In addition to getting payments going back to your application date, you can get up to 12 months of retroactive payments for the year prior to your application date (or your protective filing date, discussed below) -- if you were disabled that long ago.
Characters will receive one specialization point at level 7 and another at level 14. Specialization points can be saved for later levels or used mid-level (the Level Up button on the stats sheet will be active if there are unspent specialization points).
The designation 0+, 1+, 2+, etc. will be assigned when proficiency substantially exceeds one skill level and does not fully meet the criteria for the next level. The plus-level descriptions, therefore, are subsidiary to the base-level descriptions. A skill level is assigned to a person through an authorized language examination. Examiners assign a level on a variety of performance criteria exemplified in the descriptive statements.