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Love Stole the Day
Nov 4, 2012
Please give me free quality professional advice so I can be a baby about it and insult you
Read the thread and I have 2 things to contribute:

quote:

your therapist is wrong: take the disability thing off your resume

His therapist not only knows more about this guy and his situation and circumstances in life than we ever will but is also a trained professional. Calling his therapist stupid and wrong based off of the biased information we get from this thread about the OP is just as terrible advice as is the dumbass who said "lie on your resume."

Irish Joe posted:

What life do you have worth ruining?

You clearly haven't been on the internet long enough if you really think there aren't hundreds or thousands of people out there who would love to doxx this guy (or anyone, really) just for the sake of making him feel more like poo poo. You're an idiot.

And who the gently caress are you to judge? This goes back to my previous point.

Love Stole the Day fucked around with this message at 23:55 on Oct 31, 2014

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Xyven
Jun 4, 2005

Check to induce a ban

Love Stole the Day posted:

His therapist not only knows more about this guy and his situation and circumstances in life than we ever will but is also a trained professional. Calling his therapist stupid and wrong based off of the biased information we get from this thread about the OP is just as terrible advice as is the dumbass who said "lie on your resume."

His therapist is a trained professional with the specialized skill set required to give therapy to people with mental illness. The last time I checked, that training includes literally nothing about how best to apply for jobs. Being an expert in one field does not make you an expert in all fields.

moana
Jun 18, 2005

one of the more intellectual satire communities on the web
My dentist is a trained professional, maybe I should ask him if I need to include "weak enamel" as a bullet point on my next resume.

Irish Joe
Jul 23, 2007

by Lowtax
You absolutely do not want to include "mentally deranged" on your resume. Bring it up in the interview if you have to for accommodation reasons, but putting it on a resume when there are literally dozens of normal candidates vying for the same position will only get your resume thrown in the garbage*.


*this doesn't apply for low skill/no responsibility position where businesses are specifically looking for disabled persons to meet their quota.

Spacewolf
May 19, 2014
I'm amused by the direction this thread has taken.

An update, that said:

1. I now have PMs here. Yay. I had the extra :10bux: burning a hole in pocket, so hey.

2. Job search is still very dead. I look every other day now (no more every-day-searches, too depressing), but the same problem remains. Where there are jobs, they want years of experience - and they state that, doesn't matter what the position is. But usually, jobs aren't even being posted.

3. I keep bugging myself to call the local legal aid society about volunteering, but stop before making the call. I dunno, I keep getting afraid I'll sound too desperate and begging. (Stupid qualm, you'd think. I am desperate and I am begging. Well, it's one thing to admit that on the internet, another thing to sound like that to someone you intend to work for, even on a no-pay basis.)

4. Therapist knows a ton of lawyers. Said yesterday he might have a lead on someone willing to take a chance on me. Here's hoping.

Doghouse
Oct 22, 2004

I was playing Harvest Moon 64 with this kid who lived on my street and my cows were not doing well and I got so raged up and frustrated that my eyes welled up with tears and my friend was like are you crying dude. Are you crying because of the cows. I didn't understand the feeding mechanic.
I definitely think that volunteering could lead somewhere, if you work your head off. It seems like that's a good start to make. And I agree with taking the disability off your resume and cover letter. Good luck! Also, I know this sounds weird, but try to network with goons. Lots of smart and capable people in certain corners of this forum.

Irish Joe
Jul 23, 2007

by Lowtax
Well I'm sure the job fairy will find you a job while you sit at home doing nothing.

onemillionzombies
Apr 27, 2014

Get out of the house and do something, anything, every day. Volunteer, get a menial job, play a goddamn ukulele on a street corner, just get active. You'll feel so much better. Once you start doing something, improve upon your position a bit and leap frog to the next thing.

I'm seeing a lot of self pity in your posts and while it certainly sounds like you've been dealt a lovely hand the hard truth of the matter is no one really cares, especially prospective employers. If you want something you have to go after it.

tldr; exit house and do things, baby steps.

Hot Dog Day #91
Jun 19, 2003

Dude, you're paralyzed with fear about calling a freaking legal aid office. You realize we're the people who help the disabled right? You're not begging for a job, you're asking to volunteer. Our case loads are so high and our funding so low that we basically let anyone volunteer.

