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Epilepsy and Disability

Tue, 11/21/2006 - 04:16
Does a person with epilepsy qualify for any type of disability assistance? Although I am on medication and it helps, it still does not control the seizures and since I live in a small town, no one wants to hire me and everybody knows about my seizures becausr they have happened on varoius jobs in the past. I am pretty much starving and could really use some assistance from the Gov. I am not sure what is available to people who suffer from E and just thought I would ask you guys. Douglas

Comments

Re: Epilepsy and Disability

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 2006-11-21 - 07:20
Hi Douglas, People may be eligible for social security disability if a chronic health condition, in this case epilepsy, affects their ability to be gainfully employed. There are other things to consider and documentation from treating providers will be sought.

Make an appointment to meet with someone at social security office and see what is possible. Social workers thru a doctor's office, hospital, or community group may help sort out eligibility and/or help cut through red tape.

I just found a great resource from Social Security Administration's website - this gives their definition of disability and has a planner that helps people decide if they are eligible and what to do next, as well as apply online! I haven't done the whole process but worth checking out. Run it by a social worker and doctor for specific info pertaining to your situation.

www.ssa.gov/dibplan/dqualify4.htm

www.ssa.gov/dibplan/index.htm

Hope this helps!

Epilepsy.com Resource Specialist

Make an appointment to meet with someone at social security office and see what is possible. Social workers thru a doctor's office, hospital, or community group may help sort out eligibility and/or help cut through red tape.

I just found a great resource from Social Security Administration's website - this gives their definition of disability and has a planner that helps people decide if they are eligible and what to do next, as well as apply online! I haven't done the whole process but worth checking out. Run it by a social worker and doctor for specific info pertaining to your situation.

www.ssa.gov/dibplan/dqualify4.htm

www.ssa.gov/dibplan/index.htm

Hope this helps!

Epilepsy.com Resource Specialist

Re: Re: Epilepsy and Disability

Submitted by wichitarick on Tue, 2006-11-21 - 10:58
hi actually this what I,m doing right now. I did not read these links yet but I think they are the same ones I,m looking at. It is all easy to find imfo. the gov. website is very imformative lets skip a few things here and get to something you said small town ,starving. are you single? just the fact you are out of work and are having a prob. finding work qualifies you for state assistance. meaning food stamps and posssibly cash help. Find the closest srs office . go there. tell a case worker your issues. it will process very quickly so you do not :starve" that touches a nerve with me it can happen to anyone. you have a lot going for you just based on the fact you DO NOT have to lie to anyone, I am on assistance now ,because I was laid off and had a kid and started having seizures real bad and it left me messed up. get this I did not apply some nice folks did it for me and just because I was,nt lieing(a lot do) they were VERY helpfull and still are. so do this first then back to ssi (federal) stuff. there is a lot to getting ssi benifits based on seizures because so many are controlled with meds. there are several people on this site that have done it though and I met a few local people that have. I signed the last of my paperwork yesterday to begin my process. but I have serious memory probs. and keep skipping appointments. talk to your doctor about this. he will be a key in a ll this. please keep updating I want to know what the scoop is .Rick

Re: Re: Re: Epilepsy and Disability

Submitted by suebear on Tue, 2006-11-21 - 19:22
You know, this is one of the reasons that brought me to the board actually - in a sense anyway. I'm not looking for disability benefits but what I am looking for is the support regarding the employment work force. I have been doing a lot of reading in this regards and I'm seeing that there are businesses becoming more compliant with the EEOC however there are still some who do not follow it and are basically hiding in the shadows to avoid the discrimination suits. I've discovered that there is a short list of making an income in this type of situation. 1) finding a company that will work with you and not discriminate against your disorder 2) tele-working (working at home so many days then at the office so many days) 3) telecommute (working at home permanently) 4) starting your own business Companies that hire the disordered persons are out there. Getting through the interview process is a big issue when you have the seize disorder is another issue in itself. There's a do and do not list on how to handle the interview regardless of who you interview with. Both tele-work and telecommute are very difficult to get a hold of. Why? Companies advertise the position within first then will outsource if they cannot find someone within the company. Secondly, usually the person who is currently doing the position will get the opportunity to do the tele-work/telecommute first before it is even outsourced. Many persons want to tele-work/telecommute so companies will not advertise freely on the Internet because they do not want to receive an overflow of resumes and/or responses. In most cases if they do advertise on the Internet in an outsource type of setting, it will be in an area where there is a membership. For example, there are a many companies in which a member fee is required before any of these type jobs can be located. This basically weeds out the skilled from the not so skilled; the serious from the not so serious. One final thought, there are some that may say work-at-home opportunity or something similar - read very closely! Anyone that asks for money are scams. You don't pay anyone for employment, they pay you for your work! Remember that!! :-) The final option is to start a business. This is a project in which many have attempted and some have accomplished, some have not. Freelancers and contractors also fall into this category because they can charge their own fee and work for themselves rather than someone else. It is a little more difficult because of the paperwork involved however it does have it's benefits because of the work at home benefit. There are other options however the few above that I've mentioned are some of the ones which have been in the top selections of many with disabilities, especially with the last one. It is easier to work for yourself than it is someone else. What comes with working for yourself is self-management and a lot of planning. From my own experience I've been building a consulting business for the past eight years. It's been a learning experience but I love it and wouldn't have it any other way. I'd like to go outside of the home and find something in a corporation but whether or not that is possible under the circumstances with the seizes, I'm not sure. So until then, I'll keep doing what I've been doing. This may not be exactly the response to the topic but I wanted to give some sense of guidance and hope to those who feel frustration and a lack of income. Hope this helps shed some light!!

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