A Missouri artist living with a disability understands how difficult it is to get approved for disability benefits. When she was applying for benefits, she thought that an employee was just complimenting her work. However, she quickly discovered that they were seeking more information they could use against her.
Bee (@ibeemakingstuff) is a conceptual artist. She’s also living with a disability, as she has a seizure disorder. She tells her audience that people who are disabled aren’t “supposed to have any means of generating income.” Only the government is permitted to approve the means by which you make income when you’re disabled. Bee found this out the hard way when she tried to apply for disability benefits herself.
Bee experienced a seizure in her sleep several years ago that kept her out of work for some time. She was working full-time as an artist but had to supplement her income somehow. She went through the process of applying for disability benefits. During the phone interview, Bee spoke with a woman who asked what she did for a living. She went to Bee’s art website and started making small talk. The woman told her she was an artist as well and that her art was “really cool.” She then asked Bee about many aspects of her business, including how she makes art prints using a printer and how she owns a camera to photograph her work.
In the end, Bee discovered the woman was just fishing for information to use against her at her disability interview. Bee said she had no idea that the entire time, she was “setting herself up to fail.” After the initial conversation, the woman put Bee on hold. When she returned, she told Bee, “I’m so sorry to let you know, your net worth is too much to get disability.” Bee said, “I don’t have any net worth.” She then found out the woman had calculated a net worth on Bee using the value of her business supplies.
Bee asked the woman, “Are you saying I should just sell my equipment and shutter my business?” The woman replied, “I mean, you have things of value that you can sell.” Bee put two and two together and realized the woman never really wanted to help her. She wasn’t just trying to make her feel positive about her art business. She was actually taking the information Bee had told her to deny her disability benefits. As Bee said of the whole experience, “They don’t want you to live if you’re disabled, basically.”
Commenters shared with Bee that they, too, went through this when trying to get disability benefits. They shared stories about an unfair system that left them in the dust when they needed help the most. One commenter shared, “When I got approved for disability, they gave me 32k in back pay but then gave me 90 days to spend it but also not have anything of value and I wasn’t allowed to open a savings account or I would lose my medical. Make it make sense.” Another shared, “I lost my job once and they wanted me to sell my home and use the equity for living. I’m like but where will I live?”
Commenters continue to share their opinions and thoughts on what Bee went through in her comments. Some even offered helpful advice, such as “getting a lawyer to file disability” in the hopes that it could help others in need. This video caught the attention of many, who understand just how difficult it can be trying to live in America as a disabled person.