Sephiroth_IRA
Mar 31, 2010
note: I've only read the OP so far.

1. There's nothing wrong about living with your parents. This is a great opportunity for you to save a ton of money since they're helping you out with the whole shelter thing. In many countries it's completely normal for people to live with their parents until they're married so don't feel ashamed about it.

edit: That said how much overhead do you have living with your parents?

2. How much could you earn without screwing yourself out of your assistance? I remember when I lived with my parents minimum wage seemed like a ton of money since I had no overhead. If you could work for a year, save everything you earn and your disability you could probably have enough to have an emergency fund and a down payment on your own place.

I'm currently living in a one bedroom I dropped $5000 on and my monthly payment (principal, taxes, insurance) is only going to be $255 bucks.

Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 20:25 on Nov 4, 2014

Spacewolf
May 19, 2014
Hot Dog: You're absolutely right, but I'll admit that the thought *still* gives me nightmares like someone will laugh at me over the phone. I don't know why.

Sephiroth: OK, so. $697/mo in SSI/SSDI checks at the moment ($340 on one end, $357.03 on the other). It'll go up with the COLA for social security, but I don't recall how much. $400 of the total gets taken out for "rent" (I use quotes because I'm only being charged rent because SSA insists), $234 for all sorts of other stuff that I don't control, for a total of $634 in bills off $697. Then, on top of the $697, I get $176 in food stamps.

Earning money on SSI is a weird thing. Basically, you ordinarily get benefits cut off completely the moment you hit $2000 in your possession at any time. There are exceptions like Ticket to Work that I cannot explain with any clarity because, honestly, I don't understand them much beyond knowing they're there. I don't remember what the min amount is that I can earn per month before they start deducting benefits. (Big problem here is that a lot of SSI benefits/minimum amounts/max amounts vary by state. This is great in an "accounting for COL" point of view, but when you're trying to look stuff up it gets confusing.) I *know*, however, there is a huge cliff once I earn money - I don't remember the details, just that there's a yawning gap between when earning money causes me to lose benefits money, and how much I'd have to make to make up for the lost benefits money.

(For those just strolling by this thread, this is why being on SSI is actually frustrating as hell. Once you get on it, it becomes a net *loss* to get off it.)

Zombies: Oh, I'll actually agree with you. The OP was me in a terrible, horrible frame of mind, and that has continued to a degree. There *is* a ton of self-pity and general malaise on my end, that I fight against more than is probably readily apparent.

So, to get *out* of that malaise:

1. Tomorrow is my big "Get up and do stuff" day. It was going to be anyway, but this seems like an excellent time to tack stuff onto the list. So long as I still have a cellphone that works, I will call the local legal aid folks. I have no guarantee I'll get through to the right person, but dammit I'll call them. Hopefully I won't have to be too annoying to get to the right person, but if I have to be annoying and call back some other time, OK. I might be a mess of anxiety by the time I call, but I will call dammit.

2. I will post to here when I have called them tomorrow. If I do not post by 7:30 PM EST tomorrow (just to allow for delay between calling and posting, as well as a finicky laptop), go ahead and ban me. I'd deserve to be out the $20. On the other hand, my post might just be "I called", because I'm not going to try to predict what'll happen if/when I call. It could go excellently, or it could suck.

Spacewolf
May 19, 2014
OK, nobody need ban me. I called at 9:11 AM this morning according to my cellphone. If I knew how to take a screenshot of said phone I would!

I should note that I got directed to voicemail for the person who handles volunteers, but! I called and that's the important part, am I right?

Nocheez
Sep 5, 2000

Can you spare a little cheddar?
Nap Ghost

Spacewolf posted:

So, to get *out* of that malaise:

1. Tomorrow is my big "Get up and do stuff" day. It was going to be anyway, but this seems like an excellent time to tack stuff onto the list. So long as I still have a cellphone that works, I will call the local legal aid folks. I have no guarantee I'll get through to the right person, but dammit I'll call them. Hopefully I won't have to be too annoying to get to the right person, but if I have to be annoying and call back some other time, OK. I might be a mess of anxiety by the time I call, but I will call dammit.

