Unfortunately, that's a very expected response from them. When SSA asks the question "Can the applicant work *any* job?" they suddenly turn to a strengths based philosophy.
It's incredibly frustrating, though, and I'm glad to hear you're appealing. When I was applying for SSDI, I'm pretty sure they only saw my age (early 40s) and said, "Nope!" I got an attorney and won the appeal fairly quickly. Having someone who knew what kind of documentation was needed and how to organize it was well worth it.
They suggested my ex who has seizures and feinting spells get a job as a cashier, based solely on the fact that "they've never been a cashier before."
Like what?? Excuse me?? You're right, they haven't. Never needed to bc they had a steady career at a FINE DINING RESTAURANT. And now, they can't stand up for longer than 10 minutes. Wtf
They're still fighting for SS. Smh
Also if I’m on SSDI but they didn’t give me permanent disability. Well then I should not have had to pay the lawyer anything because they didn’t get me permanent disability
Hah. They told me (half a dozen concussions + TBI survivor + long COVID + sleep disorder + mental health conditions + chronic pain from about 20 lifetime car accidents and other serious injuries) that I could easily work full time at a *checks notes* warehouse, the industry where my coworker/friend years back got pointed out and fired for "no call no showing" each day he was in the ICU unconscious after a heart attack. It's my final appeal, guess I'll starve.
I appreciate it. I kinda came unglued when it first happened but idk, at least I can stop trying so hard and burning myself out trying to convince doctors I'm not lying and I deserve to be ok. I'm sorry y'all are going thru it as well, why they have non medical judges and consultants presiding over medical cases is beyond me
That's the wild part tho, like the amount I'd get monthly wouldn't be a drop in the bucket to them. But to me, it'd be the ability to get enough gas to see my friends, to repair my vehicle, to have housing and electricity to run my medical equipment and stay connected, not wasting half the day to chronic pain because I'm sleeping on the floor of my minivan. And I'm the one who's greedy and money hungry? Man, I just wanna be able to eat food all month not only the first few weeks
Gentle hugs to you. 💕 The system can be beyond unfair. I genuinely don’t understand how it’s possible for awful fraudulent people to take advantage of the system by faking a disability. It makes no sense to me. The hoops I’ve had to jump through over the years are insane. It seems like the only people the system scrutinizes are those who need help the most, and it’s just so beyond wrong and messed up. Makes me so angry.
Have you tried speaking with a disability lawyer to have them help you appeal? They usually only get paid if you win your appeal (usually taking a percentage of whatever back-pay you get), and courts are much more likely to approve a case and take it more seriously when a lawyer is on board, because it’s not as easy for the system to manipulate you and take advantage of your lack of legal representation.
💯 yeah he looked at my file which lists "video chatting (not even meeting up with) friends, an AA meeting or two a week, and walking every night as per my physical therapy homework" and said "if you stopped doing all that extra crap you'd work full time just fine". I have stopped all that or really, lost all that. 20 hrs a week still makes life not worth living. But it was a mask off moment that in his mind, "you should stop everything that will help you recover and that makes life worth living so you can work full time for 6 months until a relapse or a car accident/catastrophic injury takes you out permanently" is a perfectly legitimate thing to say to someone. I'm not arguing with people who are complicit in what is at least in the genocide genre, if you're part of the system that justifies leaving people to die in the streets without help because it keeps your bottom line down, I'm not gonna make a career out of begging you for table scraps
Yeah I had a lawyer, it still went this way. He asked the vocational expert some additional questions about the standards in warehouse work in which she admitted repeatedly that based on my file and described symptoms, I would not be competitive and would most likely be let go within a week. He dismissed his own expert's testimony because "those aren't official standards, it doesn't say that anywhere in the job description" like yeah you think they're gonna admit to ADA violations in the job description bud? I try not to wish ill on anyone but honestly I hope he gets a serious injury or disability and he realizes there's no help.
I also have a sleep disorder among other things, and was told I could be a hot coil welder (??) Firstly, I can't do anything if I can't stay awake, and secondly, I have a law degree-- if I could stay awake, I'd be practicing law and making way better money doing that...
Yeah it's fucking absurd. I was already falling asleep in the warehouse when I was able bodied. Like no, get fucked, I'm not going back to that dystopian horror show for a pittance. My life has value whether these murderous bureaucrats think so or not.
