Advise for a 32yo disabled person that claims to be suffering abuse from father

[bernorange 8362]

An acquaintance I do not know personally has related the following:

- 32 years old with seizure condition and hypothyroidism

- lives with father (mother is out of the picture)

- can not drive; lives in small town with no Uber/taxi/etc. - depends upon father for any transportation

- has not left the house since July (father refuses to take him anywhere)

- claims to be suffering mental (and possibly physical) abuse from father

- he applied for section 8 housing and was denied

 

My question for Surly peeps - do you know of any support/help services that might be helpful for someone in his position?

[0xdeadbeef 1651]

12 minutes ago, bernorange said:

My question for Surly peeps - do you know of any support/help services that might be helpful for someone in his position?

If abuse is being claimed, the first call needs to be to:

https://www.dfps.texas.gov/Contact_Us/report_abuse.asp

 

 

 

[bernorange 8362]

8 minutes ago, 0xdeadbeef said:

If abuse is being claimed, the first call needs to be to:

I'm not sure if this person lives in Texas or not.  I assume there are similar services in other States?

[troph 24870]

3 hours ago, bernorange said:

I'm not sure if this person lives in Texas or not.  I assume there are similar services in other States?

Yes. And most states will do a better job investigating than Texas. From there he’s going to need government and non-profit services. He’s too old to get the youth related services so he will need to get aggressive and pursue every opportunity out there. He needs an advocate to find out what providers really are worth their shit. But having worked with local groups that kick the shit out of youth homelessness I can tell you there is a way for him. He’s gotta take it and make that first call.

Edited November 21, 2023 by troph

[bernorange 8362]

I mentioned the DFPS to him and he backpedaled a bit.  Either he exaggerated his original claims or is scared of losing what little support his father provides.  Either way, I did what I could to direct him to possible help.

Thanks 0x & troph.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13515]

Do those conditions keep you from working? 

[bernorange 8362]

Epilepsy can be incredibly debilitating.  Uncontrolled seizure activity means you cannot legally drive.  Aside from physical effects (getting hurt during a seizure), uncontrolled seizures wreak havoc with cognitive abilities (memory, speech, brain fog).  These issues tend to drive severe depression on their own, but on top of that, most epilepsy medications exacerbate depression too.  So epilepsy alone can be disabling (and the cognitive impairments do qualify as a disability).

https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/11.00-Neurological-Adult.htm

The individual mentioned in the OP said that he hasn't been able to take meds for his hypothyroidism for several months and he has some sort of physical problem with his arms as a result.  I'm not terribly familiar with this issue, and I've described what he said with as much detail as he related, so I'm not sure exactly what that means.

[Jkwellborn 6710]

Do those conditions keep you from working? 

Yeah, some people have it pretty bad. I’ve been fortunate and it’s been controlled with my medicine. However, I know a young man that had seizures constantly, no matter the medicine combinations. He couldn’t drive and could hardly function normally. He had surgery and is normal now. Became an EMT.

[TwiceHorn 31499]

Yeah, similar to psych meds, anti-convulsants often aren't very well understood and it can be very trial and error trying to find one or a combination that is effective.  And they require lengthy "titration" periods.

I think the surgery referred to is something with the vagus nerve that seems to be effective for many.

Texas is probably one of the worst states to live in for this kind of thing, both the social services aspect and the medical aspect.

[troph 24870]

We have a friend with a daughter who has epilepsy - it’s hard. It’s fairly well managed now - though she still has about one major episode a year - but the first seven years have left her significantly behind and disabled.  
 

I was probably a tad too harsh on the young man’s need to stand up for himself - he probably needs a strong ally next to him there it’s a shame it’s not his dad. How he moves forward from here is a vexing problem.  My heart goes out to him, though that won’t do him one bit of good. The world is a brutally unfair place. 

Edited November 23, 2023 by troph

[Yev Kassem 1031]

My son had seizures from just before his first birthday until just after he was four years old. Between ages three and four he had 12 grand mal seizures, one routinely about every four to five weeks. It was absolute hell and no cocktail of meds seemed to help until he was approved for compassionate care prescription of CBD. No less than a month after being prescribed the CBD the seizures stopped cold. Luckily he hasn’t had an incident in over five years. 

Although my wife and I had an extremely stressful stretch, he’s doing well now.  I always thank God that we weren’t in the situation we saw some parents in at our son’s neurologist’s office.