SSDRC: January 2008

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Families Together

Familiestogetherinc.org, as stated on their site, is a non-profit organization and Parent Training and Information Center serving Kansas’ families that include a son or daughter with a disability. The website serves as web home for the four Parent Centers in Wichita, Topeka, Garden City and Kansas City, KS.

Parent Centers are funded by the U.S. Department of Education and serve families with children from birth to 22 years old that have any type of disability, from physical, emotional and mental disabilities, to learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders. The Parent Centers help families obtain education, training and services needed for their children, help to resolve conflicts between families and agencies and help families connect to community resources.

The website offers up-to-date events, links to special education resources, a listserve for parents, a newsletter and many texts on dealing with disability.

Familiestogetherinc.com is available in a graphic version, text-only version and Spanish.

For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center

Additional Resources

Social Security definition of disability
Appeal a disability claim
How does Social Security determine that I am disabled
When to file for disability benefits?
Social security disability application denied
Disability reconsideration
Can you speed up the Social Security disability process?
Who will decide my Social Security disability claim?

Working while on social security disability and not reporting

On this topic, there can only be one thing to say. If you receive social security disability, always report work activity and earnings to the social security administration.

A failure to do this can potentially result in the suspension of one's benefits, or, possibly, in an overpayment situation that may be difficult to resolve.

How soon should you report your earnings? As soon as you begin to receive them. Who should you report them to? To your local social security office. In doing this, of course, it may be wise to actually make a visit to the office versus calling and leaving a message for a social security claims representative.

One thing you would probably be wise not to do is to call and report your earnings and work activity to the social security administration's toll free line. If you do this, you run the risk of your information not being acted upon properly (the SSA 1-800 line is legendary for giving out wrong information and failing to document information that has been reported to the social security administration using this line.

For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center

Additional Resources

Denied on a disability appeal
An attorney for Social Security disability?
Disability case reviewed
After I file my social security disability claim
Social Security Disability Reconsideration - what does it involve?
Will an attorney help me win disability benefits?

Letters from doctors for Social Security Disability

Letters from doctors that simply state "My patient is disabled and unable to work" have little value in the eyes of a disability examiner or a federal judge. The social security disability system focuses on a claimant's remaining ability to work, despite their condition, and looks to compare objective evidence regarding a claimant's functionality against the demands of their past work and other types of work they may potentially be suited for. For this reason, an assessment of a
claimant's functionality and limitations by a treating physician can be vital. This is particularly the case at the disability hearing level.

Should a physician submit a supporting statement prior to the disability hearing level? In some cases, this type of statement may be instrumental in winning a case at the intial claim and reconsideration levels.

However, state disability processing agencies (where disability examiners decide claims for the social security administration) often do not give credence to the opinion of a treating physician, choosing instead to adopt the opinion of an agency unit physician (employed by social security) who has never treated the claimant, or the opinion of an independent consultative medical examiner (a physician who has performed an outside exam, lasting, perhaps, 10 minutes on average, and who, once again, has no history of treatment with the claimant).

At the disability hearing level, however, attitudes toward statements provided by treating physicians are often remarkably different. And such a statement can certainly win a claimant's case, as long as the statement is in line with the physician's history of treatment with the claimant.

For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center

Additional Resources

General disability resources
Resources for veterans
Retirement resources
Resources for seniors
Sites for independent living
Medication assistance sites
Disability Questions

Social Security Disability Coalition

The Social Security Disability Coalition (SSDC) website is an MSN Group formed in 2003 and a very comprehensive resource center for those seeking information on Social Security Disability Insurance. The group is aimed at reforming the Social Security Disability System by collecting and analyzing data to affect major policy and protocol change. The site has two very active and information message boards, one for general SSDI information and one for SSDC approval.

Other than the message boards, the site is full of informational links,
data, articles and resources and a long lists of various support groups. One of the site's main functions is to get signatures for the Social Security Disability Reform Petition. Currently the petition has over 2,000 signatures.

