For Soc Sec Dis help

[Sophia3]

This is an excellent site for information in order to gain or maintain disability issues.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Disinissues/?yguid=61216808

Here is an example from their link on filling out the Daily Living Activities Questionnaire

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Answer in terms of your worst days, not your good days.

Use word processing rather than trying to answer in the spaces provided.

Restate the question, with the section and number of the question, and

then give your answer. Explain that you are using the computer because

it is easier for you.

It IS easier, because you can copy and paste, for one thing, since

several forms have similar questions! And if, as is likely for unlisted

impairments, you are denied on initial claim, you will be very happy

you have the answers already typed, needing only an update, for your

recon and hearing, if it gets to that stage.

Remember not to say how you have adapted, but what functions you

have lost. Ask for help on this - it is easy for us to forget how we

have worked around our problems.

For each section, give specific examples of what you can't do. Don't

give your adaptation, but what you can't do. Here are some examples, to

give you some ideas for describing the facts in your own case:

Do not say "I must sit to prepare meals."

Do say: "I can no longer stand at the kitchen counter to prepare

meals."

Do say: "I can no longer make cookies."

Do not say: " I bake cake because it is easier than making cookies."

Do not say: "I shop for myself."

Do say: " I buy only a few items at a time. I can't carry a lot of

bags, and, more important, I can't put away a lot of groceries when I

get home. I can't spend a lot of time in the store, either, so I make

short trips for just a few things at a time."

Do not say: "I do laundry."

Do say: " I can do only one load of laundry at a time, although I used

to do all my laundry at once. I cannot put away the clean clothes the

same day as I do the laundry. That is now a task for another day. I

no longer keep up with the laundry, since I have to wait for a day I feel

up to the task, and those good days are not necessarily when I need

clean clothes."

Do not say: "I make my own meals."

Do say: " I no longer make complete meals and no longer invite guests

for dinner. I eat simpler foods so that I don't need to spend as much

time preparing meals. Sometimes, I need to rest before I can finish

making something to eat. Occasionally, I have fallen asleep and not

gone back to eat what I was preparing. I lose track of what I was doing

very easily and have often forgotten that I put water up to boil."

The answer to "do you watch TV" is NOT yes. The answer is

something like this:

I can no longer watch shows as long as an hour because I can no longer

maintain attention that long. Even when I try to watch what used to be

favorite shows, I now fall asleep, or else, if I manage to stay awake, I

lose track of the plot. Loud commercials bother me physically now,

exacerbating my pain.

Another advantage of using word processing is that you should give

specific examples of your loss of functioning, not just the answers to

the questions as written. The spaces the forms have for answers are ok

for yes or no answers, but you need to explain why you can't work!!!

[Miriam Poorman-Knox]

YOU RULE this is why soooo many of us get denied. Especially when these "NICE" ssi workers call on the phone and ask questions. Messing with whats left of our wits!!!! Miriam