Hard to play without perks.
Have you raised the attributes at the right level to open up the perk in that attribute line you're trying to raise? Once your attribute is at the right level you also need to apply a point to that perk you want.
Eg you have Int 4 so can now open up Hacker by applying one point to Hacker before it's yours. Then each further level of Hacker will require a point.
This.
You have to read the fine print (it may be grayed out) under the perk you want. It will say something like: lvl 16, INT 6. If the lvl part is gray you don't yet qualify.
To resolve this exactly OP,
it would be helpful to know what your current SPECIAL is,
and which perk you are trying to get that you feel you should be able to.