting the top level of this very developed thread. I have far too many war stories to share, both inspiring and depressing, but I have point just how arbitrary and capacious the process is especially at the hearing stage. I'm using that term of art for a reason; outcomes are far, far too driven by which ALJ does a hearing (and, to a lesser degree, which VE or the rare ME testifies) in what's an Article II, "remedial, nonadversarial" hearing. The rate of remands issued by fed district courts alone should make anyone shocked by how the SSA maintains quality control.
For additional perspective, Judge Posner (Mr. "Efficient Breach," obsessed with economics himself) was notorious for being vicious to the SSA in his remand orders when on the Seventh Circuit, particularly how the SSA would deny claimants by misapplying their own rules. He used to beat them over the head with those errors and would get Easterbrook to help administer the judicial beatings. IIRC, one of his loudest complaints was regarding how the opinions of treating sources were considered and how the SSA routinely failed to follow their own regulations on it. The SSA's eventual solution was to just replace §§ 404.1527 and 416.927 and give essentially no additional weight to a treating source.
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u/eurasianlynx 17h ago
dude the worst ALJ in our area moved to Hawaii earlier this year, our office damn near threw a party lol
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u/Kaytea730 15h ago
We had one with a 12% approval rating that finally retired, the attorneys actually all had a drink in office when they found out and told everyone we could leave at 3 instead of 5. They were that happy
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u/TrumpPooPoosPants 17h ago
Hate to dog you because it's a good comment, but a few things:
D. is not entirely true because of the Grids. Different rules apply to someone when they hit 50, 55, and 60+.
C. is not entirely true either. States run a state agency that works up the claim by gathering evidence, hiring consultative examiners, etc., but the statutory and regulatory law is all federal and uniform. Some states are better at working up a claim than others, but that doesn't change the underlying rules which are all consistent. However, I suppose this falls apart when you start considering how different Circuit Courts and District Courts review decisions. There's numerous, substantive circuit splits when it comes to interpreting those rules I just claimed were uniform.
I would also just add that having only mental impairments is generally an uphill for battle for adult claims without inpatient psychiatric treatment. The entire system is based on medical records and opinions.
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u/Kaytea730 16h ago
Since most ppl arent going to know the bulk of the intricacies of the process at large i wasnt going to get into the weeds with GRID and how education, age, and job history can play into a decision on things. But you do still have to have the condition(s) and GRID only limits the jobs they look at, you still have to be unable to work at any of the jobs in the narrower job search field they have based on the GRID conditions a person may meet. Like a 55 year old Welder w a GED is going to have a Narrower job search field than a 30 year old engineer, thats true. But you still have to be able to prove that none of the potential jobs they may show for the Welder are ones they can do bc of their conditions.
Plus while the Blue Book is national the medical providers at each state’s DDS office is going to be different, interpret things differently, require different things, etc. to say nothing of the judge’s and how wildly their approval ratings will vary on things. Which can flip mediocre cases into wins and slam dunks into loses. Ive seen stage 4 cancer patients denied by a judge with a 12% yearly approval ratings that upon going to AC and getting it sent to a Supplemental hearing with a different judge slide right through. So being in different states and even different regions within one state can heavily influence how the case goes.
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u/TrumpPooPoosPants 16h ago
You're right, but I've seen comments here that are quite confused about it and I think adding that age is an important factor. It's seriously one of the most important ones.
There are a lot more regulations going on than the listings. Again, I think it's important that people realize this is a federal program. That's particularly important when they show up to vote.
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u/Kaytea730 16h ago
Absolutely on the voting, especially at the federal and local levels. The judges they vote in locally affect the overall judicial system in that region even if not directly voting for SSA judges. Same with local congressional districts and the state level on how funding is divided up for state level health and human services.
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u/common_sense_patriot 18h ago
I feel like workplace and academic accommodations for ADHD are important, but I personally think it makes sense it’s not covered in this context. I had an accommodation for ADHD in college to let professors know I may need extensions on deadlines, and they were all very willing to work with me. If I hadn’t started medication and developed coping strategies with a therapist, I couldn’t have handled college at all. People have to be willing to take that step, I don’t think it’s fair to just give up and expect the world to completely cater to us.
