Social Security

[jdambro]

I am feeling frustrated with the Social Security system. My son was just denied the opportunity to go through the appeals process after an administrative judge ruled against him. I am interested in knowing if anyone receives social security benefits for their BP injury.

My son's injury occurred in June of 1998, so it has been five years. He was attending college at the time, but has not completed it. In the hearing before an administrative law judge, an occupational therapist stated that he was unable to perform 98-99 per cent of all jobs classified as unskilled labor. That eliminates him from getting the interim jobs that most people can get in order to support themselves. When my son sustained his injury in a motor vehicle accident, he was 21 years old, and therefore had not established his career path. He did work at the time, and had since having a paper route at the age of 11.

Two of the points made by the administrative law judge were that he questioned the credibility of my son's pain, since he did not take pain medication. My son did not like what the pain medication did even in the hospital as he suffered through 4 broken ribs, two broken feet, a punctured lung, a broken vertebrae, and two broken scapula. (I think that is all--most of you can relate.) He still has the pain; it is distracting.

He underwent surgery from Dr. Kline in December of 1998. He has a little more movement in his biceps, but has not had physical therapy in a long while. His insurance coverage ran out when he turned 23. The administrative law judge also discredited him for this reason--he had not had medical treatment since 1999--but the judge did not consider that he does not have medical insurance.

He does have a flail left (his dominant) arm, and is experiencing pain in the wrist of his good arm (from overuse??).

I am looking for suggestions or experiences that might relate to disability benefits and/or job searches or suggestions.

Thanks,
JED

[jennyb]

Hi Jed
Sorry to hear about your son's tbpi. It's great that he has seen Dr Kline and what the judge said about him not having medical treatment without taking into account that he has no insurance sucks. Isn't there some kind of medical provision for people without money/jobs? It's important that he carries on with some kind of physical therapy, to preserve and enhance the range of motion (ROM) in the bpi arm and to help the 'good' arm stay strong. If there are physiotherapists at Dr Kline's facility maybe they could let him have sheets with exercises illustrated on that he could do at home? Failing that, Liz from the tbpi uk site has been liaising with PT's at Stanmore in London who have agreed that she can upload some illustrations of exercises to the UK website. When this happens I'll mail you a link to those.

I understand why the OT stated he can't do 98% of non skilled jobs, they did the same thing to me as part of my compensation claim (I too was 21 at the time of my accident) and it was quite depressing hearing that. However, the reality for me was different and I found there were many jobs I could do. I worked full time in a bank, I have also worked in a telephone call centre, done computer work and worked in a shop as a checkout operator. None of these jobs affected my arms negatively. I personally know people with tbpi who have been chefs, worked in construction (altho probably not recommended for people with no use of their bpi arm) and many who studied computer technology and programming. The computer industry has great opportunities for tbpi people. My own husband funded himself through college and supported me and our 3 children too, solely through computer programming from home and during the holidays. I know of a tbpi who complted his nursing training after getting a total bpi halfway through it.

You do have to guard against overuse, of course, and that is extra difficult when you have a flail dominant arm-it's impossible to use anything other than the one arm you have! I've found after 23 years of tbpi that if something causes overuse pain, the best treatment is to stop doing the activity that brought it on. If you can't pinpoint a cause, just rest the arm until it feels ok to use. I'm afraid a certain level of achiness seems to be just part of my life now, as far as the 'good' arm goes, now I'm 44 many of my peers hav similar aches and pains with no bpi to blame them on, so I don't feel so bad about it now, and have developed my coping mechanisms for so long now I actually suffer less than they do.
We have a section on the tbpi website with FAQ's about work, pain etc which might be useful to your son, I'll post a link under here. I wish him every success in the future and sincerely hope he finds something he can support himself financially with or even excel in. I know that once I was working full time the problems associated with the arm seemed so much less, in fact I never thought about it at all until I gave up work and started surfing the internet and found this site.
Good luck to your family Jen NZ :0)

[jennyb]

....here is a link to the FAQ I referred to in my reply above. Hope some of this helps :0)
http://tbpiukgroup.homestead.com/faq_1intro.html

[admin]

Thanks,Jen, for the information. A lot of what you said are things that we have talked about. He has a great mind, and we know that eventually something will develop where he finds his niche. I have to say, on a more positive note, that he does not have a defeatest attitude. He does not like to be told that he cannot do something, and has figured out how to do a great deal. He does not live at home, and is hoping to work in the area of film sound editing. This does involve the use of computer equipment.