For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center

Additional Resources

Social Security disability and lupus
Bipolar Disorder and Social Security disability
To be awarded Social Security disability
Social Security disability benefits - how long to get them?
Social Security disability approved
Disability Questions

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

A medical source statement can be an effective tool

What happens when a disability claimant's medical records fail to establish that they no longer have the ability to derive a substantial, gainful income from the performance of work activity? Their claim may be denied or they may be sent to a consultative medical exam, performed by an independent physician, for the purpose of gathering additional documentation. Such exams, though, rarely result in the approval of a claim. And, in fact, in most cases consultative medical exams are scheduled simply to satisfy a "recency of evidence" requirement, thus allowing a case to be closed.

In actuality, one of the most effective tools for winning a social security disability or SSI claim is the submission of a medical source statement from a claimant's treatment physician.

What is a medical source statement? It may take the form of a residual functional capacity assessment such as the RFC form used by the social security administration (a multi-page checkoff form that allows a physician to address a claimant's functionality and limitations). Or it may be presented as a letter from a treating physician. In either case, however, it is vital that the form is sufficiently detailed to the extent that a claims adjudicator can determine what the claimant's limitations are in the opinion of the treating physician.

For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center

Additional Resources

Medication related resources
SSD and SSI resource sites
Independent living resources
Resources for seniors
Social security retirement
Medical condition resources
Disability Questions

The claimant's ability to work

The social security administration's definition of disability focuses on a claimant's ability to work. And, for this reason, disability adjudicators (disability examiners at the application and reconsideration levels and administrative law judges at the hearing level) look for evidence of functional limitations when reviewing medical evidence. Specific examples would include a claimant's limitations with regard to the ability to sit, stand, walk, stoop, crouch, reach overhead, lift more than a certain weight or grasp objects.

Unfortunately, most treatment notes and hospital records are lacking in this regard, i.e. they fail to document a claimant's functional limitations, past or present. Yet, this is exactly the type of information that the social security administration is looking for when deciding claims.

For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center

Additional Resources

Medicaid, medicare, long term care
Choices for long term disability coverage
Cancer and long term disability
CAM defined
Disability resources
Medication resources
Disability Questions

What physicians and claimants should know

Practically every person who files for disability benefits understands that their medical records will be used to determine whether or not they are approved. And every physician who becomes aware of a patient's disability application knows, or should know, that the information they furnish to the social security administration may play a large role in deciding the outcome of their patient's claim. However, beyond this, the vast majority of claimants and physicians know relatively little about the approval criteria used by SSA for disability claims.

So,how does one qualify for disability benefits from the social security administration and what must a claimant's records demonstrate in order for this to occur?

For both title II (social security disability) and title 16 (SSI disability) benefits, a claimant must satisfy the following requirements:

1. They must have a severe condition (though SSA has little difficulty differentiating a severe impairment from a non-severe impairment, the process is, still, largely subjective).

2. For the condition to be considered disabling, it must have a duration of at least one year and, in that time, it must limit an individual's ability to work and earn at least a substantial and gainful income while in the performance of past work or suitable other work (as determined by one's age, education, work skills, and rated residual functional capacity).

For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center

Additional Resources

Applying for retirement from social security
Strategies for retirement
Projections for your retirement
Too many are not saving for retirement
Policies for disability insurance
Power mobility assistance and medicare
Disability Questions

Information contained in the records

Disability claims that have been filed with the social security administration are adjudicated on the basis of what a claimant's medical records have to say about their condition. And for claims that are inevitably approved, the information contained in the records do the following:

1. Establish the onset date of a claimant's disability (necessary for the calcuation of back pay benefits and for determining the onset of medicare eligibility).

2. Establish a current state of disability (necessary for the approval of ongoing benefits).

For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center

Additional Resources

A definition of assisted living
The practice of elder law
Independent living movement
The ADA
Working after retirement
What if you take early retirement?
Disability Questions

Friday, January 18, 2008

Senior Scene

This website is also called 'The Senior Scene’ and is provided by the Twinsburg Public Library in Twinsburg, OH. While the website’s top navigation offers mostly library-based services, such as the catalog, library jobs, library classes, etc., The Senior Scene website offers several pages of resource links for seniors who may not be so web savvy. For instance, links on basic computer education, links to free email such as hotmail.com and yahoo.com, and links to search engines such as google.com, yahoo.com and askjeeves.com.

The website has a simple navigation and each page is comprised of quick and easy links related to varied subjects that might be of interest to seniors, such as law and legal websites, weather, travel, senior groups, news and current events (local as well as national, international and web-based), health and medicine links and community links for seniors living in Twinsburg.