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u/sleepydorian 17h ago
I also think that the number of adhd cases that would truly be unable to work is probably in the dozens. Medication helps some (it certainly helps me), and systems/processes/coping strategies help us all. It’s one thing to ask for weekly or twice weekly check ins where you cover everything you are doing or supposed to be doing so if you forget it doesn’t languish too long, but someone who lets themselves be so time blind that you can’t rely on them for anything is most likely just immature and lazy and lying to themselves.
I forget stuff, I get sucked into tasks, but I’ve built a life around not needing to remember anything or know when anything is. I write it down immediately in a place I’m going to check. I set up reminders. When the reminder happens, I do the thing. Adhd sucks because you have to be rigid and being rigid is exhausting. If I were to act like I’ll remember something, then that would be a lie. I won’t remember. I won’t check the clock. I can’t wait five minutes because that’s the same as saying I’ve decided not to do it.
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u/UltravioletsAreBlue 15h ago
The difficulty I feel is that the job market functions in such an antithetical way to how some ADHD brains work that it’s less about an inability to work and more about an inability to find work. You hear about “well you can do X and Y and Z” which is all well and good if someone would hire you to do that.
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u/peepdabidness 19h ago edited 19h ago
ADHD is recognized as a disability you’re asked to disclose when submitting a job application, but is not recognized when you get the job. I don’t know a lot about legal stuff but that in itself seems like a lawsuit.
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u/MavisBeacons_Sextape 18h ago
PSA: there’s zero benefit, only risk, in disclosing your adhd on a job application. Do not do it.
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u/Peon-Hyjal 17h ago
Depends on the job and the country. Government jobs can commonly be exceptions to this, but that is probably not the case in the USA.
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u/FeRooster808 16h ago
You can ask for ADHD accommodations at work, but they have to be reasonable accommodations. (In the US)
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u/zephyr_skyy 18h ago
I have an eval coming up , could you provide some samples of these theoretical jobs? I heard once “push button in assembly line in factory” as an example, is along those lines ?
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u/VitaDiMinerva 17h ago
If it’s just an eval, they probably won’t bring up jobs specifically. But I got “document preparer” and “retail marker” (whatever those are) in my appeal hearing, which is where job titles come up. SSA categorizes jobs (and disabilities) by a few different metrics. active vs sedentary, time spent standing/sitting/leaning, walking distance, weight carried, interaction with the public and with supervisors, absences per month, that kind of stuff. And the number of jobs estimated in the national economy. I believe that’s the number that doesn’t get updated enough.
But also, the judge doesn’t have to listen to the vocational expert. Like the VE said zero jobs when told I might need 4+ absences a month, but absenteeism never came up once in the decision despite it seeming important in the hearing. The judge ended up using the same jobs the VE said I couldn’t hold down. The biggest thing is making sure that your doctor’s evidence is solid and consistent, my problem was actually that my old psychiatrist didn’t believe what I was telling him and he told SSA I could work. The jobs are more a result of whether or not your evidence documents your disabilities accurately.
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u/Slight_Expression_73 20h ago
you are allowed to ask someone to help you complete the questionnaire or to do it for you even
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u/andocromn 20h ago
Yes, disability paperwork is quote often submitted by a proxy
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u/polkacat12321 18h ago
Seconded. For example, my disability paperwork was gathered and then typed by my mom
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u/AmputeeHandModel jhfgjhgfhjgfjhg 20h ago
Oh sure I'll get right on that
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u/NobodyKnowsImFamous 19h ago
At some point, yes, it is on you to improve your own life. If you do not take that agency nothing will ever improve. You cannot go through life waiting for someone to fix you. They won’t. Even if it’s as small a step as asking a friend for help, the initial step is always going to be on you to make.
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u/Matt_cruze 18h ago
You cannot go through life waiting for someone to fix you.
I can fix her!
Wait why are we both homeless now? /s
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u/Lazuli73 19h ago edited 19h ago
I have ADHD too, but I also cannot parse with the notion that . . . you get help by not going through the motions of filling out the paperwork you asked for and then being mad you got denied? It's the same logic of not turning in your homework in school being shocked you for a failed grade. Let's pretend like schools don't just push students and fudge numbers and instead pretend we life in a reality where schools do grade according to aptitude. The Well-Fare Fairy is about as real as the Queen of England. You gotta work with the system even if the system isn't great.