Make a list of the things you are going to do tomorrow. Pick a couple easy ones and knock those off early, and then cross them off the list. The physical act of crossing things off a list helps me to see my accomplishments and gives me energy to start tackling the bigger items. Anything that doesn't get done today goes to the top of the list for tomorrow. If you run out of things to do, then you can start working on other things that you know are on the horizon.

Being successful takes discipline and practice. It's not that you are always going to do everything right the first time, it's training your brain to be methodical and sticking to the tasks that need done most urgently.

Also: Make sure you're getting 30 minutes of exercise every day at a minimum. Going for a nice 3 or 4 mile walk is great for clearing your head, as well as good for your waistline.

lament.cfg
Dec 28, 2006

we have such posts
to show you




Spacewolf posted:

OK, nobody need ban me. I called at 9:11 AM this morning according to my cellphone. If I knew how to take a screenshot of said phone I would!

I should note that I got directed to voicemail for the person who handles volunteers, but! I called and that's the important part, am I right?

Did you leave a message?

Spacewolf
May 19, 2014
Yes I did. "Hi, this is (name) from (number), and I'm calling about volunteering as a paralegal. I'm a recent graduate of (local community college) with a paralegal degree, and I'm looking to gain experience as a paralegal." Followed by the usual "when I'm available to go in and talk" and "have a nice day" and such. Since it's come up on the thread, I made no mention of being disabled. Better to let them discover that when they meet me, it's not like I need accommodations to work in an office. (Unless being in an office means lifting 50 lbs of stuff regularly.)

Spacewolf
May 19, 2014

Nocheez posted:

Also: Make sure you're getting 30 minutes of exercise every day at a minimum. Going for a nice 3 or 4 mile walk is great for clearing your head, as well as good for your waistline.

I figured I should ask about this.

I'm not just disabled, I'm practically a shut-in. Yes, I live with parents, but they aren't always around (Dad being retired and mom being semi-retired, they travel a lot)...And meanwhile, I'm in suburbia that lacks crucial things on the getting around side, like sidewalks on side streets (It's a fairly old neighborhood) or even "stop lights that have accompanying walk lights, or are visible from corners by pedestrians" in some cases. (There are stop lights, but no walk signals)

Any recommendations on "getting into shape" that *wouldn't* require me to brave crazy New Jersey drivers as a pedestrian, or pay for a gym that most of the time I can't get to? I'm already doing 20 min on the treadmill at home semi-regularly, but that's got the problem of being kinda boring.

Dr Jankenstein
Aug 6, 2009

Hold the newsreader's nose squarely, waiter, or friendly milk will countermand my trousers.
You're in Jersey? Where in Jersey are you?

You don't need a law degree to be an advocate to get people ON their disability benefits. Think all those ads you see on TV. There are thousands of those firms in NJ (I used to work for one in their call center. Actually not a bad job, but some of the people were just plain heartbreaking, some had some...interesting stories (including redefining "gaping axe wound" :metal:), and the majority are "my back hurts, i can't work anymore!") I know the vast majority are in the greater PHL area, but there has to be a whole shitton up north that handle the NY stuff too.

Unfortunately when I worked for one of those firms the cutoff to start losing benefits was something nuts like $50, and for every dollar you earned, you lost two off your benes, so you should keep that in mind. That said, SSI is not nearly enough to live on in NJ. That said, so long as you stay below the 1080/mo cutoff for SSD, you can keep the 357 you're earning from your past work history.

onemillionzombies
Apr 27, 2014

Spacewolf posted:

I figured I should ask about this.

I'm not just disabled, I'm practically a shut-in. Yes, I live with parents, but they aren't always around (Dad being retired and mom being semi-retired, they travel a lot)...And meanwhile, I'm in suburbia that lacks crucial things on the getting around side, like sidewalks on side streets (It's a fairly old neighborhood) or even "stop lights that have accompanying walk lights, or are visible from corners by pedestrians" in some cases. (There are stop lights, but no walk signals)

Any recommendations on "getting into shape" that *wouldn't* require me to brave crazy New Jersey drivers as a pedestrian, or pay for a gym that most of the time I can't get to? I'm already doing 20 min on the treadmill at home semi-regularly, but that's got the problem of being kinda boring.

