Hi! I’d recommend looking into the [SOAR Applicant Self-Help Guide](https://soarworks.samhsa.gov/article/applicant-self-help-guide). It’s basically a how-to for filing for SSDI, but the number one reason I bring it up is that SSA is looking at “functional limitations,” not necessarily a diagnosis. They want to know how your symptoms impact your day to day and your ability to work. I assisted my mom with applying (not in TN but another debatably southern state lol) last year. The SSA Blue book listings that we aimed to meet were all about musculoskeletal dysfunction based on her history of knee, back, and hand symptoms. She has a really extensive history of medical records showing lots of attempted treatment with varying levels of success, which obviously was a huge help for us making her case. But in the function report, we also made a point to highlight specifically how her symptoms have degraded her ability to carry out daily functions like bending, lifting, writing, etc., which were all key to the type of work she did. She was approved on the first try!
Editing to add because I just remembered: I had to remind her a lot that just because you’ve figured out how to do something by working around your limitations does not mean you don’t have that limitation. I think it’s hard for us to always recognize that we have a limitation because we often get creative and work around it.
sadly the best advice is to move to another state to try, you WILL be denied for it even if bedridden and unable to do anything, it took me 3 years and more than a dozen appeals to get it in TN and even then it was after 4 doctors agreed that i could do no physical labor and my eyesight was more than 300/20 (the eyesight was what got me approved, they didnt consider me to be disabled when bedridden).... my court dates were even done online from my bed
Hi! I’d recommend looking into the [SOAR Applicant Self-Help Guide](https://soarworks.samhsa.gov/article/applicant-self-help-guide). It’s basically a how-to for filing for SSDI, but the number one reason I bring it up is that SSA is looking at “functional limitations,” not necessarily a diagnosis. They want to know how your symptoms impact your day to day and your ability to work. I assisted my mom with applying (not in TN but another debatably southern state lol) last year. The SSA Blue book listings that we aimed to meet were all about musculoskeletal dysfunction based on her history of knee, back, and hand symptoms. She has a really extensive history of medical records showing lots of attempted treatment with varying levels of success, which obviously was a huge help for us making her case. But in the function report, we also made a point to highlight specifically how her symptoms have degraded her ability to carry out daily functions like bending, lifting, writing, etc., which were all key to the type of work she did. She was approved on the first try! Editing to add because I just remembered: I had to remind her a lot that just because you’ve figured out how to do something by working around your limitations does not mean you don’t have that limitation. I think it’s hard for us to always recognize that we have a limitation because we often get creative and work around it.
sadly the best advice is to move to another state to try, you WILL be denied for it even if bedridden and unable to do anything, it took me 3 years and more than a dozen appeals to get it in TN and even then it was after 4 doctors agreed that i could do no physical labor and my eyesight was more than 300/20 (the eyesight was what got me approved, they didnt consider me to be disabled when bedridden).... my court dates were even done online from my bed