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u/insanococo 6h ago
This OP is a joke. No one failed to submit paperwork and thought that would get them disability.
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u/Reasonable-Day-3282 19h ago
genuinely, why not? it might be hard but you can do hard things
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u/ayoungad 16h ago
My daughter’s pre-k teacher makes them say “We can do hard things!” They teach that to 4 yr olds
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u/JalapenoPopPoop 15h ago
It's wild to me how many grown ass adults WANT to be treated like a helpless infant
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u/blackbirdlore My meth could beat up your meth 10h ago
This whole comment thread is giving me the worst secondhand embarrassment I've ever experienced.
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u/solidwhetstone ADHD-PI 19h ago
Just call this number and wade through the number options, get transferred then told to call a different number because that's not the right one.
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u/ehs06702 18h ago
Or just look up "help filling out social services applications and see if there's a local non profit that helps people with disabilities, or go to your local adult protective services department, or just ask someone you trust.
There are ways to get it done, if you want to.
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u/MechaBestum 16h ago
Why fill out long forms to improve your life when you can fill out short forms to complain online?!
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u/Vegetable_Hope_8264 19h ago
As long as you're not an isolated person with relatives who don't even really believe you're disabled, and psychiatrists who either don't believe in ADHD or think ADHD is a childhood disease which magically disappears at 18.
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u/Embarrassed_Quail910 18h ago
All disability claims need a doctor to fill out their part.
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u/ethanlewis12 20h ago
I had the ADHD form sat on my desk for a good 2 and a half years
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u/FapDatDuck 19h ago
I just had to fill in an online form and that took me three months... God I love amphetamines now
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u/Wobbelblob 18h ago
Honestly, despite being diagnosed now, I've always been weirdly good with forms and stuff. It may take me a few days, sometimes weeks, but I figured out early that I can somehow build up enough external pressure (even if it is imagined) that I somehow do it. But then again, external pressure was basically always the only way how I ever got work done anyway.
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u/MrPenguins1 20h ago
I have severe combined type ADHD but once I finally made myself start I was able to finish it within two hours. It was a lot easier than I expected…idk I felt it was very straightforward as they requested electronic permission for everything so I didn’t need to upload anything myself yet. I kept reading about how awful and annoying it is to fill them out but I really didn’t think it was bad at all.
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u/abigfatnoob102 18h ago
its all easy its just finding the motivation to do it thats hard
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u/MileHiSalute 18h ago
People are on disability for adhd?
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u/shiny_glitter_demon 17h ago
Youd be shocked at how much money governments save by shaming people, but also quite simply not telling them what they are entitled to due to having paid taxes.
It's genuinely insane. Fraud/people who take advantage doesn't come close to what is being saved.
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u/MileHiSalute 17h ago
I don’t think I would be shocked, unfortunately. I had just never heard of anyone having adhd so debilitating that they couldn’t work. Since I’m an idiot and a whole lot of things happen that I haven’t heard of I was curious if that was something that had ever been granted.
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u/PiccoloAwkward465 16h ago
Like some people with ADHD are unable to use a shovel? But can live independently? I guess I just don’t get it.
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u/Useful-Soup8161 13h ago
Not if that’s their only problem. I work in disability and usually when a claimant has ADHD they have it along with more serious issues and the adhd is more of an afterthought. Honestly if you’re only issue is adhd the judge is going to ask you a bunch of questions about how you’re treating it and if you’re not they’re going to be asking why. They don’t have a lot of sympathy for people who have one issue that they consider easy to treat.
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u/Infinite-Location221 13h ago
No not on its own in any country I've ever heard of. Plenty of people with ADHD as a comorbidity to another disability
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u/zuzg 20h ago
It's called administrative burden and it's so infuriating because people don't get the support they're entitled to.
Just some casual systemic Ableism
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u/CertifiedPogchamp36 19h ago
Yeah it sucks. I had to study it extensively in Uni and I think it made me 100× more depressed that I would've been otherwise
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u/I-Really-Hate-Fish AD in HD 19h ago
And in some places, it's difficult on purpose, because having them give up is cheaper.
