If you are disabled and having a hard time working, you may be thinking about applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. One common question is what kind of questions the Social Security Administration (SSA) ask you to make their finding of disability.
Impact of Your Impairments
SSA’s job with SSDI and SSI applications is to find out if you have a qualifying disability that prevents you from working in any capacity. Therefore, their focus is on the effects of your impairment and how your impairments and conditions affect you and how they prevent you from doing work.
To this end, SSA will ask questions about how you care for yourself, your household, and others in your care. They will want to know whether you are able to cook, clean, shop, and bathe yourself. They also want to know how long you can stand, walk, and sit for, and how much weight you can lift and carry.
SSA will also ask about the treatments you have undergone, and/or continue to undergo. You will want to explain how the treatments have not been helping, and what the doctors are continuing to do to try to find a treatment that helps.
How to Answer the Questions
The most important thing in answering any questions SSA asks is to always be honest. Remember, you have given SSA access to your medical records and they will be comparing what your doctors say about your conditions to what you say your limitations are. If the two do not match up, it will be difficult to win your case.
If you have an SSDI or SSI claim and need help answering some of the questions asked of you by SSA, contact an experienced attorney today.