One of the biggest mistakes you can make in the disability process is not precisely describing your impairment, how it affects your life every day, and how it prevents you from being able to hold a job. All too often we see claimants with real disabilities make this mistake at their hearing and it costs them the benefits they deserve.
If your disability claim was denied at the initial application and reconsideration stages of the process, you are entitled to an in-person appeal hearing.
The hearing will be conducted by a Social Security Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) who played no part in the original decision or reconsideration of your case. Your hearing will be your best opportunity to qualify for disability benefits. And yes, you will be required to testify before an ALJ to answer questions about the symptoms of your disabilities and how those symptoms prevent you from being able to maintain substantial gainful employment.
What to Expect at Your Hearing
During your disability hearing, the ALJ will ask you questions about what you are physically capable of doing.
He or she will ask questions like:
- “How long can you stand and walk?”
- “How do you spend a typical day?”
- “Can you do the dishes?”
The ALJ is attempting to determine your “residual functional capacity” (RFC); that is, what you can still do despite your impairments. The ALJ is trying to get a handle on what you can do during a workday and work week.
“Oftentimes we will ask our client a question and they will give a vague answer in response,” notes Cuddigan Law Disabilty Attorney Kim Schram. “It’s not that the client necessarily intends on hiding something or being vague. They need to know that it’s specific answers that will win their disability case.”
“For example, if we ask how often they get panic attacks or how often their back bothers them, we may get an answer such as ‘every now and then’ or ‘every blue moon.’ In preparing for the hearing, we work with our clients to obtain specific answers that will help show how they are limited by their health problems. For example, if the judge asks how long the client can stand or how far they can walk, the right answer is a certain number of blocks or length of time. Three blocks, 30 minutes, etc. ‘I don’t know, I never timed it’ or ‘not that long at all’ means nothing to the judge.”
How to Improve Your Odds of Winning
A good way to answer the judge’s questions and improve your odds of being awarded the benefits you are eligible to receive is to keep a disability journal, which is a log you keep that tracks how your disability affects your day-to-day living and what you do to manage it.
Aim to add journal entries every day, or at least several times a week, and be specific. You can bring your journal to doctor visits so the doctor documents your symptoms and treats them accordingly.
This journal will also help reinforce the medical records, tests, and statements from your health care providers, and may help prove to Social Security how, due to the limitations of your condition, you are unable to perform any job in the national economy, considering your age, education and past work.
The goal is for your journal to present a clear and vivid picture of how your disability affects your life.
Another Way to Increase Your Chances of Winning Social Security Disability Benefits
You are 3 times more likely to be awarded disability benefits if you have a representative such as a disability attorney who will fight for your rights than if you have no representation at all, according to a Government Accounting Office study.
At Cuddigan Law, we have a team of skilled and knowledgeable disability lawyers and staff members who will be working on your case. They will prepare you for your hearing and give you guidance on how to precisely answer the ALJ’s question.
For a free evaluation of your case, contact us at Cuddigan Law. And, if you decide to hire us, we only get paid when you win your case.
