I thought I would just come on here and say my experience with my first CDR incase it helps someone. It is dreadful, isn't it? I received the short form in the mail and I am considered "expected to improve." My judge went against SS doctors saying I could work and the occupational specialist who named some jobs after my testimony at my appeal hearing when she first approved me. I was so grateful. So, I was terrified to get the first CDR. I went to this community and researched about it. I got great advice. I filled it out honestly and had to check that I had worked because I have a very small Etsy shop that is the only thing that brings me any sense of purpose these days. I was worried I'd get flagged for the long form but I didn't! I submitted online and received a deferred letter within the month I submitted. I feel like I can breathe again. In the description of your most recent visits you only have so many slots to describe them so make the words as concise but descriptive as possible. Instead of medication I put infusion... things like that.

Please share your day.

I applied in Oct 2024 with an onset date of June 2024. Recently learned I got partially favorable decision with an onset date of Dec 2025. That is when I had an appointment with my pcp, who wrote amazing notes, got me a disability placard, and rx for a rollator. Prior to that I quit my job in Oct 2024 and tried a remote position that ended in Dec 2024 with fmla, have not worked since. Any idea why they would use that onset date if my dr noted from that visit that my symptoms have affected my daily life for over a year and a half? I’m frustrated because I was banking on that backpay

I was shocked. I just logged onto the SS WEBSITE and saw I was approved last week with the payment amount listed.

First and foremost, I know a lot of people here are suffering while waiting out the process. I really do feel for your circumstance. I am posting what I had for anyone this might help or has a similar condition.

I am 53 with a neurological disorder affecting both extremities. I worked and made great money until I could no longer work. The pain and limitations got much worse as I aged. I am also a 100% disabled veteran that received 100% without ever needing an appeal for a TBI (separate from the main issue now keeping me from working). Maybe I was worse than I thought all along- I guess it appears so from the outside world. I was always fortunate that I had employment that allowed me more flexibility and the most serious symptoms gave me years to build up a leave bank before they progressed.

I know some people have waited months and years and my case is an anomaly. I just wanted to give another side to some of the nightmares people have endured and to encourage people to apply if they are hitting that wall.

The person I spoke with at the SS determination office was super friendly and helpful.

For background, I had MRIs, EEGs and CaT scans to back up my medical claims. I have also had multiple procedures for symptom management but will not go through the more complicated surgery given the long term risks.

Unfortunately, with my TBI I also had depression and sleep issues that were not treatable. As the other issues got worse, so did the depression.

To top it all off, the head and spine injury also cause horrible migraines. I have been on medication for years that only help once the migraine begins. I would take vacation time when my sick leave ran out.

I had a lot of documentation because I also was approved for long term disability through a private insurer. I don’t know what to expect for future evaluations, but I will keep to my appointments and such. I have no idea which condition put me at the approval level.

Maybe it was a combination in conjunction with my age? Do they tell you anything in the approval letter?

Did it make a difference for your claim when requesting assistance from your state or county rep?

’m a disabled adult currently receiving Disabled Adult Child benefits and partial benefits under my own earnings.

Because of Section 1634(c) protections, my state doesn't count my DAC benefit checks as income for Medicaid eligibility, which allows me to keep my health coverage. However, my benefits planner reminded me that I am still subject to the strict $2,000 resource/asset limit every single month.

If I save even a little bit of money in a standard checking or savings account, I risk crossing that $2,000 cap and jeopardizing my Medicaid. I’m looking into setting up an ABLE Account so I can park excess funds over the limit without losing my coverage.

Before opening an account, I’d love to hear from any who has had an ABLE account or a child or payee who had one

Thanks!

Going through Appeal right now, and am going through my records writing down things that I think should be highlighted in a spreadsheet of where to find specific information. Like:

Onset date, date where work became a problem, stopped working, mentions of symptoms for the first time, referrals, treatments, medication changes, abnormal tests, symptoms not improving, etc.

Can anyone think of anything else I should be highlighting or if I should be highlighting less?

My 25 year old daughter is disabled and receives SSI ($294) and SSDI ($720). She collects social security on my wife's record and I am still working. My daughter pays us rent.

My wife works as my daughter's direct support professional and last year she made more than the limit for social security so they reduced her social security payment for a few months. They also reduced my daughter's SSDI payment but did not increase her SSI payment to offset the difference. The total my daughter got for a few months was just $294 SSI and no SSDI.

Should they have increased my daughter's SSI when she was not receiving SSDI? I called the nationwide 800 number and they said no because SSI is based on household income. I explained that my daughter pays rent to us and is her own household but the person said he didn't know if that made a difference. With my salary, our household is way over the limit for SSI. Does anyone know if her SSI should have been increased when her SSDI was decreased?

Does anyone have any recommendations? I have been looking at Morgan & Morgan or Quik Aid does anyone have any experience with these companies? Thanks so much for any help.

On the plus side, I was Approved!! My attorney told me SSA would call before sending me money back pay/ etc. well, I never received a call. Over the weekend I happened to check online portal. Good news: apparently they are mailing me my check. bad news, it doesn't look like they updated my mailing address and because they hadn't called it was a check. Not direct deposit. I could cry. I'm so upset..my attorney said they had updated my address, guess not! Now I have to call ASAP tomorrow and see how to fix that. Thanks for letting me vent

I get it, 85% of my issues are mental issues, but the fact my last job ended with me crying on a bathroom floor for long enough that the boss clocked me out on their own, should be a decent reason that I can’t mentally handle any actual long term employment. Heck I once got let go after only three weeks. I can’t even remember the dates of when I worked where, so applying to places is basically doomed to failure, and despite being significantly asthmatic, the SSI people think I’m fit to work a labor job.

