Here are some facts that will definitely NOT help you at your Social Security disability hearing.
1. You quit work because you didn't have a car or dependable transportation.
2. You quit work to care for a child or sick family member.
3. You got laid off or the plant you worked for closed down. (Or you quit for ANY reason other than a physical or mental inability to perform the work, which is the only thing Social Security is going to pay for).
4. You had legal problems or got arrested/incarcerated.
5. You have drug or alcohol problems in your recent past.
6. You worked after your alleged onset date but the work was "under the table" and not reported for tax purposes.
7. You received unemployment benefits after your alleged onset date (indicating that you told the State labor bureau that you were able to work and available for work).
8. You are making no attempt to follow your doctor's prescribed treatment, including failure to take prescribed medications.
9. You admit that there are some "easier jobs" that you could probably do; however, they pay minimum wage and you just can't live on that kind of money.
10. You haven't been able to find a job. Nobody will hire you, etc. Employers consider you to be a "liability." There are too many people looking for work.
There is a huge difference between being unemployed and being disabled.
If any of these "red flags" are true in your case, be sure that your attorney or representative is aware of them before the hearing so he or she doesn't get "bush whacked" in the hearing. Caution: Judges often know more about you than you think. I'm not sure if they know things by using public documents, by reading your Facebook page, or whatever....but they have a way of knowing. And a good judge will always read your medical records with a fine tooth comb. Anything you told a doctor is probably in the medical record. Gambling, arrests, drug use, smoking, family problems....it's probably there.
1. You quit work because you didn't have a car or dependable transportation.
2. You quit work to care for a child or sick family member.
3. You got laid off or the plant you worked for closed down. (Or you quit for ANY reason other than a physical or mental inability to perform the work, which is the only thing Social Security is going to pay for).
4. You had legal problems or got arrested/incarcerated.
5. You have drug or alcohol problems in your recent past.
6. You worked after your alleged onset date but the work was "under the table" and not reported for tax purposes.
7. You received unemployment benefits after your alleged onset date (indicating that you told the State labor bureau that you were able to work and available for work).
8. You are making no attempt to follow your doctor's prescribed treatment, including failure to take prescribed medications.
9. You admit that there are some "easier jobs" that you could probably do; however, they pay minimum wage and you just can't live on that kind of money.
10. You haven't been able to find a job. Nobody will hire you, etc. Employers consider you to be a "liability." There are too many people looking for work.
There is a huge difference between being unemployed and being disabled.
If any of these "red flags" are true in your case, be sure that your attorney or representative is aware of them before the hearing so he or she doesn't get "bush whacked" in the hearing. Caution: Judges often know more about you than you think. I'm not sure if they know things by using public documents, by reading your Facebook page, or whatever....but they have a way of knowing. And a good judge will always read your medical records with a fine tooth comb. Anything you told a doctor is probably in the medical record. Gambling, arrests, drug use, smoking, family problems....it's probably there.
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