Getting into shape is 90% diet, stop eating lovely food. Being a shut-in is 100% your doing, if you don't like your situation then change it.

Here's a two birds one stone solution: find a local sports club (meetup is great for this) and join them. You make friends by being around people consistently.

Nocheez
Sep 5, 2000

Can you spare a little cheddar?
Nap Ghost

Spacewolf posted:

I figured I should ask about this.

I'm not just disabled, I'm practically a shut-in. Yes, I live with parents, but they aren't always around (Dad being retired and mom being semi-retired, they travel a lot)...And meanwhile, I'm in suburbia that lacks crucial things on the getting around side, like sidewalks on side streets (It's a fairly old neighborhood) or even "stop lights that have accompanying walk lights, or are visible from corners by pedestrians" in some cases. (There are stop lights, but no walk signals)

Any recommendations on "getting into shape" that *wouldn't* require me to brave crazy New Jersey drivers as a pedestrian, or pay for a gym that most of the time I can't get to? I'm already doing 20 min on the treadmill at home semi-regularly, but that's got the problem of being kinda boring.

I see the same thing in you that I used to see in my wife: you are making excuses of why you can't do something, instead of finding ways to make it happen. I guarantee there are streets you can walk on the side without worrying about being ran over every few seconds. Wear a bright jacket and/or hat and walk against traffic. If there is a park nearby, walk to the park and then walk the trails.

If you want to post a cross-street near where you live (no need for exact address) then we can help you find a good place nearby. But you can do this for yourself and you should, honestly. It's empowering to create a goal, make a plan, and then achieve it. Everyone starts somewhere, and a good goal would be to walk 20 miles a week. It sounds like a lot at first, but if you break it down into 3 miles/day every day or 4 miles every weekday it becomes manageable.

Spacewolf
May 19, 2014

AA is for Quitters posted:

You're in Jersey? Where in Jersey are you?

Monmouth County. (If people expect me to say more re where I live outside of PMs, you're crazy. That said, I have PMs and I'm willing to use em.)

SSD actually comes via my dad (since I was disabled before age 2, let alone age 22, and I have nowhere *near* enough credits to qualify for SSD on my own), but yeah, that cutoff is what worries me. I have my parents willing to help me (obviously), but...Guh, that yawning gap between how much I'm likely to make (I'll be doing really well if I get $12 an hour, I figure) and how much I need to make to make up for the loss of benefits (at least $20/hour by my calculations) makes my budget cry. I *want* to survive on my own, but see no financially sane way that'd be possible even after I get a paying job.

Anyway, yeah, here's hoping OMLS (legal aid) calls back.

MJBuddy
Sep 22, 2008

Now I do not know whether I was then a head coach dreaming I was a Saints fan, or whether I am now a Saints fan, dreaming I am a head coach.
Couldn't you just inform an employer about this structure and request your take home be limited or otherwise compensated via benefits?

Why isn't that a thing?

Dr Jankenstein
Aug 6, 2009

Hold the newsreader's nose squarely, waiter, or friendly milk will countermand my trousers.

Spacewolf posted:

Monmouth County. (If people expect me to say more re where I live outside of PMs, you're crazy. That said, I have PMs and I'm willing to use em.)

SSD actually comes via my dad (since I was disabled before age 2, let alone age 22, and I have nowhere *near* enough credits to qualify for SSD on my own), but yeah, that cutoff is what worries me. I have my parents willing to help me (obviously), but...Guh, that yawning gap between how much I'm likely to make (I'll be doing really well if I get $12 an hour, I figure) and how much I need to make to make up for the loss of benefits (at least $20/hour by my calculations) makes my budget cry. I *want* to survive on my own, but see no financially sane way that'd be possible even after I get a paying job.

Anyway, yeah, here's hoping OMLS (legal aid) calls back.

