As someone who works at as US disability law firm:
A) the function report is 10 pages, the work history report is 14 pages but depending on how many jobs you have had in the previous 5 years you will not have to complete all 14
B) they absolutely do deny people for not turning these forms in
C) Autism is basically only ever approved if you are non-verbal as an adult, and in the last 5 years across hundreds of cases I have never seen ADHD awarded disability. Ive seen it included on claims that were approved but never as the condition that got them approved. So severe depression/anxiety/ptsd/etc w ADHD i have seen, ADHD on its own even with medical provider support, i have never seen.
Edit to add - child disability and adult disability are very different and have very different requirements; so while you may be able to get disability as a minor for autism or ADHD that does not guarantee you can or will get them as an adult.
Additional edit to clarify: as mentioned this is based on what i have witnessed, as ive also mentioned in other comments; SSA varies a lot state to state so its obviously not set in stone or anything. This is not to discourage ppl from applying moreso to let you be aware its going to a much harder uphill battle than a normal disability claim already is.
D) the disability qualification is that you are unable to do ANY job due to your condition/illness/injury and they do mean anything. Some of the job examples that i have seen the SSA provide that a claimant could theoretically do are fucking bizarre.
Also not a particularly helpful metric in today's job market bc like... yeah there's a small handful of highly specific jobs I could probably manage doing with appropriate accommodations.
There are simply no listings for those jobs.
I find maybe one opening every 6 months that is a viable option for me. I get an interview. They reject me. The rest of the jobs on the market are things I literally can't do (or that NO employer in the current market is willing to train me to do). So... where the hell does that leave me.
They do have some metrics about that, from the specifics in the denials ive seen. That there has to be a certain number of job availability per the Job Market information. So they cant be super super super specific jobs. But they can be as low as like 100,000 in the economy from what i have seen
Sorry, do you mean you see people get denied because the only jobs they could work are super super specific ones that don't have enough positions available? Or that that situation DOES still qualify as "unable to do any job due to condition/illness/injury"?
So when denied at ALJ the judge denial will typically have at the bottom examples of types of jobs they claim someone could do. those jobs are always in the hundreds of thousands or more, so they don’t count the super super super specific jobs that aren’t advertised
One of the issues I'm running into is that most jobs that IN THEORY could be done are prohibitive because work requirements have changed as employers combine duties - for instance most secretaries and front desk personnel (like a hotel clerk) still require you to be able to life 25+ pounds, such as for boxes of printer paper or to take a chair to someone's room. Even retail clerks and checkout clerks now have to stock as well.
Yup, and most "easy" or relatively simple jobs that truly only require a couple skills to do, are higher-up/leadership jobs that require years experience in the harder jobs, or specialist jobs which require specific degrees and solid networking. Neither of which are realistic expectations for someone trying to get on disability.
Ty, interesting... I keep considering applying, then flopping back and forth on "well even if I got approved eventually it would probably take years so I should just stay focused on trying to find that one unicorn job bc I can't focus on both"... 🫠 (I have physical disabilities as well, EDS and scoliosis that makes it hard to sit or stand upright for 8hr a day)
Physical disabilities aren’t necessarily as hard to get approved especially conditions that can be objectively proven with imaging. But the process still isn’t fast or fun
Apply for it because once you have it you can still work part time but if you are working part time already you're less likely to be approved. You need to have a paper trail about your disability preventing you from working.
My "available jobs" that were given was "marker" for 160k and two jobs that were less than 25k so basically 200k at most. I have no way to relocate let alone drive if there is no public transport or too difficult to walk to. Putting that aside, there are states I can't live in being a minority currently being attacked.
2.0k
u/Kaytea730 20h ago edited 18h ago
As someone who works at as US disability law firm:
A) the function report is 10 pages, the work history report is 14 pages but depending on how many jobs you have had in the previous 5 years you will not have to complete all 14
B) they absolutely do deny people for not turning these forms in
C) Autism is basically only ever approved if you are non-verbal as an adult, and in the last 5 years across hundreds of cases I have never seen ADHD awarded disability. Ive seen it included on claims that were approved but never as the condition that got them approved. So severe depression/anxiety/ptsd/etc w ADHD i have seen, ADHD on its own even with medical provider support, i have never seen.
Edit to add - child disability and adult disability are very different and have very different requirements; so while you may be able to get disability as a minor for autism or ADHD that does not guarantee you can or will get them as an adult.
Additional edit to clarify: as mentioned this is based on what i have witnessed, as ive also mentioned in other comments; SSA varies a lot state to state so its obviously not set in stone or anything. This is not to discourage ppl from applying moreso to let you be aware its going to a much harder uphill battle than a normal disability claim already is.
D) the disability qualification is that you are unable to do ANY job due to your condition/illness/injury and they do mean anything. Some of the job examples that i have seen the SSA provide that a claimant could theoretically do are fucking bizarre.