Question:

My husband died 100% service-connected disabled. Our son is autistic and diagnosed while in middle school. In high school he could not deal with school and the school cut his hours below full-time, so the VA stopped the money he got. I called the VA and was told he qualified for his benefits as the "helpless child" of a deceased 100% servive-connected disabled veterans. I have resubmited the doctor's reports and other evaluations that he is autistic, unable to work or function as an adult, etc multiple times, the VA keeps denying him the "helpless child" benefits. Now he is 27yo and I am 64 y.o and too sick to deal with this anymore. He has had Social Security Disability since high school, and gets $800. Last year he got food stamps of $157, this year they dropped his food stamps to $33 a month. I can not keep feeding and taking care of him out of my own $1,300 of VA widows benefits and $673 Social Security, and need his "helpless child" benefits to make ends meet. No lawyer will help, not legal aid of NC, no lawyer who advertise they help veterans with VA benefits will take the case. Help! My home mortgage is over 40% of my income, I am desperate for help. No money for home repair, my 27 yo autistic son who is 6'3" is sleeping on a 5'6" couch, no money for a bed after it broke. Who helps the family of a veteran who lies in Arlington National Cemetary? Who cares about the family of a Navy SEAL who died of Agent Orange Lung Cancer and is desperate?

Jim's Reply

At some point we must stop and ask ourselves if the VA decision isn't the correct decision to make in the  circumstances presented to us. I question why you'd be told that your son would meet "helpless child' criteria without first determining if that's a fact. When we run into a situation where legal aid and veterans law attorneys won't accept the responsibility of accepting a claim or appeal, we have to question the validity of that claim.