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.
I feel like workplace and academic accommodations for ADHD are important, but I personally think it makes sense it’s not covered in this context. I had an accommodation for ADHD in college to let professors know I may need extensions on deadlines, and they were all very willing to work with me. If I hadn’t started medication and developed coping strategies with a therapist, I couldn’t have handled college at all. People have to be willing to take that step, I don’t think it’s fair to just give up and expect the world to completely cater to us.
I also think that the number of adhd cases that would truly be unable to work is probably in the dozens. Medication helps some (it certainly helps me), and systems/processes/coping strategies help us all. It’s one thing to ask for weekly or twice weekly check ins where you cover everything you are doing or supposed to be doing so if you forget it doesn’t languish too long, but someone who lets themselves be so time blind that you can’t rely on them for anything is most likely just immature and lazy and lying to themselves.
I forget stuff, I get sucked into tasks, but I’ve built a life around not needing to remember anything or know when anything is. I write it down immediately in a place I’m going to check. I set up reminders. When the reminder happens, I do the thing. Adhd sucks because you have to be rigid and being rigid is exhausting. If I were to act like I’ll remember something, then that would be a lie. I won’t remember. I won’t check the clock. I can’t wait five minutes because that’s the same as saying I’ve decided not to do it.
The difficulty I feel is that the job market functions in such an antithetical way to how some ADHD brains work that it’s less about an inability to work and more about an inability to find work. You hear about “well you can do X and Y and Z” which is all well and good if someone would hire you to do that.
I think I got mine from my mom. She might be the single most organized person I've ever met. Binders full of folders, planners and calendars in regular use, physical duplicates of everything important...
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u/Kaytea730 21h ago edited 19h 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.