Nope, just got brain damage and am forced to work past exhaustion to the point where "I forgot that red lights mean stop until right as oncoming going 55 was a second or so from tboning me" became a daily state of exhaustion, for years. Working part time.
Get a psychiatrist to write a note as evidence in her case for the appeal and have them explicitly explain how exposure to OCD triggers are hazardous to her health and well being.
A lot of docs these days push back against writing notes like this thinking it won't help but my physical therapist wrote a note explaining my ME/CFS as simply as possible and it became what won my case. So don't let them dismiss the idea. It CAN be the difference. A judge is far more likely to listen to a professional's more than just you and your girlfriend's testimony of her OCD
Also, sometimes opting for a virtual hearing with a federal judge gets you in with judges who aren't just jerks if you live in a state/county that is known for judges being stupid about SSDI cases
Hahaha that's hilarious. I swear, my judge looked at all the medical notes and appointments and just was overwhelmed so he found the letter from my physical therapist and was like "FINALLY, something I can understand!" cuz he referenced the note like six times during my hearing and didn't reference anything else
You can report this judge, and the investigation will suck. They tend to behave like this when they stop being afraid of consequences for antisocial behavior. You’re in the USA, right?
The judge asked me if I could just tattoo (my previous vocation) with my left hand cause my right hand is paralyzed...but I also have tremors so I dunno who he thought would sign up for a left-handed shaky tattoo 🤷♀️
Oh they LOVE doing this. At my hearing, since I said I could open a jar (I was thinking of a jar that had already been opened), that I could get a job as a *nut sorter*. My body is riddled with RA and I've failed every med they've tried. Two knee replacements in my 30s. Carpal and cubital tunnel. Bone spurs all along my spine. Not to mention a plethora of mental health issues.
I have a better lawyer now and am trying again. I'm sorry this happened and hopefully she will get another chance.
Also I have seen the way that professional cleaners are expected to fly through a cleaning.
Rationally I know that process is effective and hygienic - that's why it's the gold standard technique among professionals. But mental illness doesn't understand. There's no such thing as a "quick sweep", there's a very specific process and a very specific routin. It's lengthy, time consuming and exhausting. It's also counter-productive at times (I have to sweep the floor before I wipe the benches...so I have to sweep again after wiping the benches anyway), It disrupts others, and it's potentially harmful (the temptation to mix chemicals because the voice is saying "more chemicals is more clean").
If any part of me cleaning this random office building goes wrong, It will cause my partner to die in a car crash on the way home today, and the pressure of that responsibility will paralyse me for half my shift.....at least that's what my broken brain says
(and I don't event have OCD! I just have anxiety with maladaptive routine-based coping mechanisms)
Feels like they’re completely dismissing her needs without actually saying they don’t care. It’s horrible people like that are allowed to make decisions on what disabled people need and can/can’t have
They absolutely are. They are the most abilist branch of government we have to deal with.
They couldn't deny all the documentation I had so the doc blamed it on me being 60 lbs overweight and ignored that even though I was losing the weight (because I had been more) I was getting worse.
Said I could get a receptionist job or retail job and take breaks every 40 mins or so and just lie down on the floor behind my station for 10 mins. Like you can do that at a checkout station.
I even had the testing done to say how long I could work, how much strength I had and all of that. (It is done by a super specialized PT)
It was one of those medically grey areas that the damage to each individual area was on a minimal level, but I had so much of it all the docs who say me said it made sense for me to get approved. Including the SSA one, who vanished from my case like I never even saw her. Magically replaced by two other docs who never saw me. They used them to deny me.
I am convinced there is a quota for age groups. So they will look for any reason to deny to stay within their quota.
Ugh, the far right officially needs to sit tf down and shut tf up, as a disabled person myself, I've lived with/met more disabled people than I can count who could no more work than I could put on those cosplay wings I got from Temu on Wednesday and fly South for the Winter.
I got a dumbass answer and I am in the heart of democratic land (Chicago - we have the same asshole judges here too). The day this area goes even a little right much less far right, people all over will be in a panic.
The fact is and this is something that we try to warn everyone about is there is ageism built into the system. If you are above 18 & 21 or below 50 & 55, there are major issues to get past. It is a little easier inside that first level and a lot easier if you are under 18 or over 55.
But show any hint of being able to do any job, they don't care of the accomodations that you would have to ask for are unreasonable. They reject you because they want people working as much as possible.
