SSI | Autism PDD

my son is on SSI right now, it took about six weeks if you have all of the digonstic papers from the doctors that you can give them during the interview, if you don't try to get a copy from the docs who dignosed your child with autisim or PDD otherwise they have to go though their own docs and it takes twice as long.if you have paper work that states autistic spectrum disorder will that work as the diagnosis or does it have to say just "autism"?the time length really depends on what stage they grant benefits at, location, etc. I will stress that my timelines come from adult cases and not children cases so it could be different and more expedious, but I know I have heard people waiting for hearings on children cases here who have waited 12 months or more for their hearing

Well how quickly it takes depends on the state you live in. If your initial application is accepted, you can probably expect checks to start rolling in around 4-6 months after you apply (usually takes 60 days for the decision then up to another 60-90 days for processing.

If its denied, then you have to ask SS to reconisder the application, which is another 60 days. Some states are protypes at the moment in that you can skip this stage.

If after reconsideration they still deny the claim, you then must file a request for a hearing in front of an Administrative law Judge. Depending on the state this could take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years (at least for adult DIB/SSI cases and I can't imagine children's cases moving that much faster). After the hearing, you usually get the ALJ's decision within 60 days. This is the place most adult cases get approved (like 65%). If the ALJ denies your claim, then you can file an appeal with the SSA Appeals Council and if its still denied there (or not remanded) you are then eligible for filing suit in District Court.

As for the ease for getting SSI after you have a diagnosis, I am not that familiar with child cases, but I do know quite a bit about the way the adult system works. From what I have read on children, they have to find a severe medical condition (delays are included in this) that affect their daily lives. They will look at things like the child's activity level and how it compares to other children the same age, the amount of help needed from parents as compared to other children the same age, the pace of the activities they do, length of time they do the activities, and how independantly they do the activities.

HTH

I will add to that, even if it takes the max time (which the longest I have seen is 5 years here) if your approved, the pay you from the time you applied. If you are considering applying you need to call social security immediately to set in your protected filing date so that the date goes back to when you called and not when they get the application.

I know with DIB you have to wait 6 months from the onset of your disability to start getting paid but don't think thats the case with SSI.

It took us 4 months beginning to end for approval on Julian. He already had his dx. It took us 6 months beginning to end for willow and she got her dx AFTER we applied. I think it depends on the state and the mood of the SSA...LOLMy son Grant is on SSI. He has not been formerly diagnosed but the first diagnosis was that he is severely developmentally delayed and a probablility of Autism or PDD. They gave it to him with that diagnosis but it still was not easy. You have to wait for them to get the records from all the doctors, they have to go over the whole family income to determine how much he gets each month. We have to send in my husbands pay stubs each month. There is alot to to do with SSI and usually quite a wait and there is no guarantee that you will get it but it is worth a try

Is it easy to get it once you have a diagnosis of autism??

How long does it take to get it???

any website links?

There are several links posted in the For Newbies to our Forums thread near the bottom under resources and more under legal resources.

They are all in the sticky thread. And ssi isn't approved for just anyone. They take into account the whole household income, accounts receivable etc.

At this moment I am on welfare I dont have much accounts receivable