SSDI Question?

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy Forums

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy forums - a peer support community for folks dealing (directly or indirectly) with seizure disorders. You can visit the forum page to see the list of forum nodes (categories/rooms) for topics.

Please have a look around and if you like what you see, please consider registering an account and joining the discussions. When you register an account and log in, you may enjoy additional benefits including no ads, access to members only (ie. private) forum nodes and more. Registering an account is free - you have nothing to lose!

finalpoet

Stalwart
Messages
337
Reaction score
4
Points
53
You may have to be a lawyer or account to answer this. But I have no idea how much legal backing I have on this forum. Any idea?
 
I've been looking into this myself because I have just quit my job (although not because of epilepsy). The SS website has a comprehensive listing of what they look for in each of their disorder listings.

Here's the link for the adult neurological disorders listings: https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/11.00-Neurological-Adult.htm

Be sure to read the relevant parts of the page.

To kind of sum up a bit, they mainly seem to focus on tonic-clonic seizures and the frequency of which you have them. They count multiple seizures in a 24 hour period as one seizure. Status epilepticus gets counted as one seizure. Seizures caused by not taking meds properly without good reason don't get counted. EEG evidence doesn't seem to be considered, so you'll need to have witness statements of the seizures, or better yet video recordings.

SSI and SSDI are not the same so be sure to consider which you need when you apply.

Honestly this situation seems pretty lousy to me.

Maybe someone can reread the link and double check it because I'm not to sure about what I'm reading here. Or better yet, if someone who is on SSI/SSDI could chime in it would be greatly appreciated.
 
Thank for that Info

I've been looking into this myself because I have just quit my job (although not because of epilepsy). The SS website has a comprehensive listing of what they look for in each of their disorder listings.

Here's the link for the adult neurological disorders listings: https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/11.00-Neurological-Adult.htm

Be sure to read the relevant parts of the page.

To kind of sum up a bit, they mainly seem to focus on tonic-clonic seizures and the frequency of which you have them. They count multiple seizures in a 24 hour period as one seizure. Status epilepticus gets counted as one seizure. Seizures caused by not taking meds properly without good reason don't get counted. EEG evidence doesn't seem to be considered, so you'll need to have witness statements of the seizures, or better yet video recordings.

SSI and SSDI are not the same so be sure to consider which you need when you apply.

Honestly this situation seems pretty lousy to me.

Maybe someone can reread the link and double check it because I'm not to sure about what I'm reading here. Or better yet, if someone who is on SSI/SSDI could chime in it would be greatly appreciated.


I had never even heard about SSI differences with SSDI. I just thought they were the same.
Here is some more info. about them.

https://www.disabilitysecrets.com/page5-13.html (And be sure to check out the links from there ).

I worked over 25 years when I had a closed head injury that started the seizures.
Thus I qualified for SSDI.
Although I don't make a great amount, I was surprised at making as much as I do (on SSDI). That's because at the time of my accident I was working at a rather low paying job.
I've been told that the amount is based on some kind of overall amount earned. At one time I worked at a fairly high paying job.

Since I own my own mortgage free home and since I can't drive I don't spend money on car payments, I make enough money to get by. Because I have those assets I don't qualify for food "stamps" (EBT Card).

Sometimes I think about going back to work then I wake up on the floor.
Side effects like memory loss and not being able to drive don't help either. Neither do the various side effects of from the drugs.
I sure couldn't run a saw, drive a forklift or a golf cart or get up on a ladder to get (and put away) boxes like I did in the past.

I didn't need a lawyer but you may. Good luck.
 
Last edited:
I had never even heard about SSI differences with SSDI. I just thought they were the same.
Here is some more info. about them.

https://www.disabilitysecrets.com/page5-13.html (And be sure to check out the links from there ).

I worked over 25 years when I had a closed head injury that started the seizures.
Thus I qualified for SSDI.
Although I don't make a great amount I was surprised at making as much as I do. That's because at the time of my accident I was working at a rather low paying job. I've been told that the amount is based on some kind of overall amount earned. At one time I worked at a fairly high paying job.

