I've adjudicated several thousand cases (and been involved in varying ways with 10x that many) so I think that my opinion in the matter is perfectly valid and I would say more factually based than yours.

I have SSI and SSDI. I have ASD and got SSI on that. I have a college degree and worked full time for a while.

The details are being spared in my case, but you can be sure that I have a valid opinion on this matter, more so than any government employee who only sees a part of the process of approval.

I am perfectly aware that sometimes those with Asperger's need structure and routine; but there are plenty of jobs (say an assembly line) that offer that kind of structure in a limited social environment.

There is more to it than that. That is like saying you need social stimulation otherwise you get depressed (which is common), therefore, putting you a prison environment should give you adequate social stimulatin for good mental health.

He also has ADHD, which you just ignored in your ad hoc assessment.

Assembly line work for someone with ADHD would be torture possibly.

I have worked in a factory doing repetetive work. I was very, very good at it, so much so that I was paid far more than others in my same position and trusted to do things that managers would normally do, even though I was just a lowly worker.

I saw normal people crack under the repetitiveness.

And you think it is suitable work for someone with ADHD...

You can hate on SSA all you want

I do not hate it. It is a mindless government agency, full of beauracracy with employees who get government paychecks and do not care about the lives of others who come to them for help.

The agency exists for a reason. The people who work for it are drones. They look at forms and checklists and gladly accommodate people who are homeless (to get their benefits, not homes), and they have a code for people who die during the application process, a code which they use quite often, because applications can take years to process, and for some reason, there is nothing to expedite.

They are people who think will look at a family paying Social Security taxes, while caring for a disabled child for years, and then when they look into getting SSI for when those parents are unable to provide, they say "I'm going to save you the trouble and just let you know that he won't qualify."