Do you have good days and bad days?

Another non-exertional impairment that is important to develop so you can win your Social Security Disability is whether you have good days and bad days. If you have good days and bad days that means that your abilities differ from day to day. That impacts your employability!

It is important to explain how many days per month you have good and bad days and what cause you to have bad days. Explain how you ability to function changes on a bad day, how long it takes you to recover from bad day, what you can and can’t do on a bad day, how you medications use may change, and how you may need assistance around the house or with your personal needs. Paint a picture for your lawyer about what a bad day is like for you and its impacts on your functionality.

For more information, and for help with your claim, click here or call 727-894-3188.

Posted March 29th 2008 to Getting a Lawyer,The Appeal Proces,What's New at the Social Security Administration (SSA) | Comments (0)| Permalink | Trackback |  Print This Post |  Email This Post

One of the most important non-exertional impairments is the side effects of medications you might be taking as a result of your disability.

At your initial meeting with a Social Security lawyer you should bring a list of the medication you are taking and what side effects, if any, you are experiencing. Your list should have the name of the medication, the dosage, how much do you take every day, what condition are you taking the medication for, who prescribed the medication, when you started taking it, and what side effects you are having from the medication.

This is very important information and you should take time to prepare this list. For more information, and for more help with your claim, click here or call 727-894-3188.

Posted March 29th 2008 to Getting a Lawyer,The Appeal Proces | Comments (0)| Permalink | Trackback |  Print This Post |  Email This Post

The third area of questions you will be asked in the initial consultation with a Social Security Disability lawyer is about your pain. Pain is a non-exertional impairment under the Grids used at  Hurdle 5: Other Work and your attorney will want to explore your pain in detail. The attorney is not being nosy but needs this information to help develop this non-exertional impairment. These questions will include:

1. When did your pain begin and what event caused your pain?

2. What does you pain feel like?

3. How often do you have pain on a daily, weekly or monthly basis?

4. Does your pain increase, decrease, or stay the same with:

• lying down
• sitting down
• standing
• walking
• bending

5. Is there anything else you do that increases your pain?

6. Has any treatment helped your pain? What treatment?

7. Rate your pain on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being no pain, on average on a good day and a bad day.

Medications are the next topic that will be discussed in the initial consultation. For more information, and for more help with your claim, click here or call 727-894-3188.

Posted March 29th 2008 to Getting a Lawyer | Comments (0)| Permalink | Trackback |  Print This Post |  Email This Post

Less than sedentary sounds like a math formula! Is there such as thing a residual functional capacity for less then sedentary work?

Social Security regulation 83-12 and 96-9p provides for a “significant compromise” of the sedentary occupational base by showing that jobs that have less than sedentary physical requirements exist in “significant numbers” in the national economy.

The key is to show that you have what is called exertional and/or non-exertional impairments that chip away or erode the occupational base.

One of the best ways to establish your job is less than sedentary or even less than light is the need to alternate sitting and standing. Social Security regulation SSR 83-12 provides that your need to alternate sitting and standing more frequently than breaks or lunch will prevent you from doing the full range of sedentary – i.e. less than sedentary.

Most jobs require you to sit, stand, or to be in a fixed position for a period of time to do the job. If you have to alternate between sitting and standing or even walking you may not be able to do the full range of sedentary work.

Another factor that will reduce you to less than sedentary work is the limited use of both hands from a condition like arthritis or carpal tunnel syndrome.

If you are under 50 years old, the inability to do the full range of of sedentary and light work is key to winning your Social Security Disability claim. For more information, and for more help with your claim, click here or call 727-894-3188.

Posted March 23rd 2008 to Benefits Overview | Comments (0)| Permalink | Trackback |  Print This Post |  Email This Post