That's soooo true. I've had to correct my SS case worker several times
because of inaccurate info.

Thanks again, Mark.

Trish
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark T" <blindsquid@...>
To: <retinitispigmentosa@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, January 02, 2006 12:49 PM
Subject: Re: [RetinitisPigmentosa] Disability


> Good luck Trish. BTW, I forgot to mention that it is VERY possible you
> got bad information from a SSA employee. They are notorious for that. I
> had to correct them on many occassions thru the process. There was
> something called a "disability freeze" that I read about on their website.
> I was in a unique position where this may have been helpful to me.
> Anyway, I had numerous employees tell me there was no such thing. I
> finally printed the section out fm their website and brought it in. Then
> they finally researched it for me and explained the program more fully.
>
> Anyway, the point is don't believe everything you hear. You gotta
> research and protect yourself.
>
> Take care,
> Mark
>
> Jim & Trish <bigeyes1@...> wrote:
> Thanks Mark for the explanation. I'll go and check out the site again.
> It's
> been a long time since I've reviewed it.
>
> Happy New Year to all!
>
> Trish
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mark T" <blindsquid@...>
> To: <retinitispigmentosa@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Monday, January 02, 2006 2:08 AM
> Subject: Re: [RetinitisPigmentosa] Disability
>
>
>> Trish,
>> Your experience IS very similar to mine except that SSA put you thru
>> more
>> hoops. But it is true w/ anyone that you are not considered disabled
>> until after you stop work and then you don't receive benefits for 6
>> months. This is true for everyone. If while they were putting you thru
>> the hoops they had delayed things so much that you went way past that 6
>> months, or they first denied you then it took a year to appeal it ...
>> only
>> THEN would you get back payments and they would just go back to 6 months
>> after you weren't able to work anymore.
>>
>> That is just the SS law.
>>
>> But I am also ABSOLUTLEY 100% positive you can work and earn up to $1380
>> and not affect your SSDI benefit. It is very easy to read the rules on
>> their website. Also I belong to a SS disability forum for over a year
>> where this stuff is constantly discussed every day.
>>
>> You can also earn money from passive income like a rental home and it
>> doesn't affect your benefit at all, even if it were over the SGA. The
>> SGA
>> assumes you are actively working. So stock trading or other passive
>> income doesn't count. As long as you aren't a professional and have a
>> realtor or broker license.
>>
>> Anyway, good luck. Happy New Year.
>> Mark
>>
>>
>> Jim & Trish <bigeyes1@...> wrote:
>> My experience differed from everyone else's.
>>
>> I filed for Social Security Disability in Feb. 2002. I finally had to
>> quit
>> work in May 2002 because my job of 13 years would not accommodate my
>> disability. Talk about a horrible experience then.
>>
>> Anyway, I had to go to Social Security's specified doctors to prove my
>> disability- even when I had letters from my reg. ophthalmologist,
>> audiologist, and TWO retina specialists stating I was "legally blind" and
>> had severe hearing loss. (I have Type II Usher's Syndrome).
>>
>> Long story short. Social Security did not consider me disabled until the
>> day I quit work, which was in May. Therefore, I did not receive any back
>> payments and my disability payments didn't start until Nov. 2002. You
>> talk
>> about a long wait.
>>
>> Also, I wasn't eligible for SGA. I was also advised that if I ever
>> worked,
>> my disability payments would stop because Social Security would not
>> consider
>> me disabled then.
>>
>> Trish in Texas
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Mark T" <blindsquid@...>
>> To: <retinitispigmentosa@yahoogroups.com>
>> Sent: Monday, January 02, 2006 1:29 AM
>> Subject: Re: [RetinitisPigmentosa] Disability
>>
>>
>>> Hi Diane,
>>> It depends on what kind of "disablility payment" you are referring to.
>>> I
>>> just retired a few months ago on disability from the Navy. The federal
>>> gov't had very different standards of disablity than Social Security
>>> does.
>>> So I first applied and got a disablity pension fm the Fed gov't, then I
>>> applied for Soc Sec disablility benefits (SSDI). I was recently
>>> approved
>>> for SSDI and will start receiving pmts in April.
>>>
>>> All I ever gave Soc Sec was a letter fm my eye doctor stating I was
>>> legally blind. It must state that either your visual acquity is less
>>> than
>>> 20/200 after correction in your better eye OR that your visual field is
>>> less than 20 degrees. I've been legally blind on the latter for many
>>> years and was able to still work, but now I unfortunately qualify on
>>> both
>>> accounts.
>>>
>>> There really is no need to prove you can't work. Blindness is a sort
>>> of
>>> special category for SSDI. It is almost automatic.
>>>
>>> Of course you need to have worked a certain number of quarters paying
>>> Soc
>>> Sec taxes to qualify. The numbers can be easily looked up at
>>> www.ssa.gov.
>>> I'd be happy to help you if you need it since I just recently went thru
>>> it
>>> all. I applied on-line, which was really nice. Went into my local
>>> office
>>> to show my paperwork like birth certificate, etc.
>>>
>>> I got approved in less than a couple months. You determine your date
>>> of
>>> disablity (usually the last day worked) then you receive payments in the
>>> 6th month after that date.
>>>
>>> You can still work after receiving SSDI. But you are limited to how
>>> much
>>> you can make. Normally the Significant Gainful Activity (SGA) level is
>>> set to $880/mo. If you make more than that you will lose your benefits.
>>> But blindness is a special category, (the only one) for Soc Sec. If you
>>> are blind you can earn up to $1380/mo w/o affecting benefits. There are
>>> a
>>> number of other special rules for the blind.
>>>
>>> Hope this helps. Let me know if you need any more help.
>>>
>>> Mark
>>> San Diego
>>>
>>>
>>> "Mr. Bill" <mrbill@...> wrote:
>>> no I don't believe so more importantly it has to be from an retina
>>> specialist because more and more claims are applied from people with
>>> nno disability ok? so get it from your retina doctor and good luck
>>> and don't give up either once you applied and approved it will take 6
>>> months to get your first check.At 04:41 AM 1/2/2006 +0000, you wrote:
>>>>Hi everyone. I have a letter from the eye dr. stating I am legally
>>>>blind. Can I get disability based on this letter?
>>>>
>>>>Thanks for any info.
>>>>Dianne
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Yahoo! Groups Links
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> Regards Bill
>>>
>>>
>>>
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> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
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