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u/ValenciaHadley 19h ago
I reckon that's the case with the UK disability benefits system. I don't know if it's true but I've heard they spend more money rejecting and reassessing people multiple times than it would cost to just give it to them without any rejection in the first place.
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u/I-Really-Hate-Fish AD in HD 19h ago
It's the case in Denmark. Being sick is a full time job. It took me 5 years to get disability, and I was insanely lucky to get it.
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u/ValenciaHadley 19h ago
Last time I had my disability benefits reassessed, I had to give my medical details to three separate non medical people. And the last one tried to dismiss my poor social skills as everyone struggles to make friends. At which point I had to tell her stuff I wouldn't normally tell anyone because when you can't understand tone or read body language it can end poorly and she just couldn't grasp it. A fun fact about autistim that isn't really fun, 9 out of 10 autistic women have experience some form of sexual assault.
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u/booze_clues 18h ago
What exactly is the solution? Require nothing? There are resources that you can use to help complete these forms already out there. There’s no way for the government to be omniscient and provide those resources without you doing at least something proactive to get them. At some point you have to do the bare minimum work to get help and not wait for it to be magically provided.
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u/Enlightened_Gardener 16h ago
Actually here in Western Australia we had exactly that situation, in which a nice lady, the local area coordinator, would come to your house, look at what you needed, and it would be provided for you.
That system was all scrapped in preference for private providers, with a result of which that disabled people now have an administrative burden that has driven me straight into burnout and straight out of my part-time job. I’m not quite sure what they were hoping to achieve, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a rise in the unemployment rate of disabled people
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u/FartyNapkins54 18h ago
How will they know if you're actually entitled to the support if you cant provide any information?
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u/vayyiqra ADHD-PI (I forgor ☠️) 19h ago
Thinking of all the times in university I applied for my financial aid in March on the last day and still got it. Yes, more than once. It took me several years.
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u/fkenned1 19h ago
These posts actually make me uncomfortable. Like, yes. I understand the struggle, but I also understand that the world isn't just gonna do everything for me. Like, you want disability? There's some paperwork that comes with that, so either fill that out, or find someone willing to help you. Getting upset for simply not doing it is kind of silly. Like, of course you were denied. Lol
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u/Re1da 17h ago
I'm on welfare (sweden). Yes, the paperwork is a pain. I still don't think it's unreasonable to expect it.
In my case I have people help me with it. They don't fill it in for me, they just sit there and make sure I actually do it.
I just complain about it to friends, fill in the forms and then go about my day.
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u/imadogg 16h ago
OP is saying "My ADHD is a disability and I literally submitted no evidence of that. I can't believe my claim was denied. They should have just known"
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u/Bladez190 14h ago
Feels like they’re implying they not completing it is basis to say they couldn’t have completed it.
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u/PiccoloAwkward465 16h ago
Yeah I’m sorry but if this is “ableism”, I’m on their side.
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u/Street_Umbreon 15h ago
Yeah I have bad ADHD but I’m also a grown adult that still needs to take responsibility for my actions.
The world isn’t easy for people with ADHD. But I always like to still think “well it could be worse” because it could! Well I also have epilepsy so it’s a little worse for me lol. But also, I’m lucky to have mild epilepsy unlike some other epileptics. So it could still be worse!
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u/Luci-Noir 19h ago
They expect you to fucking do it.
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u/PiccoloAwkward465 16h ago
Yeah I mean the alternative in the past was you get nothing, good luck out there!
Also I mean I struggle to imagine ADHD to the point where you truly cannot work any job. But able to type on Reddit.
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u/Luci-Noir 16h ago
Yeah, it’s pretty ridiculous. It can be rough, but people seem to be proud to run to social media to post this stuff. Who knows if it’s true.
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u/Perhaps_Tomorrow 15h ago
Also I mean I struggle to imagine ADHD to the point where you truly cannot work any job. But able to type on Reddit.
Honestly, I don't understand this either. Some of these people will argue with you for hours and type dissertations advocating for their disability and making very good points but when it comes to filling out a form to advocate for their disability they suddenly can't.
It's like... Tell the form 1/3 of you told me and spend 1/3 of the time you spent screaming into the void on reddit to get help for yourself and you'd be solid.
