United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Thanks for all of your help!!!!!
I really hope you all get you SSI stuff sorted out.

Thanks again,
Andrew

Krista, I did go through everything. I talked to the worker at the SS office and everything. One day we got our denial letter and that is what it said. That she was injured from falling out of bed. If they would have read the whole report they would have known that is not true!

Hope that helped..
Mandie

Mandie, were you ever able to get them to qualify your daughter? ~Tina

I decided not to reapply because Sarah was doing so good. Also because I didn't have time for the headache of doing it all over again. If Sarah's injury was more severe I would have kept fighting, no doubt.

One thing to keep in mind is that BPI parents commonly confuse a disability payment through Social Security and a disability payment through Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
Children with BPI are not eligible though Social Security because they have not paid into the system ie. the Social Security tax one pays through their paycheck.
However, children MAY be eligible though Supplemental Security Income which is based on the parents/guardians income, not what they paid thourgh the Social Security tax. We were denied 3 times because we were told that BPIs were not a recognized disability. After 3 times, we were told to get a laywer to argue our child's case. After speaking with a lawyer, we were told because of our income our son would either be denied or the payment would be small and over time with salary increases would be stopped.

the link to SSI info:
http://www.ssa.gov/notices/supplemental ... ty-income/

Yes, for a child you need to apply for SSI, but Andrew may be eligible for Social Security depending on his age.
Many people get denied for SSI, but I have heard other great stories also. If your child needs SSI and you think they may be eligible then go for it.

Mandie, I understand what you are saying now. I thought that you said you were denied just b/c of the site you went to. (SLap me in the head, it's okay!)
And I am happy to hear that you did not need to continue this fight for SSI seeing that Sarah has done so well and recovered so much.

~Krista~

So I guess the next step would be to get a lawyer and to get my butt in motion before the 60 days are up...

Hopefully my husband will change his mind about this after I have a talk with him.

Hi Matt's Dad....you have it right on the money. We need to remember that SSI is essentially like the welfare system, if you will. A good thing to remember are the 2 D's-disability and destitute. That's about the category you need to fall into. They also go by assets of the family so....you see what you have to work with. The attorney is correct as far as being a smaller payment and lowering as the income goes up...the only thing I can say is that the SSI does not lower quite as rapidly as the COLA or raises come along...not that they're that great and often...One thing I try to encourage people to think about when talking with insurance,etc that this injury is a residual injury-there will continually be problems of some sort and other things linked to it...that word could hopefully make a difference with Soc Sec and SSI. Good luck with everythng you're going through. Everyone out there. My daughter is a traumatic bpi and we're still struggling with some things.....Shelley