Here are the three biggest mistakes I see made by Social Security disability applicants. My name is a Kaitlin Wildoner, and I’m an attorney who helps clients obtain their Social Security disability benefits as quickly as possible so they can focus on getting better.
Today we’re going to talk about the top three mistakes that I see people make when they apply for either Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI benefits) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI benefits).
Social Security Disability Mistake #1: No Ongoing Medical Treatment
Number one is they don’t have ongoing medical treatment. If you’ve called into my office, you know that when you and I have a conversation, that is always one of the first questions that I ask, do you have ongoing medical treatment. That’s because that’s what Social Security uses to determine disability. They can’t just go off of your word that you have a difficult time cooking or doing laundry or going to work, they have to see concrete medical evidence that you do have those limitations, and additionally, why you have those limitations. SSA is also looking at what physical or mental impairments are creating those limitations for you, so you need to have consistent ongoing medical treatment that show Social Security that your condition is severe, what your conditions are, and the limitations that you’ve got from your condition or conditions.
Social Security Disability Mistake #2: Ignoring the Forms Sent By SSA
The second thing is they don’t complete the forms that Social Security sends throughout the pendency of the claim. Sometimes I hear that the forms are redundant, the paperwork is duplicated, that you’ve already filled this out, that they should already have this information. While that might be true, the fact of the matter is, Social Security sends you those forms because it gives you an extra opportunity to explain in your own words what you go through on a daily basis. There’s often the supplemental pain questionnaire that will get sent out. If you’ve got pain as one of your big impairments, take that opportunity to go through that paperwork and explain to Social Security how the pain impacts your ability to function on a day-to-day basis. If you’ve got cardiac impairments, they send out a supplemental cardiac questionnaire, take the time to fill that out and to explain specifically how the cardiac impairments that you have impact your ability to function on a daily basis. The other form that they’ll frequently send out is, it’s kind of two-fold, there’s an adult function report, and then the third party function report. The adult function report is an opportunity again for you to explain to Social Security how all of your impairments come together and impact your ability to function on a daily basis. It’ll ask questions about cooking, cleaning, showering, caring for other individuals, often it’ll ask about whether or not you can balance a check book, things like that, that some people might take for granted every day that you have difficulty doing. It’s important when you get those forms, to complete them in their entirety and to explain to Social Security what you do. It’s important not to sugar-coat things, and at the same time, it’s very important not to be dramatic about those limitations, but to be honest. To sincerely sit and think about what limitations you’ve got and how you can express that to Social Security.
Social Security Disability Mistake #3: Not Communicating With Your Doctors
The third mistake that I see people make is they don’t tell their doctors they’re applying for disability, so their doctors get these record requests from Social Security and they’ll fulfill them, they’ll send the records to Social Security, but nothing is in the file about your limitations. Nothing is in the file about objective findings that they’ve got, or subjective findings that they notice, that you walk with a funny gait, that you are unable to get on and off the examination table by yourself, that you need assistance, they might not be including those little things in your record, because normally, they might not include those, however, those are super important for Social Security to understand what those limitations are that you’ve got.
If you are disabled and unable to work, click the link or call the phone number on the screen for a free telephone consultation where we can talk about what I can do to help you and your disability case.
