 SSDRC Filing a Social Security Disability Application - How to File & the Information that is Needed by SSA Do you need a Lawyer at the Administrative Law Judge Disability Hearing? Social Security Disability Back pay and How Long it Takes to Qualify for it How do you prove your disability case if you have a mental condition? What Can I Do to Improve My Chances of Winning Disability Benefits Common Mistakes after Receiving a Denial of benefits If You Get Approved For SSDI Will You Also Get Medicare? How much is paid for the Social Security Disability Attorney Fee? How long does it take to be approved for SSI or Social Security disability? How To Get Disability Through SSDI or SSI Approved Should you get Help from a Disability Attorney before the Claim has been Denied? Answers to questions about SSD and SSI disability Qualifying for Disability - What is Social Security Looking for? How do I check the status of my Social Security disability claim? What Expenses Will A Social Security Attorney Charge In Addition To The Fee? |
Facts about Optic Neuritis and Filing for DisabilityHow to prove you are disabled and win disability benefits 1) Your optic nerve, which is considered part of the central nervous system, conveys images from your retina to your brain. When the optic nerve becomes inflamed, it is known as optic neuritis. 2) Optic neuritis is linked to many autoimmune disorders and diseases, including multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica. It can also be caused by certain drugs, tumors, toxins, diabetes, bacterial infections, nutritional deficiencies, and cranial arteritis. Another cause which is very rare is radiation therapy administered to the head. 3) Symptoms of optic neuritis may include pain with eye movement, change in color perception, and visual loss which is most often temporary, but may become permanent. Although it usually only affects one eye, it may also occur in both eyes at the same time. 4) Certain genetic mutations increase the risk of the disease. 5) Women are more likely to develop optic neuritis than men, and white people are more likely to develop the disease, as opposed to other races. 6) The median age for developing optic neuritis is around 30 years old, and it most often occurs in middle-aged adults between the ages of 20 and 45 years old, though it can occur at any age. 7) Most cases of optic neuritis are healed within six months and most of the visual issues from the condition are resolved, though it may cause complications, such as permanent decreased visual acuity and permanent optic nerve damage 8) Opthalmoscopy and pupillary light reaction tests are most commonly used to diagnose optic neuritis, though sometimes doctors will also use blood tests, magnetic resonance imagine scan (MRI scan), or visually evoked potentials test. 9) Treatment for optic neuritis depends upon the case. Some cases get better on their own, while more severe cases need oral or intravenous steroids. If steroids do not help the situation, plasma exchange therapy may be used. Can you qualify for disability benefits with this condition? Whether or not you qualify for disability and, as a result, are approved for disability benefits will depend entirely on the information obtained from your medical records. This includes whatever statements may have been obtained from your treating physician (a doctor who has a history of treating your condition and is, therefore, qualified to comment as to your condition and prognosis). It will also depend on the information obtained from your vocational, or work, history if you are an adult, or academic records if you are a minor-age child. The important thing to keep in mind is that the social security administration does not award benefits based on simply having a condition, but, instead, will base an approval or denial on the extent to which a condition causes functional limitations. Functional limitations can be great enough to make work activity not possible (or, for a child, make it impossible to engage in age-appropriate activities). Why are so many disability cases lost at the disability application and reconsideration appeal levels? Speaking as a former Disability Claims Examiner, I can state that there are several reasons: 1) Social Security makes no attempt to obtain a statement from a claimant's treating physician. By contrast, at the hearing level, a claimant and his or her disability attorney will generally obtain and present this type of statement to a judge; 2) Prior to the hearing level, a claimant will not have the opportunity to explain how their condition limits them, nor will their attorney or representative have the opportunity to make a presentation based on the evidence of the case. At the hearing level, of course, this is exactly what happens. And a number of disability representatives will also take such steps even earlier, at the reconsideration appeal level; 3) Disability judges, unlike disability examiners who decides cases at the first two levels of the system, can make independent decisions without being overturned by immediate supervisors--which happens frequently. 
Return to: SSDRC, or the Questions, Answers, Tips, and Advice page Topics and Questions Other Links SSD and SSI are Federal Programs The title II Social Security Disability and title 16 SSI Disability programs operate under federal guidelines and, therefore, the program requirements--medical and non-medical--apply to all states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming Recent approval and denial statistics for various states can be viewed here: Social Security Disability, SSI Approval and Denial Statistics by state Special Section: Disability Lawyers and unnecessary claim denials |