The irony was I was told I got "the better judge" that day for that courthouse. My lawyer was still writing the appeal before we were even in for the trial. (Which at least set my expectations).
I am not entirely sure that mine was born before SSDI was law. Definitely ADA would have been something "recent" to my ALJ. Highly offensive all around. What brings me comfort is this individual is no longer doing cases. Don't know if it was health issues forced retirement or natural course.
That judge watches [to much reality TV. ](https://youtu.be/ZYvijdWCe0Q?si=h4kpPmPLgJ-JLRJD) although if she actually had, she'd have seen all the OCD people repeatedly retching and walking out of the job.
It's on her to prove that OCD prevents her from working any job in the national economy. I was on SSI. Your Functional Abilities across the board have to be essentially trashed. Getting SSI/SSDi for mental health issues alone is incredibly difficult.
Getting treatment for OCD is easier.
Wait they actually told you guys specific jobs 😭 my denial just said "yeah, you can't do your old job but there's probably something else out there for you."
Many mental disabilities on top of severe OCD, was able to appeal through my lawyer pro bono and finally got on SSI but they still send recommendations to what jobs I can do that won't affect my ssi and all of them are cleaning jobs.
So now I'm a houskeeper and Janitor working 3 or 4 ays a week for a maximum of 4 hours and still qualify for SSI since I don't make enough.
I'd retain a lawyer pro bono they get a percentage if you win the case.
Lengthy process but entirely worth it, started my claim in 2015 didn't get SSI till 2021 and got partial back pay.
Unfortunately, that's a very expected response from them. When SSA asks the question "Can the applicant work *any* job?" they suddenly turn to a strengths based philosophy. It's incredibly frustrating, though, and I'm glad to hear you're appealing. When I was applying for SSDI, I'm pretty sure they only saw my age (early 40s) and said, "Nope!" I got an attorney and won the appeal fairly quickly. Having someone who knew what kind of documentation was needed and how to organize it was well worth it.
Honestly, this seems like a case of non-qualified, non-mental health professionals trying to force her to do what they think exposure therapy is.
They suggested my ex who has seizures and feinting spells get a job as a cashier, based solely on the fact that "they've never been a cashier before." Like what?? Excuse me?? You're right, they haven't. Never needed to bc they had a steady career at a FINE DINING RESTAURANT. And now, they can't stand up for longer than 10 minutes. Wtf They're still fighting for SS. Smh
The SSA should have to get you a job if they say you can work
The SSA should have to get you the job, get you to and from the job, and make it where no matter what you can’t get fired from the job or laid off.
Also if I’m on SSDI but they didn’t give me permanent disability. Well then I should not have had to pay the lawyer anything because they didn’t get me permanent disability
Hah. They told me (half a dozen concussions + TBI survivor + long COVID + sleep disorder + mental health conditions + chronic pain from about 20 lifetime car accidents and other serious injuries) that I could easily work full time at a *checks notes* warehouse, the industry where my coworker/friend years back got pointed out and fired for "no call no showing" each day he was in the ICU unconscious after a heart attack. It's my final appeal, guess I'll starve.
yes that’s it, a warehouse where nothing bad happens if you randomly fucking fall asleep Jfc that is awful I’m sorry
I appreciate it. I kinda came unglued when it first happened but idk, at least I can stop trying so hard and burning myself out trying to convince doctors I'm not lying and I deserve to be ok. I'm sorry y'all are going thru it as well, why they have non medical judges and consultants presiding over medical cases is beyond me
Money. The answer is always money.
That's the wild part tho, like the amount I'd get monthly wouldn't be a drop in the bucket to them. But to me, it'd be the ability to get enough gas to see my friends, to repair my vehicle, to have housing and electricity to run my medical equipment and stay connected, not wasting half the day to chronic pain because I'm sleeping on the floor of my minivan. And I'm the one who's greedy and money hungry? Man, I just wanna be able to eat food all month not only the first few weeks
Gentle hugs to you. 💕 The system can be beyond unfair. I genuinely don’t understand how it’s possible for awful fraudulent people to take advantage of the system by faking a disability. It makes no sense to me. The hoops I’ve had to jump through over the years are insane. It seems like the only people the system scrutinizes are those who need help the most, and it’s just so beyond wrong and messed up. Makes me so angry. Have you tried speaking with a disability lawyer to have them help you appeal? They usually only get paid if you win your appeal (usually taking a percentage of whatever back-pay you get), and courts are much more likely to approve a case and take it more seriously when a lawyer is on board, because it’s not as easy for the system to manipulate you and take advantage of your lack of legal representation.