For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center

Additional Resources

Decisions on social security disability claims
Is Social Security required to make a decision on a disability case within a certain time?
Disability claim denied - options
What is the process to file a Social Security Disability appeal?
Winning disability benefits on Appeal
To qualify for Social Security disability, how severe must a condition be?

Recovery Support

Recovery Support, recoverysupport.wordpress.com, is a blog for peer specialists working in mental health. The blog began on October 1, 2007 and is written by a peer specialist working in Pennsylvania with a diagnosis of bipolar and symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

The blog entries themselves are in a very lively, candid tone and discuss everything from ‘self cutting’ to ‘introversion’ and ‘mental illness’. At present, the blog entries are getting anywhere from 1-4 comments for discussion. I found them very conversational and engaging and had no problem reading them all.

Other than the blog entries, the blog also offers links to articles, resources and organizations, a long list of links to other blogs on mental illness, psychiatry, c/s/x activism, and mental health law, and a section called ‘toolbox’ that offers links to practical tools for peer support work, such as goal plans, nutrition programs, mood charts and anger diaries. Although this is a new blog, the content is well organized and informational.

For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center

Additional Resources

Will SSA deny my social security disability claim if I work ?
Does Social Security disability provide medicine prescriptions ?
Denied for disability - file a new application ?
Rules for applying for disability ?

Thursday, January 10, 2008

A great family blog

I just thought I'd throw this in because it is a great example of how blogs can be used to chronicle the events of one's life or family life. In my opinion, this blog truly exemplifies the spirit of blogging. And the photos are quite interesting. The nature photos look very good and some of the family information really has that picture-postcard look, i.e. real americana.

It's really as they say: a picture says a thousand words. And by that reckoning, this one blog says quite a bit.

A great family photo album online

Crystal Angel

This website is a personal website/blog created for anyone affected by MS and/or Transverse Myelitis. The site was created by Crystal Nason-Rivera, a forty year old female from Georgia who has Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis and Transverse Myelitis.

The website/blog rings the tone of most personal websites, with a guestbook, twice monthly newsletter and personal stories.

Crystal shares her own MS story, tells about her experiences throughout her own battle and is an advocate of LDN (Low Dose Naltrexone).

In addition to personal experiences the site offers a variety of links, articles and videos about the diseases, drugs, pharmaceutical companies and online support groups, forums and chatrooms.

For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center

Additional Resources

Who handles my case if I apply for Social Security disability?
What is DDS, or disability determinations services ?
How do you appeal if you are denied for Social Security disability ?
How do I check the status of my Social Security disability claim ?
Should I apply for social Security disability or SSI disability ?
What is the difference between Social Security disability and SSI?

Modern Veterans

Modernveterans.com, also known as Veterans of Modern Warfare (VMV), is a comprehensive resource center for recent war veterans. According to the website their purpose is to support war veterans and their families by providing education and information about benefits earned and assistance in obtaining those benefits.

The site has several sections, from a job board for vets and information on events, hearings and legislation, to separate sections for women, families and children. The site appears to be updated frequently and has information about local and national chapters, weekend retreats and resources for a variety of issues facing the veterans of today. Their newsletter is available online and can be obtained by subscribing.

The site also offers applications for membership for current active duty service members and any veteran of the United States Armed Forces who has served since August 2, 1990. These individual memberships are $25 a year. They also offer memberships for friends, families and supporters. Family memberships are $65 a year.

For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center

Additional Resources

Do you have to see a judge to get disability benefits ?
Where do I go to apply for disability ?
How often will my disability claim be reviewed ?
How long does it take to be approved for SSI disability ?
Do you get medical healthcare benefits with Social Security disability ?
Do you get medical health care coverage with SSI ?

Pathfinder Associates

Pathfinder Associates is comprised of Tony Langton and Spencer Mosley. Their website, pathfinderassociates.net, is the home of their business and teleseminars, and a place for vocational rehabilitation programs and agencies, workforce centers, employers and persons with disabilities to learn about their various consultations, trainings and technical assistance.

On the site I found many resources, from case studies and papers, to quick reference, publication and training materials. The site also offers an FAQ page about their services.