Yeah, I woulda been happy with north/south, but I don't know of any firms off the top of my head down the shore...one i worked for was in Cherry Hill, and they really were a great company to work for. Started doing questionable stuff in the name of "business" (mostly just taking every case that we got rather then tossing stuff that was obviously unwinnable and telling people to not even bother trying. So not really a bad thing, just made it a lot more work for the employees, and then taking a bit long to scale up the call center staff accordingly) right before i left for personal reasons, but a good firm, and they would be more than willing to work with you to accommodate you and not let you go over SGA. Plus an awesome employee benefits package, and right on the bus route, since i know you said terrible NJ drivers are scary. (Don't ever move here. NJ drivers are tame and pleasant to share the road with compared to south dakotans)

One thing you need to be really really careful of being on adult child benefits is if SSA goes sniffing around and decides that you going to school and trying to find work and stuff means that you are able to work, they can axe you off of that, and once you're off of adult child benefits you can't ever get back on, your only hope is to appeal them pulling you off of them and pray to god the appeal goes through and they don't cancel them, leaving you with just SSI. I know you said you don't meet the SSA definitions for statutory blindness, which is the one exception to that stuff, so be careful.

Spacewolf
May 19, 2014

AA is for Quitters posted:

One thing you need to be really really careful of being on adult child benefits is if SSA goes sniffing around and decides that you going to school and trying to find work and stuff means that you are able to work, they can axe you off of that, and once you're off of adult child benefits you can't ever get back on, your only hope is to appeal them pulling you off of them and pray to god the appeal goes through and they don't cancel them, leaving you with just SSI. I know you said you don't meet the SSA definitions for statutory blindness, which is the one exception to that stuff, so be careful.

That makes me, literally, teeth-chatteringly nervous.

Do you have a written source on that that I could read/show to folks?

Dr Jankenstein
Aug 6, 2009

Hold the newsreader's nose squarely, waiter, or friendly milk will countermand my trousers.

Spacewolf posted:

That makes me, literally, teeth-chatteringly nervous.

Do you have a written source on that that I could read/show to folks?

http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1134&context=elders

^It's one of the guys who runs the NOSSCR journal. If your attempts at working are all very sporadic and very much "unsuccesful work attempts" then you don't have much to worry about, but if you're successfully able to work for 3+ months and the only thing that is stopping you from earning more than SGA is your making sure you don't go over SGA to stay on benefits, then you're definitely in the "Get yourself a goddamn lawyer and appeal that poo poo ASAP" territory, because the second you fail to file an appeal on time, and they discontinue your adult child benefits, then you're kinda hosed with getting back on under a parent's earnings.

If none of your work history has ever lasted 3+ months, nor do you think it ever will, you really don't have much to worry about, as the SGA test tends to average over 3 months more than go "welp, he made 1085 this month and our cutoff is 1080, he's off!" because someone with serious mental illnesses can bullshit their way into a fantastically high paying position, last 3 weeks before people realize that dude is not at all qualified and is actually mentally ill and turf them, but for that one month they'll be well over SGA, but the rest of the 3 months for a work attempt is obviously spent...not working.

It's one of the things that i think really needs to be reformed about SSDI law, because it is so so simple to screw yourself into absolute nightmare situations with overpayments and stuff from simply trying to be a productive citizen.

Spacewolf
May 19, 2014
Uh, gently caress.

Thanks for the link AA, sent it off to my dad (who is the one who helps me navigate the SSA maze) to read, with your comments.

If the situation is actually as bad as you describe, I am screwed in that I've spent the last few years preparing for a career I cannot allow myself to become employed in.

(Because SSI/SSDI also gives me medicare *and* medicaid, it gives me eligibility for food stamps, etc. All the ways I make the math work so far as me living with parents pole vault off SSI/SSDI, really. The reason I've been so dogged-yet-scared re work and stuff is that working, for me, is (currently) about the dignity of being independent (one day)...If it clashes with practical day to day reality, I am screwed.)

Not exactly happy news, but I'm glad someone warned me.

Nocheez
Sep 5, 2000

Can you spare a little cheddar?
Nap Ghost

Spacewolf posted:

Uh, gently caress.

Thanks for the link AA, sent it off to my dad (who is the one who helps me navigate the SSA maze) to read, with your comments.

If the situation is actually as bad as you describe, I am screwed in that I've spent the last few years preparing for a career I cannot allow myself to become employed in.

(Because SSI/SSDI also gives me medicare *and* medicaid, it gives me eligibility for food stamps, etc. All the ways I make the math work so far as me living with parents pole vault off SSI/SSDI, really. The reason I've been so dogged-yet-scared re work and stuff is that working, for me, is (currently) about the dignity of being independent (one day)...If it clashes with practical day to day reality, I am screwed.)

