Ranting and Raving

I feel like I should write more frequently but honestly, I don't lead a very exciting life so I really don't know what to write. This post will be pretty random and may or may not make sense.

I have 3 children, 2 disabled. Disabled in the sense that they are categorized as "emotionally disabled." My oldest son is now 18. When he was about 5, a co-worker suggested I apply for social security disability for him. I did, and within a few months I was receiving SSI benefits on his behalf. What a relief it was. When he was 6, he was hit by a car; he obviously survived since he is 18 now. There are "hush" circumstances, but basically at about 8 years old, my son ended up with a small trust fund, called a "restricted account". At about 13 years old in 2007, social security wanted "additional information" regarding this "restricted account." I submitted all the paperwork and everything was fine until 2 years later in 2009, then they were questioning it again. At this point they attempted to cease SSI benefit payments. We filed an appeal and it was decided in our favor. Then the following year, 2010, they did it again. This time they stopped the benefits without notifying me. By the time I found out what had happened, it was too late to continue benefits during the appeal process AND they want us to pay them back for all benefits paid from Jan 2008-April 2010. So, we have appealed this and are still playing the appeal process game. The biggest catch is that they are deeming the "restricted account" as an asset, even though we have had no access to it. Now, as I mentioned before, I have another disabled child. He has Aspergers Syndrome. I am not able to apply for SSI benefits on his behalf because they take all income and assets into account for the entire household when determining eligibility. This week we had a hearing regarding the "restricted account" because my son is an adult now and should be entitled to his money. However, because there is a pending case with the social security office, where they feel they are entitled to payment, the judge will not release the restriction on the account until the matter is resolved.

So to sum it all up, in 2010 they cut off my sons benefits due to an asset we had no access to, we cannot get benefits for my other disabled child and now, because of all of this, now that my son SHOULD have access to the "asset," he doesn't. The way I see it, the social security administration has been screwing over my family for years, but what can one person do?