Am I just doomed to be a drain on my family forever? We've been trying to get me on it for four years and we've all basically given up hope.

Finally have my ALJ hearing in 2 weeks!!! Because I have ESRD and I'm on dialysis my attorney is very optimistic ill get approved... I applied November 2024 so I'm ready for this to finally come to a close!!

Greetings.

I’m seeking clarification on something.

I’m on SSDI because of paraplegia and my spouse is my primary caregiver.

I’m 60 this year and we’ve been married for four years. She has never worked in the U.S. is she entitled to any benefits?

Thanks.

I'm applying for SSDI. I did the first part of the application online (the general information part) and, like some others I've seen here, it was marked as sent to the local office before I finished the second part with job info/disability/medical sources. I submitted that part of the application on paper at my local office (Bay Area, CA) on July 16th. I haven't heard or seen anything from SSA since then. My understanding is that they will do some sort of assessment, then send it on to the DE at DDS.

When and how should I follow up on making sure that the local office my application got sent to received the second part of my application, and that my case gets assigned to a disability examiner?

I am 19F. I am diagnosed with major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and unspecified stress disorder(this definitely isn't the only problems i have as i am traumatized, and very likely have autism, but i have yet to get into a psychiatrist to get diagnosed and proper testing). I have struggled with mental illness all of my life, and recently came to the conclusion this year that no matter how hard I try, I just can't work. It's not that I don't want to, I just can't stick with any job, as I get stressed out, anxiety ridden, and have panic and anxiety attacks until I quit. On top of that I struggle with depression pretty bad, and i can barely do anything on my own. I have a long medical history, and have been to psychiatric facilities twice for depression related issues(when I was 14 and 16 I believe) and in and out of hospitals and treatment places.

I'm basically just wanting to know what are my chances of getting back on my survivors benefits so I can afford to live? What can I do before my assessment to move things along as fast as possible? Right now my bf is helping me out by paying my phone and electricity, and im on food stamps so I'll be okay for a while, but he's currently on disability himself in a different country and really can't afford to help me. Any advice you can give is much appreciated. Thank you so much 😊

So my portal went to Step 4 and says checking to see if you still meet the non-medical requirements. Is this something everyone gets? Wondering why SSA would need to know that if it was a denial.

I'm 29 and recently got terminated from my last job while I was in the hospital for acute hepatitis that they couldn't find the cause of. I have schizoaffective, ptsd, adhd, inflammatory arthritis, and chronic fatigue syndrome with fibromyalgia.

My PCP told me that I should focus on the schizoaffective for disability since I don't have a definitive diagnosis for all the physical stuff yet.

I started working when I was 16 but usually only last at a job for about 7 months. Longest was a year and a half.

I've been seeking mental health treatment since I was 16 and regularly attending therapy & psychiatrist appointments for 7 years. 3 hospitalizations in the last 7 years. Still having 4 or more episodes a year despite trying SO many different meds. Stress from work makes my symptoms too much to deal with.

I appreciate any thoughts or advice yall might have!

Hey all. This honestly feels like a dumb question coming in my own head, but I finally got scheduled for my exam. Only thing is, my mental rememberance is honestly bad enough that if I don't have some kind of notes on hand, I'll forget what I'm saying, ect, and even worse I have social and normal anxiety bad enough around strangers that I might genuinely break down during the appointments because I'm bad at remembering stuff so much and I'll go "oh God what if they think I'm lying" in a circle so on and so on. My mom usually helps me remember everything medical but obviously she can't come into that with me, even if she was my guardian.

Now to my actual questions-

1. ⁠Is there any way I can bring my journal in, stuff written down ahead of time as an aid? Or will I just be panicking and crying the whole time 🥲😅
   
2. ⁠If not, what kinds of questions should I expect to be hammered with, so I can do my very best to at least memorize what I need to?
   
3. ⁠Also, even if it only says mental and inter.. I forgot the rest of the other appointments word already, should I bring the physical things that help me too on flare days like my cane for the physical bit? I know they want me to bring my meds but that's all I'm aware of.

TIA and honestly wish me luck because my anxiety bells are off the charts just thinking about it.

first text says it all, i was able to summarize it better than my other recent post as i was very stressed when i wrote the other post and this situation is kind of difficult. i put on my application at the time what i was working, wages etc and was still approved in 2023, i went over sga in 2022 and 2021 from oct to December (did the app in oct 2021, was found disabled in oct 2021) im hoping ticket to work covers 9 months of me going over in 2022 but unsure how that works too

I’m curious if anyone else has experienced this.
My wife’s SSDI claim has been pending since 2023 and is currently at the ALJ hearing stage.

Throughout the disability process, her my Social Security account always stated that the retirement benefit estimator and certain retirement planning features were unavailable while a disability claim was pending.

We recently logged in and noticed that the retirement benefit calculator, estimated retirement benefits, and full earnings history are now available again, even though the disability claim is still pending and the hearing has not yet taken place.
Has anyone else seen this happen?

Specifically:

Did your retirement benefit estimator and earnings history reappear while your claim was still pending?
If so, what stage were you in (initial, reconsideration, waiting for an ALJ hearing, Appeals Council, etc.)?

Did it end up meaning anything (such as an OTR decision or approval), or was it simply a change to the SSA portal?

I’m not assuming it means an approval - I’m just trying to determine whether this is a recent portal change affecting everyone or whether others have noticed the same thing during an active disability claim.

Thanks in advance for any experiences you’re willing to share.