A few examples of successful cases that were approved at the hearing level:
A child who suffered from attention deficit disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. The child’s condition were severe enough to interfere with his school work and his relationships with teachers, adults and classmates. The Administrative Law Judge determined that the child met a listing for mental and emotional conditions. Key documents in this case were school records, teacher evaluations, and counseling records.
A factory worker over 50 years of age with back problems. The claimant could not walk and stand more than 2 hours out of an 8 day because of back pain.
The Administrative Law Judge ruled that the claimant could no longer work the factory job or any job other than a sit down job. This means that he was disabled because he is over 50 years of age.
A former sedentary skilled level worker over 50 years of age suffering from bipolar syndrome and arthritis. There was very limited medical treatment in this case because the claimant did not have the funds or transportation to go to the doctor. The Administrative Law Judge agreed to send the claimant to a Social Security Doctor and a psychologist. I had to make sure the claimant was transported to these appointments. The Social Security experts provided the opinion that the claimant was limited to a sit down job and his bipolar condition limited him to an unskilled job. The Judge ruled that the claimant could not perform his old job because it involved attention to detail and high level functioning. Once the past work was ruled out then only unskilled sedentary work remained. The Judge ruled that the claimant is disabled because of his age and condition.
The keys to these cases is getting to a doctor so that you can prove your problems exist and limit your daily activities.
Questions about your disability case? Feel free to contact Illinois Social Security Disability Attorney Dirk May at 309-827-4371.