WHY YOU ARE DISABLED vs. WHY YOU CAN'T GET A JOB

When you file a Social Security disability claim or file an appeal on a denied claim, it is vital that you focus on the key issue.  The key issue is "Why I am disabled."

The Social Security Act does not concern itself with the question "Why I Can't Get a Job."  One is a disability issue; the other is an employment issue.

A disability claim must focus on severe functional limitations that can be proven with medical evidence.  By "functional limitations," I mean the inability to perform one or more work-related activities.  Functional limitations may be divided into two broad categories, and I have given a few examples for illustration:

Exertional Limitations

• I cannot lift and carry more than 10 pounds.
• I cannot walk more than 25 yards without resting.
• I can't use my upper extremities to push/pull.

Non-exertional Limitations

• I have a severe hearing disorder.
• I am unable to remember, understand or carry out simple instructions.
• I am not able to focus or concentrate long enough to do work activities.

Too often, disability claimants get side tracked into non-productive areas like, "No one will hire me because...."  This line of thought will never prove successful in Social Security disability applications or appeals.  The correct approach would be, "I am not able to work because..."  Those may sound like very subtle differences but to Social Security decision makers, they are huge differences.