It can be a hard decision to make. There are actually two different programs that are often referred to as disability, and while you don’t need to choose which to apply for (they share the same application and are both run by the Social Security Administration), it is important to understand what they are and…
I am honored that Alison invited me to write a post about filing for disability from an attorney’s perspective. I hope to answer some of the most common questions claimants ask in regards to filing for disability. But first, let me introduce myself. My name is Tatiana Froes. I am a disability attorney practicing disability…
Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) is a relatively common (though rarely properly diagnosed) condition. I was diagnosed in 2003 when it was still being called Conversion Disorder (and labeled as a mental illness rather than a neurological condition). I want to be really clear about this: the condition you have (your diagnosis) is less impactful on…
While I’ve talked about this a bit previously, I want to dig a bit more into the idea of getting or staying married while on disability coverage. The first and most basic thing that I want to emphasize is that this is a choice and that there’s no automatically right or wrong answer. What there…
As I’ve mentioned on previous posts, you can work while on SSI or SSDI. There are programs, like Ticket to Work and Vocational Rehab programs that can help with the process. However, the reality is that while they can give you information about working, they often are only prepared to help you with calculations related…
As of July 27, 2020, I am elated to announce that I am no longer in debt to my local hospitals. I’m also very angry that it’s taken as long as it has. To give you some background: I have Functional Neurological Disorder(FND), which is a relatively common (but rarely properly diagnosed) neurological condition that…
I’ve written about why shame is often attached to utilizing social welfare programs. This post digs more deeply into truths we can recognize and mindsets we can embrace to help protect ourselves from that shame while we use these programs designed to help us. We all use Social welfare programs It’s interesting that we often…
Having a disability is nothing to be ashamed of. Being poor is nothing to be ashamed of. Getting help from our own government is nothing to be ashamed of. And yet, I’m sure you winced a little, internally, at one or more of these statements. Our society here in the US has put a lot…
I’m not sure why anybody would argue with this statement, but people do. As a disabled person, I’m furious about how very broken it is and how hard people have to work to be treated anything resembling properly. It shouldn’t be this hard, but it is – and it’s really important that we talk about…
The honest answer is that there are a lot of possible meanings. The most typical at this point is to receive Social Security Disability Insurance benefits(SSDI) or Supplemental Security Insurance(SSI), but there really are a lot of additional types of “disability” benefits, each of which has its own set of rules, regulations, and durations. This…