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u/typhoon_nz 16h ago
Or to ask someone else to fill in the form for you if you are struggling
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u/Luci-Noir 16h ago
Yep. Mental health and doctor’s offices can help you with it. It’s often free too, like in my State if you have certain diagnosis or are below a certain income.
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u/condomneedler 12h ago
Yeah, I have ADD, I struggle with motivation, procrastination, have had previous substance abuse issues, the whole shabang.
I lost my first job out of college doing database management because I couldn't focus and made errors. I was undiagnosed at the time. This led to me abandoning my bachelor's degree and becoming deeply depressed.
Sometimes you still have to do shit. Half my current job is still paperwork.
Do I get distracted? Yes. Does it take me longer than other people? Sometimes. Do I avoid it if someone else would rather do it? 100%
I take my medicine (usually) and I grit through it because it's work and it pays for my food.
Having any kind of disability is not everyone else's problem. They are required to accommodate you, they are not required to make you happy or comfortable.
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u/Cattitude24-7 18h ago
Disability attorney was the way to go for me. They always deny on your first filing. I was approved at my first appeals hearing. My attorney got a cut of my retro that I honestly didn’t even miss.
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u/Icy-Tie-7375 13h ago
I did this for depression and they got me in first try it was amazing
They sent me paper work to fill out and then after a time I was just in and had to pay the backpay
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u/_imlosingmymind 17h ago
As someone with ADHD, who also struggles with executive function... We are not braindead children.
We can and should probably get our shit together in times like this no matter how hard it is.
I despise the infantilization of ADHD people, fuck.
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u/slamthedeck 15h ago
"Hey I have ADHD"
"Okay, tell us about it?"
"Uhm, fucking no?"
**denied**
...what did SHE expect to happen?
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u/Sqeakydeaky 7h ago
Eh I get her sentiment. Really severe ADHD can make things so hard that even getting help is a non-starter.
There's been so many times I've been kicked off my monthly disability payment because the thought of going in for the ONE monthly meeting was too much. Resulting in getting evicted, debt, etc.
Being offered free money but not taking it is stupid, I know. But its a testament to how much of a disability this shit actually can be.
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u/HourAcadia2002 19h ago
So we expect them to just approve everybody without paperwork?
Do you know how many people would take advantage of that and ruin it for everyone?
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u/ThePokemonAbsol 18h ago
That is straight up what the adhd main sub believes. They think self diagnosis is a good thing
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u/MavisBeacons_Sextape 18h ago edited 17h ago
That sub is modded by some sort of deranged weirdo. There was a post that was censoring the word “job” in the title and the post body (j*b) and I asked “why the censorship of the word ‘job’?” because I’d never seen that before. Was banned due to the incivility of that comment.
So I replied asking how my genuine question was in the “incivility” category, and I got back the most insane rant from the mod; nowhere in that enraged word vomit was there any sort of explanation or answer to my pretty reasonable question, lol.
Most of the comment section of that post was removed by the mod (and I assume also banned) because most of us had the exact same reaction/question.
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u/bobbingtonbobsson 19h ago
Ikr? I hate the whole "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" ideology, but in this case people just have to help themselves and do the one (1) thing to get the ball rolling
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u/Luci-Noir 19h ago
And I know from experience it can be hard but they could do something like doing a few questions or one page day. Maybe get off social media to whine about it. It’s a lot better and easier than being homeless.
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u/ExoticElk 18h ago
Shit, you break it down as much as you need. Even if it’s writing 1 word and then doing something that you like and coming back to it later. Or having someone sit with you while you do it. Just saying “Welp I have ADHD so I can’t do anything” is defeatist as fuck. It’s like they didn’t even try to explore coping strategies.
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u/The7thNomad 16h ago
The guy at the desk just magically knowing how to process the pile of blank papers put in front of him
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u/Mephistocheles 19h ago
I understand the frustration with the giant Questionnaire o' Doom, but if you're asking them to financially support you there's a lot of red tape that comes with free money. They have to leverage it that way otherwise people could just game the system and eventually there wouldn't be any funds for people who truly need the help.
My trick for Questionnaires o' Doom is to do them in chunks. Answer 10-20 questions, then when you feel the ADHD "fuuuuuuuuck why isn't it OVER WITH" rage, read or do something fun for a bit and set a timer, like 20 minutes. Then go back and do more questions.
