Am I the only one who got denied 3 times before finding a weird shortcut?

I was stuck for 2 years trying to get approved for disability in San Diego. My lawyer kept sending the same paperwork and nothing worked. Then I read online about adding a personal letter from a neighbor who saw my daily struggles. I tried it and my case got approved in 3 months. Has anyone else tried something off the wall like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

grace_wright10d ago

Figured out the same thing with my son's school district. They kept denying his special ed services until I brought in a letter from his Sunday school teacher who saw his meltdowns in a different setting. It's like these systems only believe you when someone outside the family backs up your story. Makes you wonder how many people get ignored just because they don't know the secret handshake.

hollyl4510d ago

Did you try going to the school board? My friend Karen had this exact problem with her daughter's IEP. She was getting nowhere until she brought in a letter from the summer camp director, who wrote about how her daughter needed one-on-one help during swim lessons and would shut down if the schedule changed. After that letter the school suddenly found extra funding and approved everything within two weeks. It's completely backwards that a camp counselor's word counts more than a parent who sees it every single day.

karen_roberts48d ago

Hate that it takes a third party to finally get them to listen. It's like our word counts for nothing until someone else says the same thing.