Your cheapest bang for your buck is getting a disability attorney and work the depression/anxiety angle.
In my area listing fibro is like listing back pain as a disability. Instant kiss of death UNLESS you have some monster well known doctor that does research in that field. There is no $150 note saying you have fibro. The SSI reviewers know all the area doctors who just write notes saying you have ASD, ADHD, Fibro, migraines, back pain etc. So you have a note? What testing was done? That is where the reviewers get you.
Testing for Fibro (which really means ruling everything else out), ADHD and ASD is ungodly expensive. And at the end of all the testing, the reviewer will say, but what have you done to mitigate these issues?
What it boils down to, is you have to show you've done everything in your power to get better, so you can work. Especially with syndromes with no real testing, and mental health issues.
The paper trail is everything. Get the attorney and start the paper trial. If you have no money, check out community mental health. They should have a sliding scale for fees.
My husband finally got SSDI, and it was a 10 year battle with 3 judge reviews and an attorney. He has ASD. Had the $2500 gold standard testing from the big deal specialist in our state. The judge threw out that diagnosis since he had been working. Remember people with ASD work and can work as far as those reviewers are concerned.
What my husband finally got it for was his medication resistant migraines (he had two Manhattan phone book thick stack of neurological records), and severe treatment resistant chronic depression.
He had to prove he did everything in his power to get better.
No one cares if you melt down. People lose it in from of reviewers and judges all the time. You won't do anything they haven't seen before.
You can find out in your area what the rate for SSI/SSDI approval is. My area is really really really low, unless you have stage IV cancer or a catasphrophic illness/accident. If you are around age 50, you have a better shot. My husband started at 40 and was finally approved at 50.
With what you wrote, that application would be denied the first time because of age and those diagnosis where I live.
Find the best disability attorney in your area and start there.
Good luck. The whole process sucks
12 Apr 2021, 7:14 am