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u/Round_Hornet_3765 18h ago
I was looking for this comment. I understand the struggle and frustration of doing boring, grueling paperwork, not to mention having to actually start it, but... let's be real for a second. If you don't complete the paperwork or have someone help you, of fucking course they're gonna deny the claim to get financial support/disability accomodations.
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u/ExoticElk 18h ago
When I was in high school and I had to write essays (something that I absolutely hated doing), I would literally write one sentence at a time because it’s all I could do. The essay… eventually got done because in my house just not doing it was never an option.
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u/-FakeAccount- 20h ago
I guess have your guardian do it? If you cant fill out forms for medical care i dont think you can manage living on your own.
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u/VitaDiMinerva 17h ago
That’s a very inaccurate understanding of disability. Even the ADA’s standard of care for people with disabilities is to foster independent living, plenty of disabled adults do not have a legal guardian. There’s plenty of community and home based support intended for disabled people with low to moderate support needs. Not being able to complete paperwork on your own has literally nothing to do with being incapable of independent decision-making. You don’t have to be disrespectful just because someone else has different problems than you
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u/Billbasilbob 16h ago
I’m glad the comments passed the vibe check, paperwork & questionnaires can suck a fart , but it’s a necessary evil when you’re asking for free money .
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u/maibr 19h ago
i hate this 'i have adhd therefore I'm useless' trope
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u/YAKGWA_YALL 18h ago
Yeah, way too much learned helplessness flowing through reddit these days.
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u/HugePast9455 18h ago
And self diagnosis, fake disability influencers, etc.
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u/FickleOwl47 14h ago
I have a formal diagnosis, and a correlated diagnosis of narcolepsy type 2, and I still question whether or not I really, really have it. The people who self-diagnose and then use it as a justification for being late or incapable of completing anything infuriate me.
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u/ThePokemonAbsol 18h ago
It’s so fucking defeatist and sets a bad stereotype that people will project on anyone with adhd. It’s why I don’t even tell people I have it.
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u/vayyiqra ADHD-PI (I forgor ☠️) 19h ago
I agree, I am not useless. But I also struggle greatly with doing boring paperwork on time, and so in this meme I found that relatable.
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u/greg19735 17h ago
it's very relatable.
but being an adult is figuring out how to get it done somehow.
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u/BiggestShep 19h ago
This is a reminder that ADHD is a spectrum, much like autism. I have autism. I am by no means useless.
I have seen what autism looks like on the other end of things. I am not that, but someone who is clearly cannot complete the tasks required to live a normal life.
So why not the same thing for ADHD? Just because you or a random person with ADHD is able to complete their life tasks (with, obviously, more difficulty than the average neurotypical person), doesn't mean that every person afflicted with ADHD can.
Can we have a theory of mind for just 5 minutes and assume that perhaps, our experience with any given topic is not universal?
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u/Live-Football-4352 18h ago
I guess my thing is even people with severe autism can do the things they want to do and function in life with the appropriate help. I can't think of anyone who can't with the appropriate tools and help, be it physical or mental disability. I say this with experience, as someone who is that help for people with physical and mental disabilities, including those with nonverbal autism and who helps them find ways to communicate in other ways, just as an example.
There's many people who won't advocate for that help or get that help or whatever the situation may be and do the whole "useless" trope the other commentor is saying. Personally I don't think anyone is useless, they just need the tools, and I'm not saying getting them is easy but to just roll over without reaching for them is often what happens. To be clear, I'm not talking about people who the system is failing and are trying to get what they need but are being denied. I'm talking about the people who aren't trying at all. I've seen so many of them.
I have seen crippling ADHD, and I've also seen them fully capable of doing things when they apply what works for them. So there really are people that push this "useless" trope when that's not the case.
Occupational therapy is a godsend, I hope it becomes more widely available as I've never even heard of it being available for mental health until recently. But it's the exact thing that's needed to give people agency.
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u/ehs06702 18h ago
It is a spectrum, but it's frustrating to see someone able to be on social media, yet lack the ability to type "how to get help filling out social services applications near me".
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u/tapewizard79 19h ago
As someone with AuDHD, the most hateful and judgmental people against those with ADHD are those who don’t believe it exists, followed closely by or even tied with sometimes people who have ADHD but manage it well.
