I've always struggle to put words to the pain of the piles of paperwork and tests, my parents and I had to do when I was a child to get me help in school and attain an IEP. So, I could officially have may disabilities acknowledged. It was incredibly embarrassing to be pulled for class just to be put through hours of testing for multiple days, just to prove I "qualified" for help, as if it wasn't obvious I needed it. But they had to make sure I wasn't cheating the system... At the age of 12. So, I can only look on in horror as I see the dreadful progress of applying for SSI/SSDI. As people who ask for help from the government are put through the ringer of assessments and mountain of paperwork that constitute the Social Security application progress.

So, What are the words? "Administrative Burdens" roughly defined by CAP (Center of American Progress) as; "Any challenge that makes it difficult for someone to access or maintain assistance for which they otherwise qualify." Making it difficult to navigate systems necessary to acquire basic needed, such as food housing and medical treatments. Administrative Burdens often take form as:

• Lengthy and/or complicated paperwork
• assessment tests
• inflexible in-person appointments
• Backlogs for services with long waiting lists
• Inaccessible or poorly designed websites
• Complex application processes

While Administrative Burdens can and do effect most people, they tend to fall hardest on minorities, especially the Disability community. This is hugely damaging for a person applying for SSI or SSDI. And the average wait time to move through the first three stages of the application progress is 2 year! This forces many into bankruptcy before they can get the finical help they desperately need. The process is often dehumanizing and according to CAP's video "How the Social Safety Net is Failing Disabled People" Nearly 11,000 people waiting for SSI aid will die before they can receive it.

These processes can cause anxiety and increased stress as well as exacerbate health conditions. Many people have to provide hundreds of pages of medical records. Which from my personal experience having been a Medical Release of Information specialist can take months to acquire because some big hospitals have hundreds of thousands of patients requesting records. Slowing the process even more. Only one in three applicates are ever approved. The remaining two thirds will never receive the help they need. These lengthy systems are ultimately costly to tax payers and healthcare systems. This also means that disabled people are twice as likely to live in poverty.

The Social Security systems are so complicated to navigate that a whole legal industry exists around it. So that lawyers can guide their clients to the services they need and appeal denials. Yes, that's right you need to sometimes hire a lawyer to get the finical help you need. Which is another expense that many people with disabilities can not afford, and in the case of someone with severe cognitive disabilities may not understand they need.

There are many suggestions for fixing the system including Improve data sharing between Social Security Departments to quicken the process. But until something is done about it people will continue to suffer at the hands of a system that was created to help them.

If your interesting in learning more please visit americanprogress.org's article on Administrative Burdens or see their video: The Time Tax: Better Access to Benefits by Reducing Administrative Burden