Anita,
I don't have much experience with SSDI but I have an attorney in my firm who does so he responded to your question:
"Speaking as an ex-Social Security Office of Hearings and Appeals Attorney, the disability process is a long, complex exercise.
Generally, whether or not someone is disabled is a 5 step analysis:
1) Whether the person applying is working or as the gov. says, "performing substantial gainful activity." If they are, they cannot be disabled.
2) Do they have an impairment that the gov. considers a "Severe Impairment?" In other words, does the impairment impact the person's ability to perform daily activities. (Most impairments are severe and meet this threshold, but it's still a threshold and needs to be met.)
3) Do they have a Listed Impairment? The SSA has listed certain categories of impairments and once you meet the listed impairment, you are found disabled. In order to be of listed severity, the disability is usually incredibly severe.
4) Can the person perform their past work? So, if the claimant has a bad back but used to work a sedentary desk job, they will be denied at this level, because technically, they can still perform sedentary work...
5) If they cannot perform their past work, is there any other job in their general regional area that they can perform. And, here's where most folks lose their case. Just because the claimant has an impairment, doesn't mean they can't perform some sort of work, like ticket taker, cashier, proof reader, etc... So, if the person has an impairment that limits him from speaking, is there any other job out there that someone can do without needing to speak. The gov. will call on vocational experts to provide all types of simple jobs that folks with all sorts of impairments can still perform.
Once a person applies, they can either be approved or denied. If denied, they can ask for a reconsideration. If denied again, they can ask for their case to be taken to the Federal Office of Hearings and Appeals, where an Administrative Law Judge will give them a hearing and again, apply the above 5 steps.
The claimant's need to understand that appealing is part of the process and should not be frowned upon. However, each step takes months and can take at least a year in total from the time the application is filed to the time the person is finally found disabled.
The claimants can seek lawyers and/or consultants to help with the process. But they will pay a percentage of their back pay to the firm that helps them become disabled."
Let me know if either of us can help further.
Amy
