Blind Man: Social Security Says I Can Work but I Can't

When I first met 61-year-old James Beck it was easy to tell just how difficult it was for him to get around.

"I have to ask somebody whether it's daylight or dark," Beck said.

Beck is legally blind and he says he has the paperwork from his doctors to prove it.

"It's bad just living in the dark all the time you miss so many things, the sunset and the sunrise and all and you can't see television but I enjoy listening to it," said Beck.

The Social Security Administration says he can work denying him disability benefits for more than two years.

"That man at Social Security said blind people works," said Beck. "Well I haven't been able to find a job."

The only career he knows is construction and Beck says he can't do that anymore.

"With my house here I can find my way around pretty good but if I was to get out somewhere I would get lost," said Beck.

"He's got out and worked since he was a teenager and paid into the system and he should be able to get some help when he needs it," said Beck's daughter Pam Byers.

Byers says Beck and his wife, Linda, live off about $600 a month she gets from her social security check.

"They should come out and see him move around and try to do daily activities to get around," said Byers.

SSA's spokesperson, Patti Patterson, talked with us by phone from Atlanta. She told us a senior attorney denied Beck's claim in January but a judge approved it after we called, without any new evidence.

When we told Patterson we doubted that she wanted people to think Beck got help because of News Channel 7. Patterson replied, "No we don't. As I've said we have so many cases and we have a lot of people working and as you know we're trying to work the oldest ones first."

And even though the SSA has denied him for so long, Beck is still grateful for their work.

"I'm finally glad (SSA) is getting around to me and I appreciate it," he said. "And I want to thank you for everything you all done for me."

We always tell our viewers if you need help contact your Congressman because they have staff members dedicated to helping people through the application process. But many people tell me they've already done that and it isn't helping. So I took your concerns to U.S. Rep Bob Inglis. We asked Inglis what his office is really able to do to help get a case through the disability backlog. He said, "Mostly what were able to do is make sure they're in the right line. We can't necessarily speed them through the line and we surely can't change the result at the end of the line."

Inglis said his office will make sure disability applicants aren't pushed aside because they don't have the correct paperwork.

For more information about contacting your Congressman for help click here.