Supplemental Security Income: A Valuable Aid To The Disabled

Disability makes one feel equally miserable aboutoneself irrespective of his social stature, earnings and age. But asthe time passes by one gets accustomed to things, adjusts to thesurrounding and starts living. Enjoying more and more, and complainingless and less one goes about the curious business of living. That's,loosely speaking, the 'philosophical' part of the story though I don'tclaim to be philosopher of any sort whatsoever. Now the harder part. The philosophical distinction between childhood disability and adult disability is also reflected in the disability benefitsone is entitled to, albeit in a slightly different fashion. To put itstraight, the law makes a distinction between the disabled below andabove 18 years of age. Supplemental Security Income or SSI is a social benefit program instituted by the Social Security Administration(SSA). The SSA pays a monthly sum to those whose income is lower onaccount of old age, blindness or disability. Most of those under 18years of age are considered children and the ones above as adults bythe SSA. To be eligible for the SSI the rules are much the same forchildren and adults, but 'disability' in case of children is bydefinition more accommodating than the one employed for the adults. The amount one gets as SSI is meant to meet one's very basic needs because it is assumed that a disabled personmay not be able to earn enough. The need of one person living in acertain condition may be different from another in another set ofcircumstances. Therefore, the amount payable also differs. Forinstance, it is estimated that the disabled children living with theirparents in the State of California need a sum of $722 per month. Forthose who are blind the amount is higher at $ 901, as their expenses are higher. If,in the opinion of the authorities, you have money to spend on yourbasic needs in view of your sources of income, the amount is deductedfrom the payable sum and what remains is what you get for the SSI.