Daniel's blog

In addition to the federal disability benefit programs—SSDI and SSI—there are many smaller programs that offer financial assistance to individuals who have disabilities. These can come in the form of state-wide programs, charities, and insurance programs. But how do these impact your eligibility for federal disability benefits? A recent visitor to our interactive disability forum, asked the following question

As August comes to an end and fall quickly approaches, we say goodbye to another summer. Although people tend to focus on skin protection more throughout the summer months, don’t put away your sunscreen just yet.

As many people are now aware, sun exposure can damage skin cells and cause cancer. What many don’t realize, however, is that sun damage can still occur during the fall and winter months. For this reason, we have compiled a list of tips to keep your skin healthy all year long.

Today we will be answering a question that was recently asked anonymously through our interactive disability forum. If you have a question regarding this topic or any other Social Security Disability topic, be sure to leave it in the comment section below or contact us on Facebook or Twitter.

Today’s question is:

Who is responsible for paying back a Social Security Disability overpayment if the original recipient dies?

Today we will be addressing a question that came to us through our interactive disability forum. If you have a question regarding any part of the Social Security Disability application process, leave it in the comment section below so that we can answer it in a future blog post. Today’s question is:

How should a representative payee spend a child's SSI benefits?

The transition from childhood to adulthood is always complicated- especially when it comes to Supplemental Security Income (SSI). In this blog post we’re going to shed some light on this transition period and hopefully erase any confusion surrounding age and childhood SSI benefits. Today’s question is:

If my child is receiving SSI benefits, what will happen when he or she turns 18?

In today’s blog post we will be answering a question that we receive from parents all the time—“What is parental deeming and how does it work?” This is such an important question because parental deeming can determine a child’s eligibility for the SSI program. If parents do not understand the concept, mistakes can be made and a child’s claim may be denied. We hope the following blog post will give the parents out there a better understanding of the deeming process!

Last week, we wrote a blog post answering a question that was sent to us through Facebook. We received some great feedback and readers have suggested that they’d like us to make this a regular thing. Please feel free to let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. Tell us what questions you’d like us to answer next week! Today’s question is:

Question: How will marriage affect my disability benefits?

7 Ways to Prevent Cervical Cancer

Cervical cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the cervix, the lower most part of the uterus. If cervical cancer is not caught in its early stages, it can become quite serious. Fortunately, Pap smear testing has reduced the prevalence of cervical cancer in recent years. According to a report published by the National Cancer Institute, many cases of cervical cancer are preventable. Unfortunately, there are many women who still develop this disease.

This fall we hosted the first ever New England Disability Awareness Essay Contest for elementary school students. To enter, students in grades 2 through 6 were asked to submit an essay telling us how they have been inspired by someone with a disability. Our hope was that, by reflecting on people with disabilities, children and their families would develop a lifelong understanding and respect for the disabled.

When an individual is receiving Social Security Disability benefits, those benefits do not have an expiration date but the beneficiary must undergo continuing eligibility reviews to ensure that they still meet the criteria set forth by the SSA and that they are still entitled to receive the disability payments from the Social Security Administration. How often these reviews occur depend on whether or not improvement of the person’s condition is expected.