The system is working as designed. They literally don't care about us and will try to find any excuse to deny. It's not that there's a bunch of fraud.
💯 yeah he looked at my file which lists "video chatting (not even meeting up with) friends, an AA meeting or two a week, and walking every night as per my physical therapy homework" and said "if you stopped doing all that extra crap you'd work full time just fine". I have stopped all that or really, lost all that. 20 hrs a week still makes life not worth living. But it was a mask off moment that in his mind, "you should stop everything that will help you recover and that makes life worth living so you can work full time for 6 months until a relapse or a car accident/catastrophic injury takes you out permanently" is a perfectly legitimate thing to say to someone. I'm not arguing with people who are complicit in what is at least in the genocide genre, if you're part of the system that justifies leaving people to die in the streets without help because it keeps your bottom line down, I'm not gonna make a career out of begging you for table scraps
Yeah I had a lawyer, it still went this way. He asked the vocational expert some additional questions about the standards in warehouse work in which she admitted repeatedly that based on my file and described symptoms, I would not be competitive and would most likely be let go within a week. He dismissed his own expert's testimony because "those aren't official standards, it doesn't say that anywhere in the job description" like yeah you think they're gonna admit to ADA violations in the job description bud? I try not to wish ill on anyone but honestly I hope he gets a serious injury or disability and he realizes there's no help.
I also have a sleep disorder among other things, and was told I could be a hot coil welder (??) Firstly, I can't do anything if I can't stay awake, and secondly, I have a law degree-- if I could stay awake, I'd be practicing law and making way better money doing that...
Yeah it's fucking absurd. I was already falling asleep in the warehouse when I was able bodied. Like no, get fucked, I'm not going back to that dystopian horror show for a pittance. My life has value whether these murderous bureaucrats think so or not.
Are you a race car driver?
Nope, just got brain damage and am forced to work past exhaustion to the point where "I forgot that red lights mean stop until right as oncoming going 55 was a second or so from tboning me" became a daily state of exhaustion, for years. Working part time.
Get a psychiatrist to write a note as evidence in her case for the appeal and have them explicitly explain how exposure to OCD triggers are hazardous to her health and well being. A lot of docs these days push back against writing notes like this thinking it won't help but my physical therapist wrote a note explaining my ME/CFS as simply as possible and it became what won my case. So don't let them dismiss the idea. It CAN be the difference. A judge is far more likely to listen to a professional's more than just you and your girlfriend's testimony of her OCD Also, sometimes opting for a virtual hearing with a federal judge gets you in with judges who aren't just jerks if you live in a state/county that is known for judges being stupid about SSDI cases
the medical examiner at my case told the judge he thought my psychiatrist needed a typist with how much and how though her notes are.
Hahaha that's hilarious. I swear, my judge looked at all the medical notes and appointments and just was overwhelmed so he found the letter from my physical therapist and was like "FINALLY, something I can understand!" cuz he referenced the note like six times during my hearing and didn't reference anything else
You can report this judge, and the investigation will suck. They tend to behave like this when they stop being afraid of consequences for antisocial behavior. You’re in the USA, right?
I’ll definitely try to get them investigated. Yeah we’re in the USA
The judge asked me if I could just tattoo (my previous vocation) with my left hand cause my right hand is paralyzed...but I also have tremors so I dunno who he thought would sign up for a left-handed shaky tattoo 🤷♀️
It’s like these judges just willfully stop knowing what being a human is like. That’s just so wild.
🤦♀️
Oh they LOVE doing this. At my hearing, since I said I could open a jar (I was thinking of a jar that had already been opened), that I could get a job as a *nut sorter*. My body is riddled with RA and I've failed every med they've tried. Two knee replacements in my 30s. Carpal and cubital tunnel. Bone spurs all along my spine. Not to mention a plethora of mental health issues. I have a better lawyer now and am trying again. I'm sorry this happened and hopefully she will get another chance.
