Battyprincess:
FYI: Based on my wife's experience - the only one I can speak of with any authority - once you are finally approved for and receiving Social Security Disability benefits, you will not be allowed to earn much 'extra' money without being penalized by a deduction from your SS check. That being the case, the rules tend to inhibit going back to work in any serious capacity while usually not providing quite enough money for you to live on, comfortably, especially if you're a single mom. Sad but true. Meanwhile , the fakers and frauds seem to receive SS disabilty benefits easily and fritter the money away on drugs, booze and assorted garbage. It's a broken system.
Fortunately, when my wife finally started receiving Social Security benefits, some 11 months after she initally applied, she also was approved for the 'long-term' disability benefits she had signed up and paid premiums for through her employer, a major insurance company. Her employer had insisted that she apply for SS benefits because it was an 'entitlement'. Although her employer subtracts the amount of her SS benefit check from the total she is qualified to receive from them (70% of her last salary), between the two income sources (Social Security and her employers disability insurance) she receives 70% of her former salary and is considered an employee (inactive, naturally) so we still qualify for a very good medical/dental insurance plan as well as discounted life, home and auto insurance policies. It's not perfect but I can't complain.
You may need to look into all your options regarding generating income. There are social service agencies that will direct you to places that may (or may not) be able to help you apply for state aid or other assistance to help you make ends meet. It's often a long and somewhat discouraging process for anyone who has never had to ask for help, but in a financial crisis and with a child to consider, you may have to go that route.
Whatever you decide to do, I wish you all the best - you deserve it.
Jim