Most notable on the website is the information regarding their interactive teleseminars. It appears they can be a cross between phone conferencing, hand-outs, powerpoint presentations, online and audio instruction, as well as face-to-face consultation. This training is aimed at training staff that may be in need of practical information in a wide variety of employment settings.

According to their website, they will travel to implement these services and the teleseminars can be broadcasted with real-time captioning for persons who are deaf and hard of hearing, and can be customized to fit the client.

For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center

Additional Resources

How long does it take to get an SSI decision ?
Can you apply for disability on the basis of multiple health problems ?
What medical conditions can you apply for disability for ?
Can you get temporary Social Security disability or SSI benefits?
How long does it take to get a decision on Social Security disability ?
What medical conditions can you apply for disability for ?

Sunday, January 6, 2008

ODSCF - Forum Website

The Ontario Disability Support Community Forum website, odscf.com, is a useful place to go if you are currently receiving or applying for benefits in Ontario, Canada. The site offers articles, old news archives and late breaking news items that are updated daily, as well as several pages of informative resource links that are grouped into: Canada Pension Plan Disability (CPPD), Social Security Disability (SSDI), Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), Ontario Works (OW) and the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB).

Other than links, the site also has a couple interactive sections such as the community forum, a place to share experiences; the ListServe, an email based list that allows members to speak directly in a shared email environment: and a blog, Ontario Disability Support Community Blog. At this time the blog doesn’t appear to have been updated since November 2007.

As far as I can see, this website has extensive information available for Ontario residents to understand the complexities of disability programs. Be forewarned, some portions of the site require JavaScript.

For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center

Additional Resources
Process for approving Social Security disability
Social Security Disability - can benefits be stopped or cutoff ?
Approved for Social Security disability, how long does it take ?
Disability will my children receive benefits ?
Disability benefits, are children eligible ?
Your children, how do you apply for disability ?
Social Security disability benefits - how long can you receive ?
Social Security disability doctor visits
Apply for disability with a mental condition

ALS Care Project

The ALS/Neuromuscular Education Project, also known as The ALS Care Project for Lou Gehrig’s Disease, states on their website that they are a nonprofit organization with a mission of improving the care and management of ALS - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Their website, alscareproject.org, offers many pages of articles and resources for understanding ALS, physical care, respiratory management and how to cope, as well as spiritual care, home care and a long list of abstracts on ALS.

The website also offers an extensive list of resources for national and international ALS Associations and ALS Centers.

The site has a section called ‘ASL Research’, which is planned for the future.

For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center

Additional Resources
Multiple sclerosis and Social Security Disability
Social Security disability cases approved for back pain
Qualify for Social Security disability with heart attack
Lupus and Social Security disability
Bipolar Disorder Social Security Disability
Severe Condition - awarded Social Security disability
Social Security disability benefits how long?
Approved - How long to receive Social Security disability after?

Second Archive Page

Website for Dr. Teitelbaum

Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum is the director of The Annapolis Center for Effective CFS/Fibromyalgia Therapies and author of ‘From Fatigued To Fantastic!: A Manual For Moving Beyond Chronic Fatigue Syndrome & Fibromyalgia’. His website, jacobteitelbaum.com, offers information on Fibromyalgia for patients and physicians.

For patients, you’ll find resources, from a list of Usenet Newgroups, Websites and practitioners, to articles, frequently asked questions, along with a place to ask Dr. Teitelbaum your own questions. He publishes some of these questions and answers anonymously on his website and in his column “Vitality 101: CFS and Fibromyalgia Solutions” on Planetthrive.com, a grassroots community for wellness.

His site also offers an online computer program questionnaire that will automatically analyze your symptoms and offer you a detailed treatment program, but it is presently inactive.

There are two newsletters offered, CFS/FMS/Pain Therapies and Vitality 101.

For physicians and health care practitioners the site offers scientific research and studies, as well as a three-part certification program in a series of workshop CD’s. After completion, practitioners receive certification and are added to his referral list.

For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center

Additional Resources
Decision on a disability case
Disability claim denied
What is the process to file a Social Security Disability appeal?
Chances of winning disability benefits
Qualify for Social Security disability?
SSI different from Social Security Disability?
File for Social Security disability - mental disorder

SSDRC