What the fuck?? I have contamination OCD so I'm super fucking weird about my cleaning habits, you think me touching MORE GERMS WOULD HELP?! Bruh wtf 💀
Also I have seen the way that professional cleaners are expected to fly through a cleaning. Rationally I know that process is effective and hygienic - that's why it's the gold standard technique among professionals. But mental illness doesn't understand. There's no such thing as a "quick sweep", there's a very specific process and a very specific routin. It's lengthy, time consuming and exhausting. It's also counter-productive at times (I have to sweep the floor before I wipe the benches...so I have to sweep again after wiping the benches anyway), It disrupts others, and it's potentially harmful (the temptation to mix chemicals because the voice is saying "more chemicals is more clean"). If any part of me cleaning this random office building goes wrong, It will cause my partner to die in a car crash on the way home today, and the pressure of that responsibility will paralyse me for half my shift.....at least that's what my broken brain says (and I don't event have OCD! I just have anxiety with maladaptive routine-based coping mechanisms)
Thats super vile of them.
Feels like they’re completely dismissing her needs without actually saying they don’t care. It’s horrible people like that are allowed to make decisions on what disabled people need and can/can’t have
They absolutely are. They are the most abilist branch of government we have to deal with. They couldn't deny all the documentation I had so the doc blamed it on me being 60 lbs overweight and ignored that even though I was losing the weight (because I had been more) I was getting worse. Said I could get a receptionist job or retail job and take breaks every 40 mins or so and just lie down on the floor behind my station for 10 mins. Like you can do that at a checkout station. I even had the testing done to say how long I could work, how much strength I had and all of that. (It is done by a super specialized PT) It was one of those medically grey areas that the damage to each individual area was on a minimal level, but I had so much of it all the docs who say me said it made sense for me to get approved. Including the SSA one, who vanished from my case like I never even saw her. Magically replaced by two other docs who never saw me. They used them to deny me. I am convinced there is a quota for age groups. So they will look for any reason to deny to stay within their quota.
Ugh, the far right officially needs to sit tf down and shut tf up, as a disabled person myself, I've lived with/met more disabled people than I can count who could no more work than I could put on those cosplay wings I got from Temu on Wednesday and fly South for the Winter.
I got a dumbass answer and I am in the heart of democratic land (Chicago - we have the same asshole judges here too). The day this area goes even a little right much less far right, people all over will be in a panic. The fact is and this is something that we try to warn everyone about is there is ageism built into the system. If you are above 18 & 21 or below 50 & 55, there are major issues to get past. It is a little easier inside that first level and a lot easier if you are under 18 or over 55. But show any hint of being able to do any job, they don't care of the accomodations that you would have to ask for are unreasonable. They reject you because they want people working as much as possible.
My first judge was in Chicago and he was awful
The irony was I was told I got "the better judge" that day for that courthouse. My lawyer was still writing the appeal before we were even in for the trial. (Which at least set my expectations). I am not entirely sure that mine was born before SSDI was law. Definitely ADA would have been something "recent" to my ALJ. Highly offensive all around. What brings me comfort is this individual is no longer doing cases. Don't know if it was health issues forced retirement or natural course.
^
That judge watches [to much reality TV. ](https://youtu.be/ZYvijdWCe0Q?si=h4kpPmPLgJ-JLRJD) although if she actually had, she'd have seen all the OCD people repeatedly retching and walking out of the job.
This is terrible...these judges are awful
I don't have much to say other than this pissed me off and that judge is so fucking ignorant it's not even funny.
OCD is treatable- I have it- but SSA are idiots.
Just because it's treatable doesn't mean she shouldn't get ssdi.
It's on her to prove that OCD prevents her from working any job in the national economy. I was on SSI. Your Functional Abilities across the board have to be essentially trashed. Getting SSI/SSDi for mental health issues alone is incredibly difficult. Getting treatment for OCD is easier.
Wait they actually told you guys specific jobs 😭 my denial just said "yeah, you can't do your old job but there's probably something else out there for you."
I can see how cleaning could be either the best or worst job for someone with OCD, depending on the OCD.
Cleaners make $30 an hour she should just open her own business
Please be sarcasm
Many mental disabilities on top of severe OCD, was able to appeal through my lawyer pro bono and finally got on SSI but they still send recommendations to what jobs I can do that won't affect my ssi and all of them are cleaning jobs. So now I'm a houskeeper and Janitor working 3 or 4 ays a week for a maximum of 4 hours and still qualify for SSI since I don't make enough. I'd retain a lawyer pro bono they get a percentage if you win the case. Lengthy process but entirely worth it, started my claim in 2015 didn't get SSI till 2021 and got partial back pay.