It is just that since the motor vehicle accident, in which the driver of his vehicle was uninsured, we have been the sole providers for him. We were hoping to have some help financially through Social Security. I certainly do not want to seem materialistic, but it is difficult to understand how this injury cannot qualify someone for benefits, when seemingly more minor things do qualify a person to receive some compensation. I was beginning to think there was something we had overlooked.

I know he will find something eventually!

Thanks,
JED

P.S. This is the first time I have written. I read parts of this website since 1998, but I finally worked up courage to post something. It has helped to answer lots of questions. I have told my son that he, too, should read this regularly.

[cbe411]

JED,
I just found these boards a few months ago as well and they are GREAT! The information here is very helpful and these people give GREAT advice, not always what you want to hear, but truthful. My bpi was 2 years ago, when I was 21. My car insurance has been taking care of what my health insurance doesn't (1 vehicle accidient, I fell asleep). I have had to file for SS aswell though. I havn't gotten an answer from them yet. What state are you in? Different states have different regulations with things. Check it out! Good luck. Tell your son he should check these boards out too!! There are some GREAT people here! Take care!
~Courtney

[njbirk]

I am so sorry to hear about your troubles with Social Security and agree with the advice given so far. I only have a few further suggestions of things that you might try.

One is to contact your congressional representative. There will be an aide in his/her office who deals with health issues. Ask to speak to that person. Explain the situation and see what they can do to help. They are there to help you and need to know of your problems.

Is your son still in college? He may be able to get some funding through the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation. There is an office for BVR in every state. Like social security, it is federally funded but managed at the state level. I received funding that covered my full tuition, as well as fees and even books.

Nancy Birk
UBPN President

[admin]

There is a State Agency that is called The Division Of Vocatioal Rehibilition Look under State agency in yellow pages and call them I did and they help me they trian you school you and help you get work.This happen when my Erbs got ripe up more from a second injury. It cost nothing to you!Good luck.

[jdambro]

Courtney,

I hope you have good fortune with Social Security. I would like to hear of your results. Keep me posted.
My son was the passenger in a vehicle. His driver did not have insurance, although he said he did at first. He was very lucky not to have killed anyone, including some who testified that he passed them (a mother and two children)! They were people we did not know. Our car insurance paid some for the uninsured driver, paid Ryan the rest of a year's earnings,(Ryan delivered pizza at the time as a college student) and then promptly dropped us soon after. I had hit a deer on the turnpike, and with some other "occurrances" we were too much for the insurance company. They did not pay most of the medical--our Blue Cross/Blue Shield did. Our auto insurance was not out a great deal of money in the scheme of things; the driver paid NOTHING! However, Ryan's health insurance coverage (Cobra) has run out now.
We have just continued to look for some help until he gets going!!

He has had help from SRS - Social Rehabilitative Services, though, and they have been great. They are willing also to help him look for work.

Thanks for responding and good luck!

JED

[jdambro]

Nancy,

Thank you so much for your input. We have dealt with SRS- Social Rehabilitative Services- in our state, and they have been most helpful. They are willing to help Ryan look for something, but he is somewhat concerned that in his field they would not hire him if they knew of his arm. He is in a tough job market anyway--film or sound editing--and he has been in LA. Expensive place to live without a job.

He is currently contemplating going back to finish his degree; he thinks he has about a year to finish.

I really appreciate all the advice and feedback I am getting. I have talked to Ryan about checking this out more regularly. He says he has seen the website before, but I think it would be an excellent support network for him.

Thank you, again.
JED

[jdambro]

P.S. Dear Nancy,

Also, thank you for validating my intentions to pursue the next step--my Congressmen. It seems odd that Social Security is a federal program--but decided from state to state. I guess that is true of many of our laws. We just aren't always aware of it until we have to deal with it.

JED