Not exactly happy news, but I'm glad someone warned me.

If you're able to work, then isn't the good news that you are on the path to establishing a career and can become independent? I'd much rather work an entry level job than sit around in my parent's basement and collect a check that barely helps ends meet.

Spacewolf
May 19, 2014

Nocheez posted:

If you're able to work, then isn't the good news that you are on the path to establishing a career and can become independent? I'd much rather work an entry level job than sit around in my parent's basement and collect a check that barely helps ends meet.

Almost but not quite, because one of the realities of being disabled is that you are pretty much always last hired and first fired (in the event of a layoff especially). I'm fairly certain other people here can back me up on that. (In case you don't know, nocheez, the unemployment rate for disabled people in the US is something like 65%, and that is not a typo or missing a decimal sign. That excludes all the people who are retired or literally have absolutely no possibility of working, that's just the people who are looking for jobs.)

We (me and parents) knew going in, even when I was in college from 2002-2007, that just because I might have a career might not mean I have a job continuously, and so SSI/SSDI and the other benefits (like being on my dad's federal retiree health insurance, THANK YOU OPM) are a pretty essential set of fallbacks, and would especially be so early on in any career. In a lot of ways, it's why we signed up for benefits - the idea was always that I would work, but have SSI/SSDI to fall back on between jobs...With hopefully those "between jobs" periods just being fallow points in a longer career, the kind of gaps anybody has. (It hasn't worked out that way, but that was the idea; can you really blame us for being slightly, though still rationally, optimistic?)

The news AA gives is that, nope, if I ever work and establish myself in any job, I am screwed. ($1084 a month is...Let me do the math publicly so people can check my numbers. 40 hours per work week, 4 weeks in a standard month, 160 hours...$6.775. Less than minimum wage. I can't even work a minimum wage dead end job full time, because that would bring me over the SGA limit.)

Essentially, you would be right, except that your view combined with what AA is telling me would mean I could have nothing to fall back on if a particular job didn't last. And I do mean nothing.

Just as frustrating and enraging on a personal level, to me, is a little nugget contained in the article AA posted: If I ever am lucky enough to find someone who wants me, I can't ever get married...Because that permanently cuts off disabled adult child benefits too, even if the marriage doesn't last and ends in divorce.

Thesaurus
Oct 3, 2004


Spacewolf posted:

If I ever am lucky enough to find someone who wants me, I can't ever get married...Because that permanently cuts off disabled adult child benefits too, even if the marriage doesn't last and ends in divorce.

Unless you get married to another person who also falls into the "disabled adult child" category :eng101: .... :smith:

FYI I work for the SSA. I don't know much about the disability/SSI side of things, but I can always try to help find answers

Spacewolf
May 19, 2014

Thesaurus posted:

Unless you get married to another person who also falls into the "disabled adult child" category :eng101: .... :smith:

FYI I work for the SSA. I don't know much about the disability/SSI side of things, but I can always try to help find answers

Got PMs turned on (I now do)? If so, let me know, I might need that help.

Hot Dog Day #91
Jun 19, 2003

By the way spacewolf, the first fired rule doesn't really apply to disabled people at some law firms. Don't give up all hope because you think your disabilities will get you fired too fast. My firm had a blind, wheelchair bound attorney doing legal work until his death. In fields that cater to the disabled and vulnerable, you may not be viewed as much of a liability as you think you are.

I mean, or you can go ahead and give up.

Spacewolf
May 19, 2014

Hot Dog Day #91 posted:

By the way spacewolf, the first fired rule doesn't really apply to disabled people at some law firms. Don't give up all hope because you think your disabilities will get you fired too fast. My firm had a blind, wheelchair bound attorney doing legal work until his death. In fields that cater to the disabled and vulnerable, you may not be viewed as much of a liability as you think you are.

I mean, or you can go ahead and give up.

I'm trying not to, but it's very difficult.

Irish Joe
Jul 23, 2007

by Lowtax

Spacewolf posted:

We (me and parents) knew going in, even when I was in college from 2002-2007, that just because I might have a career might not mean I have a job continuously,

You mean, just like everybody else in the world?