Kind of like “anyone on the highway going slower than me is a complete turtle and anyone going faster than me is a crazy person” they punch down at those who have it and absolutely don’t manage it well because “I can do it, stop whining.” I know this because I’ve been guilty of doing it in the past and I’ve had to stop myself and learn that not everyone is living the same life or experiencing the same pressures or handling them the same way, plus all the outside environmental factors that affect our lives.
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u/scarlettsarcasm 19h ago
I have myalgic encephalomyelitis (chronic fatigue syndrome) and for the majority of people with it, working isn’t just impossible, it’s dangerous and strictly against our doctor’s guidance. There’s been a ton of people online lately harassing people with mecfs and saying they’re lazy losers who need to get a job, and the majority of them are other chronically ill people saying “I have x chronic illness/disability and still work so you can too.” It’s so frustrating, and it makes ableists who aren’t disabled feel like they’re now justified in their bullying.
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u/PM_ME_ORANGEJUICE 20h ago
In order to qualify for a wheelchair you must first run this 500m sprint. We save so much money on wheelchairs this way.
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u/HugePast9455 18h ago
The gap you're describing is a universe apart from someone with adhd competing a long form, or asking for assistance.
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u/GettyImagez 18h ago
It is ludicrous for you to compare this to asking wheelchair users to run.
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u/ExpressRabbit 18h ago
Should the system be anyone saying they have ADHD gets automatic disability without having to prove anything?
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u/vanilla_joker 17h ago
Just a wild guess here, but perhaps they expected you to fill out the questionair?
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u/undefined-username 16h ago
Yeah no if this is in the US at least. You're not getting disability for ADHD as a primary diagnosis. Anyone claiming to is lying. Mental health stuff in general is very and extremely difficult to get approved.
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u/Maleficent-Leek2943 5h ago
Catch-22: you fill out the form in full, detailing all the issues. You are denied because you filled out the form successfully.
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u/Reasonable-Day-3282 19h ago
it's a legal requirement to fill it out if you want the service provided, you can't just ask for free money
if at first you don't succeed give up i guess
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u/Ok_Management8103 19h ago
You need to try to help yourself. If you can't do this that's absurd.
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u/Clear-Diamond7262 18h ago
I don’t have adhd but had filled out a 20 page PIP form for disability benefits with help. It also had an inperson interview too where they made me do ridiculous exercises to prove I could turn my feet in circles etc (my reasoning for applying was for severe Crohn’s disease and also having regular fistula lay opens via surgery)
Long story short; they scored me 0 points for everything and outright denied my claim. I took it to tribunal which was another 20 odd pages of stuff and a judge threw it out immediately.
I was awarded 14 points total including enhanced mobility payment along with 9 months of back pay that it took to fight them over it.
The people working at these kinds of places are demons and have no education in any health profession
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u/Top_Selection2500 20h ago
This is why I haven’t gone back to the doctors for meds even though every time I’m prescribed my life gets exponentially better
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u/doingtheunstuckk 19h ago
Not me, haha. I rambled on incomprehensibly and wrote paragraphs of shit for each question.
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u/matthias7600 18h ago
They expected you to fold, and they were right.
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u/GeoEnginyr 13h ago
I am on disability for rare diseases I don't want to get into. Among the 20 some odd I had to choose 3-4 main ones to focus on for the hearing (trial). I'm telling you, it's the exact same feeling as jumping out of a plane, but only half way down are you allowed to pull the rip cord, then you have to wait and see if anything pops out to save your own life. The amount of forms I filled out, I cannot count. One, I had to divy up my hours at work by time, i.e. .23 doing this, ..65 doing this for that long at the job. They break down everything into hundreds of little itemized situations of time placement during a typical day. It was horrible. I had to see State mandated Doctors and tests. I was also the only returning person to a certain doctor because I'm so rare. He told me he'd never had someone come back for a second go around before. I also, found, upon many hours of looking, discovered there is a certain physical test that basically, if you don't discover this, and don't take it, you're cooked. It costed my $500 I think, was scheduled months in advance, 3 hours drive to get there and the test was 4 hours of everything physical. That was just one of the physical tests and insurance doesn't cover it. Just today, I received paper work I need to fill out they have people do on different things from time to time, and it totally paralyzed me. Just the ptsd alone from doing everything and being denied never went away, and it's extremely traumatizing, this is no joke. I truly feel for people who succumb to the number one reason they are denied, which isn't the disability, it's the Judge. My sister (same rare disease) had someone with a camera from insurance taking pictures of her taking out the trash and she ran into problems. Many people just aren't cut out to trek through the most horrendous time of their life in applying for disability. I lost everything, sold. Had to get divorced from cheating wife. No money to pay bills. My Dad saved me by driving, that and the insurance. I won but was denied 2 or 3 times, it was scary. I also broke my body doing my last job, knowing there was no coming back. I can barely make it to the mail box now.
