Sometimes I will have people ask me if you can get Social Security Disability if you have cancer, or diabetes, or migraines.
The answer is maybe.
Social Security does not just look at your diagnoses.
It certainly helps to have a diagnosis; even Social Security Judges like to fit illnesses and conditions into categories.
However, what really matters in a Social Security Disability case is your limitations and restrictions as a result of your illness, injuries and conditions.
You must go beyond the name of your illness and prove that it limits your daily activities.
This means that it causes you problems with sitting, standing, walking, lifting, reaching, handling and fingering.
Or it causes you problems with concentration, focus, and staying on task, and makes you miss work.
You must show this through medical tests, doctors records, reports, and your testimony and other people’s testimony.
Just explaining your disease is not enough. The Judge must understand how it affects your activities of daily living.
Make sure that you have someone helping you present your best case possible to Social Security.
It does not cost you anything to get the help of an experienced Social Security Disability lawyer unless you win and all fees are capped by the government.
Contact Illinois Social Security Disability Attorney Dirk May for a free consultation at 309-827-4371.