Imagine a life where you're not being supported by your parents and the government, and do everything in your power to make that a reality.

Unless, that is, your lifeplan is to die alone in your parents' house 50 years from now. In which case all I can say is: keep up the good work!

Hot Dog Day #91
Jun 19, 2003

Spacewolf posted:

I'm trying not to, but it's very difficult.

Remind us what your disabilities are.,I know you can't drive; what else is going on.

My job is to literally represent disabled people in civil lawsuits. My staff don't get paid amazing salaries but it's at least 13.00 hour for the lowest level paralegal. There are opportunities, but it's going to suck for a while longer.

Spacewolf
May 19, 2014
Hot Dog, I'll PM you with my specific diagnoses and stuff. No offense to everybody else, but I am wary of getting intricately detailed on those in public forums that can be Googled.

Dr Jankenstein
Aug 6, 2009

Hold the newsreader's nose squarely, waiter, or friendly milk will countermand my trousers.

Hot Dog Day #91 posted:

By the way spacewolf, the first fired rule doesn't really apply to disabled people at some law firms. Don't give up all hope because you think your disabilities will get you fired too fast. My firm had a blind, wheelchair bound attorney doing legal work until his death. In fields that cater to the disabled and vulnerable, you may not be viewed as much of a liability as you think you are.

I mean, or you can go ahead and give up.

Yeah, that's why my suggestion was a law firm that specializes either in SSD/SSI/PI type claims, or something like yours. They're firms that are intricately familiar with the rules regarding disability and will do everything they can to work within those rules so benefits continue.

Also 40 hours a week is over SGA to start with. Anything over 30 is considered SGA, no matter how much you get paid for it.

Or you can go the advocate route yourself. You don't need to be a lawyer to rep someone in an SSD/SSI claim, you simply have to be of, and i don't feel like digging through the CFR to cite it exactly, but "of sound moral character, have never been kicked out of court and told not to rep anyone, and able to accurately advise the client". The only advantage being a barred attorney has over an advocate is a barred attorney is eligible to get their cut directly from the back pay settlement, a non attorney advocate has to fee petition to get their money. HOWEVER, you can write a fee schedule however you want so long as it doesn't go over 25% or $6000, so when you fee petition, you can set it up to disburse payments such that you don't go over SGA helping a few people here and there in the community.

So you can still help people as a paralegal, you just need to be very very careful to not go over SGA, since it would lose you your medicare. If you enjoy law, i know you said you prefer criminal, but SSD/SSI stuff can get really really interesting as well when you come up against odd circumstances like yours, and I loved it.

Dr Jankenstein fucked around with this message at 06:05 on Nov 8, 2014

Spacewolf
May 19, 2014
Oh agreed, SSI/SSD work would have the most varied cast of characters. Almost as wonderful as criminal in that regard.

But there's a thing: I have no actual training in SSI/SSD stuff. And I would frankly feel like poo poo trying to learn it while representing people, which I suspect is the only way I would be able to learn it.

100 HOGS AGREE
Oct 13, 2007
Grimey Drawer
You should probably not worry about how you might feel about things when that removes options for you. No place worth it's salt is going to throw you right into poo poo without at least some basic on the job training, so worrying about potential things like that is nothin but detrimental.

Spacewolf
May 19, 2014
I thought (and correct me if I'm wrong AA) that AA was suggesting I work for myself in that scenario.

Dr Jankenstein
Aug 6, 2009

Hold the newsreader's nose squarely, waiter, or friendly milk will countermand my trousers.

Spacewolf posted:

I thought (and correct me if I'm wrong AA) that AA was suggesting I work for myself in that scenario.

Not entirely alone, but through legal aid, etc. It's really not hard law at all to learn, and once you know it, you're able to go out on your own. I need to call one of my friends who still works for the firm I used to and see if she has the referral list that had an attorney down the shore that did disability stuff. Like I said, everything I know is in the philly area like Silver&Silver and PLSG, but if you go out and get some practice in a way that doesn't approach SGA, you would be able to strike it out on your own, and not long after. If you can research well, SSI/SSD law is awesomely easy.It's all about knowing where to look up the right info.

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Spacewolf
May 19, 2014
Hmm!

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