DDD
Well-Known Member
The meeting was this morning. Can you believe this??? The Hearing Officer said "there are only two chairs in the office so three can't attend". Lo and behold, lol, she said to GFGmom "I'll call you if you are needed." 
Never in a million years did I think difficult child and I could have the meeting with-o GFGmom present.
I had spent twelve hours researching, pulling out old resports starting when difficult child was four years old, listing psychiatrists, Tdocs, addresses, phone numbers, summaries of the treatment period and each neuro/psychiatric and evaluation ever done. Plus I used the SS website to make a list of all the issues that might factor in on the decision. Typed "their wording" and then typed in how difficult child fit the category. Whew!
We were in the hearing office for 90 minutes. It was really interesting but I won't share all the details. Unless you have a young adult trying to get disability back it probably wouldn't be that interesting. In a nutshell difficult child shared dialog with the lady for about forty minutes. Then I was given a turn. It did not sound promising at all as the SS bottom line is "if he can work at a repetitive task (like grocery carts) he is not disabled enough to receive support". Yikes.
I did my presentation using "their terms" and then at the end addressed the lady by saying that difficult child and his family believed he would be able to work IF he had a chance to get stablized and that I had found placement thru Volunteers of America where he would have a "supported living" apartment with his "job coach" on site. I shared that the VofA people would transport him to medical appts., help him seek the right job etc. etc. etc. (As you know I'm long winded, lol.) The lady looked surprised and said "does his supported living apartment depend on being approved for disability"?
I told her that he is already approved because they don't question his disabilities but that he has to pay rent and utilities. She looked at difficult child and said "you are a very lucky young man to have such a strong advocate". Then she repeated that his application had to be reviewed and processed BUT she would mark it "Expedite".
I'm cautionsly optimistic. My address and phone number are the contacts. difficult child told her that I would take care of helping him learn how to budget his money and not be "impulsive". lol The meeting was over and GFGmom said "is it my turn?" I told her that I had shared her information and the meeting was over! Evil me...I got a kick out of that. GFGmom only asked two questions on the way home. "how long before we know?" and "why do you want to take over his money?"
Thank you all for the support. I gave my best shot. Divine intervention kept me in the drivers seat and GFGmom in the lobby. I'll update you when the envelope comes. DDD
Never in a million years did I think difficult child and I could have the meeting with-o GFGmom present.I had spent twelve hours researching, pulling out old resports starting when difficult child was four years old, listing psychiatrists, Tdocs, addresses, phone numbers, summaries of the treatment period and each neuro/psychiatric and evaluation ever done. Plus I used the SS website to make a list of all the issues that might factor in on the decision. Typed "their wording" and then typed in how difficult child fit the category. Whew!
We were in the hearing office for 90 minutes. It was really interesting but I won't share all the details. Unless you have a young adult trying to get disability back it probably wouldn't be that interesting. In a nutshell difficult child shared dialog with the lady for about forty minutes. Then I was given a turn. It did not sound promising at all as the SS bottom line is "if he can work at a repetitive task (like grocery carts) he is not disabled enough to receive support". Yikes.
I did my presentation using "their terms" and then at the end addressed the lady by saying that difficult child and his family believed he would be able to work IF he had a chance to get stablized and that I had found placement thru Volunteers of America where he would have a "supported living" apartment with his "job coach" on site. I shared that the VofA people would transport him to medical appts., help him seek the right job etc. etc. etc. (As you know I'm long winded, lol.) The lady looked surprised and said "does his supported living apartment depend on being approved for disability"?
I told her that he is already approved because they don't question his disabilities but that he has to pay rent and utilities. She looked at difficult child and said "you are a very lucky young man to have such a strong advocate". Then she repeated that his application had to be reviewed and processed BUT she would mark it "Expedite".
I'm cautionsly optimistic. My address and phone number are the contacts. difficult child told her that I would take care of helping him learn how to budget his money and not be "impulsive". lol The meeting was over and GFGmom said "is it my turn?" I told her that I had shared her information and the meeting was over! Evil me...I got a kick out of that. GFGmom only asked two questions on the way home. "how long before we know?" and "why do you want to take over his money?"
Thank you all for the support. I gave my best shot. Divine intervention kept me in the drivers seat and GFGmom in the lobby. I'll update you when the envelope comes. DDD
I have to admit that I have been smiling as I read each of you post...you guys absolutely "know" GFGmom. Susiestar you got half of my response absolutely right. I did say "I want to teach him how to independently handle his financial obligations and to understand that only with a budget that he sets can he act like a true adult."
Suz!