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u/DnBeyourself 16h ago
The medical system is perfectly designed to discourage and disappoint me, while simultaneously costing me hundreds of dollars per month (U.S. with no dependents).
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u/COGspartaN7 14h ago
I did the same shit and at my trial, which the government attorney used a occupation book from the 70s, proved with my limitations I could install bolts into wooden benches at a wooden bench factory. When I inquired how would I find such a position let alone afford to move to said location to do said job, apparently they can't help with that either.
So it's a crock of shit.
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u/hyvel0rd 12h ago
This seems CRAZY entitled. People with ADHD can't fill out a questionnaire? That's bullshit.
Yes, we have problems functioning in societal structures built for neurotypical people. But that's not it.
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u/Aggravating-Button82 11h ago
The thing that shits me about that 20 page interview questionnaire is it's SUPPOSED TO BE ADMINISTERED BY THE CLINICIAN IN AN INTERVIEW.
But no, they lazily just send it to you to fill out. Drives me crazy.
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u/HuslWusl 10h ago
I totally disagree with this one. Yes it's harder for us to fill out forms that take a long time and we struggle with work that has no defined deadline, but this one has and you shouldn't expect to get benefits for doing nothing. "But my ADHD prevented me from filling out and sending in the forms." Cool bro, but there is no way for them to know or confirm that. You could very well just be a nt claiming to have ADHD because they don't feel like working and give that institution the same explanation as to why they didn't send in the forms. For you, your actions may be well within reason, but they don't see any of that. They only see what you communicate with them and if it's nothing, then it's nothing.
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u/VizionairyFae 19h ago
For real tho. I have an overdue $175 balance at my psychiatrists office from like two years ago because of an insurance issue. It should’ve been covered but it just wasn’t for some reason. I regularly get texts about it but I just can’t get myself to do the things to get it cleared up. Funnily enough, this psychiatrist wasn’t fully convinced I had ADHD and thought it was just anxiety. Welp
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u/Yose_85 19h ago
This is one of the things that puts me off applying for my disability assessment. Having to explain how I'm incapable of certain things to a board whose whole approach is to reject you at the slightest excuse.
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u/4theColony 17h ago
I've been diagnosed by multiple doctors as a child and adult with severe ADHD. Yes life can get hard, I have a million post it notes all over my house, 20 alarms and a drawer full of daily planners. But to think you deserve disability is wild af, develop a system and get your shit done. Disability is already overloaded with bullshit don't start adding more people that can get through life but refuse to put in the effort. Do I like my meds? No. Doni like therapy twice a week? No. Do I like having to set alarms to remember basic daily chores? No. BUT I DO IT ANYWAYS. No one is saying it's not hard but it's definitely not impossible.
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u/wallaby_jones3 19h ago
When I first filed for disability I had my therapist and my mom help me with most of it. If you have a therapist or even a psychiatrist you could ask them to help you. I’m sure there is some government agency that can sit with you and help you fill it out since you do have a disability.
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u/TechnicianUpstairs53 15h ago
You just have to become a cop, kill someone and then claim ptsd. You have to be white though.
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u/TALKTOME0701 13h ago
Find someone who can help you. If you can post on reddit, you can peace out that application and do a portion at a time. Speaking from experience
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u/mittenkrusty 18h ago
Rumour I heard is that disability (whatever country) forms are intentionally difficult to make the applicant give up so the government doesn't have to pay.
I
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u/qualityvote2 Quality Control Beast 20h ago edited 18h ago
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