Being on disability

[Sara516]

Found this article posted on my newsfeed on FB. Some of hte things brought up in this article were…really interesting to say the least. Whether you consider yourself conservative or liberal…I think most would find some of these points interesting.

Some of the thigns that stood out to me–

In Hale County, there was one guy whose name was mentioned in almost every story about becoming disabled: Dr. Perry Timberlake. I began to wonder if he was the reason so many people in Hale County are on disability. Maybe he was running some sort of disability scam, referring tons of people into the program.
After sitting in the waiting room of his clinic several mornings in a row, I met Dr. Timberlake. It turns out, there is nothing shifty about him. He is a doctor in a very poor place where pretty much every person who comes into his office tells him they are in pain.
“We talk about the pain and what it’s like,” he says. “I always ask them, ‘What grade did you finish?’”
What grade did you finish, of course, is not really a medical question. But Dr. Timberlake believes he needs this information in disability cases because people who have only a high school education aren’t going to be able to get a sit-down job.
Dr. Timberlake is making a judgment call that if you have a particular back problem and a college degree, you’re not disabled. Without the degree, you are.

Over and over again, I’d listen to someone’s story of how back pain meant they could no longer work, or how a shoulder injury had put them out of a job. Then I would ask: What about a job where you don’t have to lift things, or a job where you don’t have to use your shoulder, or a job where you can sit down? They would look at me as if I were asking, “How come you didn’t consider becoming an astronaut?”

The most disturbing part is where kids are on disability..

[Muzna]

Re: Being on disability

kids on disability?

[Sara516]

Re: Being on disability

Yes, if you read the link, it talks about families who are surviving on their children’s disability checks. Which now that I think about it, I remember coming across a huge # of clients at my job last year who had children on disability and that was where most of their income was coming from. Even though the kids seemed “normal” and “well-functioning” I never really questioned it because…well…I don’t know anything about disability or children’ds disabilities.

What makes it sad, is like in the example quoted below, where if given the right kind of support and means, kids like him could overcome any learning disabilities.

When you are an adult applying for disability you have to prove you cannot function in a “work-like setting.” When you are a kid, a disability can be anything that prevents you from progressing in school. Two-thirds of all kids on the program today have been diagnosed with mental or intellectual problems.

Jahleel is a kid you can imagine doing very well for himself. He is delayed. But given the right circumstances and support, it’s easy to believe that over the course of his schooling Jahleel could catch up.

Let’s imagine that happens. Jahleel starts doing better in school, overcomes some of his disabilities. He doesn’t need the disability program anymore. That would seem to be great for everyone, except for one thing: It would threaten his family’s livelihood. Jahleel’s family primarily survives off the monthly $700 check they get for his disability.

Jahleel’s mom wants him to do well in school. That is absolutely clear. But her livelihood depends on Jahleel struggling in school. This tension only increases as kids get older. One mother told me her teenage son wanted to work, but she didn’t want him to get a job because if he did, the family would lose its disability check.

[Muzna]

Re: Being on disability

see this is how a good system is abused…

the mother of the teenage son that doesn’t want him to work is not only taxing the system for the wrong reasons, she is keeping her son from becoming a contributing member in society.

[Sara516]

Re: Being on disability

Well eventually kids age out and once he’s 18 he can get a job…and wouldn’t be eligible for disability..unless disability carries into adulthood…

But far more often, I’m assuming these kids have learning disabilities, getting no support from home or school (in order for hte paychecks to keep coming in)…basically it’s setting them up for a lifetime of failure and poverty.

[Southie]

Re: Being on disability

@Sara516

Yes, if you read the link, it talks about families who are surviving on their children’s disability checks. Which now that I think about it, I remember coming across a huge # of clients at my job last year who had children on disability and that was where most of their income was coming from. Even though the kids seemed “normal” and “well-functioning” I never really questioned it because…well…I don’t know anything about disability or children’ds disabilities.

What makes it sad, is like in the example quoted below, where if given the right kind of support and means, kids like him could overcome any learning disabilities.

First of all the article does not state Jahleel does NOT have a disability. It says 2/3rds of kids in the program diagnosed with mental or intellectual disability. It. Also says disability is anything that impedes ur progress in school. Perfectly appropriate definition.

In the next para, there is a hypothetical leap. It States given the right circumstances ans support Jahleel would do well. And he would no longer need disability. And quotes ONE mother who States she prefers her son not get a job

Fact of the matter is the poor have been increasingly marginalized. Using a hypothetical situation that he gets proper support and does well is not good enough. The numbers show people go to bed hungry.

Where is the link? Would like to know background of this source.

Nothing is a liberal or conservative issue. It is just a human issue.

[Sara516]

Re: Being on disability

Wow, I totally forgot to post the link. Thanks for pointing that out Southie.

Unfit for Work: The startling rise of disability in America

[Southie]

Re: Being on disability

Thanks Sara. Read the article. NPR - reliable source. Some points

1. 3 out of 4 people shown in p. 1 were African American. The numbers would probably show that 75% receiving disavility are nit African American. So here is the subliminal message being sent - disability program = African American.

2. cant see Jahleels photo. Name sounds Afr Am. Muslim. Another subliminal message.

3. says disability proportional to unemployment. Of coiurse. But no one in favor of raiding min wage on the Right!

4. welfare program revamped in 1996. Since then disability shot up. Again, of course.

5. welfare pays 15000 w/o insurance and Medicare. Disability does. So need to make health care affordable to poor.

Bottom line make playing field level.

Is there corruption? Yes. We ought to be worried more abt corruption at the top.