When people apply for Social Security Disability benefits, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is going to want to know if the applicant can: 1) perform the work they did previously, or 2) perform other work. For example, let’s say that before your injury, you delivered packages up to 50 pounds. Now that you hurt your back, you can’t lift more than three pounds, but can you do other, easier work?
These are the types of questions the SSA is going to ask you:
- Can you answer phones?
- Can you drive a truck as long as you aren’t carrying anything heavy?
- Can you sit at a guard station?
- Can you do data entry work?
- Can you handle filing?
- Can you take orders over the phone?
- Can you do customer service work?
- Can you work a drive thru involving very light bags of food?
What Work Activities Can You Do?
If your medical condition affects your ability to do the work you normally do, and it is not a severe impairment described in the Listing of Impairments, the SSA will evaluate what kinds of work you can do, despite the limitations caused by your impairment.
When the SSA assesses your ability to do basic work-related activities, it will consider how your medical condition affects your ability to:
- Sit, stand, walk, lift, carry, and push
- Reach, handle large objects, use your fingers, and balance
- Climb stairs or ladders, kneel, crouch, or crawl
- Tolerate wetness, humidity, noise, heights, dust, fumes, odors, etc.
- See, hear, and speak
- Maintain focus and concentration
- Understand and carry out instructions
- Respond to co-workers and supervisors
Despite your medical condition, do you think you can perform the work you did If not, can you do another type of work that is easier? These are important questions and the answers will determine your eligibility for disability benefits. To learn more and to file a claim, contact us to meet with a Dallas SSD lawyer.