I read on Reddit about a guy who has a medical condition that causes him to strongly smell like rotten fish. It seems to me that someone with such a condition would be almost unemployable for anything except a work from home position.
Assuming the guy is otherwise perfectly healthy, would he be eligible for government benefits of some kind on the basis of this condition?
Trimethylaminuria or TMAU. Apparently disability payments are not available specifically for this disorder (at least in the U.S. and UK), but it can cause severe depression and emotional problems in people who have it, so some people get disability on that basis.
So how is such a person supposed to support themselves if they happen to be mentally resilient? I really wonder how the first clinical case in 1970 survived in the days before work at home was possible. Family with clothespins?
Commercial fishing?
Really, any job that involves a smelly environment and/or working alone. (Garbage collector, for one)
I don’t imagine there are that many.
Or similarly, what about people who are physically able, but grotesquely disfigured by disease, injury, or birth defect?
Pope Francis has made headlines by occasionally ministering to such people – CNN article including photos. (Upon re-reading the article: This guy might actually be too ill to be able to work, but that isn’t entirely clear.)
ETA: Another guy with gruesomely deformed face, embraced by Francis.
When I lived in Berkeley, there was a guy living somewhere near the campus with a horribly mangled face. Everybody had seen him around now and then. Once in a small diner near campus, he came in and sat next to me. Everybody seemed to know who he was. The story around town was that he had been a chemistry professor who had some experiment blow up in his face. Apparently he couldn’t continue being a professor after that – but not at all clear if he was actually unable, or just to gruesome to be seen at the front of a class.
To be eligible for federal disability benefits you must first have sufficient quarters of coverage (40) and be presently insured (40 q/c in a 10-year period). if so insured, you must meet the criteria in “The Listing of Impairments,” or be unable to perform your past work or perform any work that exists in significant numbers of jobs in the National Economy. The latter takes into consideration your age, education, skills (if any) and residual functional capacity. Code of Federal Regulations, Part404
The word “disability” is defined differently in different contexts. Soc Sec’s definition of the term is completely different from the VA’s, or the ADA’s…
Under the ADA, such a person could request some sort of reasonable accomodation. Under SS, “hireability” is not a relevant factor. I don’t see how smelling bad significantly limits one’s ability to perform the physical or mental requirements of work.
From what little I’ve seen of the show Dirty Jobs, it seems there are some jobs that are performed in environments so unpleasant that offensive body odor would be a minor factor. Other jobs are preformed outside, and/or in relative isolation. For example, the guy could work security, patrolling an outside facility.
The VA and SSA have very similar qualifications, but the VA’s determination is not binding on the SSa.
someone whos been considered disabled since I was about 11 in my experience its usually up to who ever you go to for the exams like whats considered disabled one decade isn’t in another
Infact I had to fight to keep it about 10 years ago and the admin law judge pretty much said after ssi lost my papers that since my 2 doctors that ive had since the initial assement said nothing had improved he was going with them
my case took so long that a year after the judge ruled on my case I had another assement and I said "i just had one done that a federal judge just rules on "
lady replied "oh well that was your last one this is a new one but it is noted "
they passed it with out none of the usual forms and such in like 2 days …
as someone whos been considered disabled since I was about 11 (1988) in my experience its usually up to who ever you go to for the exams but let me warn ya whats considered disabled one decade isn’t in another or even year to year or person to person which is why if you get turned down retry because you might just get the next person who thinks the last person is an idiot …(one person told me that the first person rejected 98 percent of the people he tested and ssi was trying to retire him … and he oked half of everyone the first guy rejected including a guy who was blind deaf and mute…)
Infact I had to fight to keep it about 10 years ago and the admin law judge pretty much said after ssi lost my papers that since my 2 doctors that ive had since the initial assement said nothing had improved he was going with them
my case took so long that a year after the judge ruled on my case I had another assement and I said "i just had one done that a federal judge just rules on "
lady replied "oh well that was your last one this is a new one but it is noted "
they passed it with out none of the usual forms and such in like 2 days …
It is true that ALJs vary. Some will not find anyone disabled. Others find every one disabled. The regs and Code have changed slightly over the years. One change which is quite old now that in order to find one’s disability has ended there must be improvement in the condition, unless one of the exception applies.
In general, it’s not about the specific cause of the disability or condition, it’s how it affects your life, and this may also affect what kind of benefits you get. If it makes you unable to work, for instance, you could get cash benefits. If you need extra medical support, you could get assistance paying for medical needs. Etc. There’s not necessarily a list of conditions that qualify, especially since some conditions can be mild or severe.
This is SS, but there are other sources of benefits related to disability and they have different rules.
Shouldn’t prevent you from working. There are companies that try to diversify their workforce by hiring people with disabilities. For years, I worked at a financial institution with a woman who had severe facial deformities from a childhood injury. She was very intelligent and successful at her job, and after a little while, everyone was so used to her that we didn’t even notice her disfigurement any more.
If my company hired someone with TMAU, we’d probably accommodate by seating them in a separate office with good ventilation. We all communicate primarily by phone and email anyway, but I imagine that people who worked closely with the person would get used to the smell. Healthcare professionals and people who work with the deceased have to deal with some fairly unpleasant smells (as do people who work with garbage) and they manage to handle it.
Yes… he would be eligible, in that he would need to get up every 20 min or so to ‘air off.’
I had spinal reconstruction surgery and am titanium from c3 thru t2. I was just approved this month because I have to get up every 20 min and move around, making me unemployable.
Of course, it took 2 years, and I had to hire an attorney; so will this guy.
The first part of this statement is flat out incorrect. Second half is correct.
One of the cashiers at a Barcelona supermarket, a few blocks from the Sagrada Familia, has a face like that. Some of his pronunciations are a bit funky, but understandable. I’m seeing more and more people with some sort of deformity (facial or otherwise) in all kinds of jobs.
The OP asked about government benefits. Federal government benefits are conferred either by the VA or SSA.
Medicaid is another source.
The VA provides for percentage of disability that SSA does not. However, the Listing of Impairments noted at 38CFR425 is essentially the same as SSA. If the VA finds that an individual is totally disabled, that finding is not binding on SSA.