Understand the Big Picture
About Social Security Disability
If you remember nothing else about Social Security Disability, remember this:
Your Social Security disability case is not about your medical problems, your transportation to work problems, your scheduling problems, your family illness problems or your lack of experience problems.
Instead, in the vast majority of cases, the only issue is whether you could perform a simple, unskilled, sit down type of job. And, can will your treating doctor support you by identifying significant work activity limitations arising from your diagnosis?
If you have a consistent, credible medical record and if your doctor can identify activity limitations that would prevent you from performing that simple, unskilled, entry level sit down job, you have a good chance at winning.
As you read through this site and look at the questions and answers on the SSD Answers Social Security Disability Blog, think about how you can demonstrate that you cannot perform any competitive work.
If you can show that you would not be a reliable worker, your chances of winning improve greatly.
Mistakes to Avoid in Disability Hearings
Here are some examples of mistakes that claimants sometimes make at hearings and why these mistakes can be so harmful:
failure to be specific - you can be certain that your disability judge will ask you specific questions about how far you can walk, how long you can sit, and how much you can carry. You should be prepared for these questions. Avoid answering “I don’t know,” or “I haven’t tried that,” Think about how you might feel on an average or below average day. When you say “I don’t know,” you will frustrate the judge and he may assign answers to you if you are unable or unwilling to give him a specific answer.
exaggeration - if the judge asks you to rate your pain on a scale of 1 to 10 and you respond that your pain is at a 10 all of the time, the judge will conclude that your testimony is not credible. In the judge’s mind, pain at a level 10 is so severe that you would not be able to focus on any activity for more than 5 minutes, including the hearing. A better answer - “my pain is always at a level 4 or 5. At least 3 days a week for four to five hours at a time, my pain jumps up to an 8 or 9, regardless of my physical activity. If I overdo it physically, I can expect my pain to jump to that 8 or 9 within a few hours of my overdoing it and it will remain there for several hours.”
presenting an attitude of entitlement - Social Security judges are keenly aware that if they award you disability, you will likely be receiving disability money for 20, 30 even 40 years. Judges expect that you will express an attitude of regret that you are filing disability and a hope that you will be able to return to work. If you go into your hearing with an attitude that you have already decided that you can’t work, your judge may react negatively to you and deny your case.
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