Since I own my own mortgage free home and since I can't drive I don't spend money on car payments, I make enough money to get by. Because I have those assets I don't qualify for food "stamps" (EBT Card).

You probably will need a lawyer.

Sometimes I think about going back to work then I wake up on the floor.
Side effects like memory loss and not being able to drive don't help either. Neither do the various side effects of from the drugs.
I sure couldn't run a saw, drive a forklift or a golf cart or get up on a ladder to get (and put away) boxes like I did in the past.
Well they are nearly the same. I think for SSDI, you need a disability, that is the D. But I'm not positive.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
I've been looking into this myself because I have just quit my job (although not because of epilepsy). The SS website has a comprehensive listing of what they look for in each of their disorder listings.

Here's the link for the adult neurological disorders listings: https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/11.00-Neurological-Adult.htm

Be sure to read the relevant parts of the page.

To kind of sum up a bit, they mainly seem to focus on tonic-clonic seizures and the frequency of which you have them. They count multiple seizures in a 24 hour period as one seizure. Status epilepticus gets counted as one seizure. Seizures caused by not taking meds properly without good reason don't get counted. EEG evidence doesn't seem to be considered, so you'll need to have witness statements of the seizures, or better yet video recordings.

SSI and SSDI are not the same so be sure to consider which you need when you apply.

Honestly this situation seems pretty lousy to me.

Maybe someone can reread the link and double check it because I'm not to sure about what I'm reading here. Or better yet, if someone who is on SSI/SSDI could chime in it would be greatly appreciated.

Get an attorney that deals with SS. You won't get it the first time and maybe not the second but the third time you should. The Government wants to cut SS I might add as well as all programs so many of us would be up a creak without a paddle if so.
 
Get an attorney anyway. I did. Don't even wait for a denial, just get an attorney right off the line.

The attorney will follow your case as it progresses and help you arrange medical records and help with filling out forms. There's a lot to learn about the process so you have to do some research to understand exactly what to put on the forms that the SSA will mail you.

Oh, and get a fax machine. If you can't drive, a fax machine is very handy. A fax is HIPAA compliant so you may be able to receive records or send documents to the SSA faster than you could by mailing them. You do not need a wired phone line for a fax, there are special services (look up FoIP for example), that will allow you to send faxes over a internet phone line (a VoIP line) and it's very cheap too. There are also email to FAX services you can use, although that may not be HIPAA compliant.

I think there's some confusion. People say you "usually" get denied the first time and have to keep trying. I don't quite understand this line of thinking. The SSDI process has multiple stages. There is the first, initial stage where you submit your application. You'll see a doctor and they'll ask questions to gauge you. You'll get a decision after the doctor visit. The next step is an appeal. You have roughly 2 months to respond to the SSA with a request for appeal. At this stage, you'll compile your medical records (or your attorney will). At this point, you're going in front of a judge. Unless you are a lawyer, you won't know what to do to be prepared or what documents the judge will need. A good attorney will do this, and they will know exactly what to say in the SSA documents that are to be filed.

If you still get denied after the first appeal, the next level is a 2nd and final appeal in front of a committee of doctors and legal experts. I did not get to this stage before I got approved, so I don't know what goes on here.

In my case, I have a combination of mental illnesses and epilepsy, so with the exception of my mental health, the other disabilities were not sufficient (severe enough) to warrant disability. My attorney argued however (one of a few arguments actually), that it was the combination of all my health problems, not necessarily any one specifically that was disabling.

Appealing is not the same as reapplying. You DON'T want to reapply unless you have to. It is a long process to get disability, but if you understand how the back pay works, you'll know that the longer the process takes, the more it will benefit you.

I just got approved for disability myself and it took 1 appeal of the initial decision, and only 1 application to get approved.

I highly recommend Morgan & Morgan. They were great, and it is worth the cost of their services because at the end of the day, they won my case. It took about 15 months for me to get approved here in Florida. I am a happy camper.
 
Back
Top Bottom