Few things in response to you and to others in this thread.
1. Why is it that (I'll lump myself into the same boat as you) "We" give deaf people a bad name because we are on SSD? Why are people even saying that - where do you get that information and what's the bad name deaf people are representing? I've seen that comment in other places. I, myself, tell very few people I am on SSD and I certainly don't hear that from various people w/whom I come in contact (that they're on SSD).
2. AngelEyes1, far be it from me to judge someone I don't know. I can only "see" you by what you write here. Life in the workplace deaf, HoH, and hearing was tough 30+ years ago and has become more competitive and tougher now. I worked in a backbiting and backstabbing world of info. tech. I know the environment was too often the same elsewhere. It's getting worse and my nieces are all dealing with it. They can hear but the environments are still pretty nasty.
20 years ago, I was being interviewed and didn't like the fact that I'd be on call 24/7. That job interview went south but I knew there were other positions to be gotten. In the last 20 years, I worked jobs where I worked nights and weekends because I had to in order to stay employed.
You sound like a smart cookie. I mean that nicely. As you apply for SSD, think of what your future will look like 25-35 years from now. SS, SSI, SSD and Medicare/Medicaid are all "paying less" because of those in charge of the programs. Doctors are dropping off accepting Medicare because the payments are so low. Ironically, while I was uninsured for over a year and am now on Medicare, the benefits are so bad that I might as well be uninsured and it's getting worse.
I'm on SSD and my own life is pretty tough. It was easier to be in that backbiting, backstabbing environment (for me) and earning a supported wage. As I encroach 60, SSD is not the way I would've wanted my life to turn out. SSD alone simply does not pay enough to support me.
Whatever you do, do it with your eyes wide open and think of your future. Be careful.
Best of luck to you.
