Failure to produce evidence that proves disability will result in Social Security denying your claim for benefits. Documentation of a disabling condition is the key to being approved for Social Security Disability or Supplemental Security Income. By the time a hearing is scheduled before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), the ALJ will have reviewed the documents in your file and will have an idea about the disabling condition and how it affects your life. It goes without saying that it is harder to convince an ALJ that you are disabled if there is not much documentation of the disabling condition
Documentation of your condition is usually done with medical records. However, there are other ways to document your condition. School records, statements from friends and family, and statements from previous employers can also be important in your case.
For instance, some cases are won because school records increase the credibility of the person seeking benefits. There was a case of a child seeking Supplemental Security Income due to Lupus. The key to the case was acquiring documentation to show how much trouble the child’s illness caused her day-to-day. To ensure the Administrative Law Judge had all the relevant evidence, we obtained all the medical records from the child’s physicians and also all of the child’s school records. The school records and teacher notes were vital because they indicated the number of school days the child missed. When the school records were compared with the medical evidence, it indicated that the days missed from school were the days the child was at the doctor or hospital. The Administrative Law Judge then found the child disabled and entitled to Supplemental Security Income.
If you have a claim for Social Security Disability benefits of Supplemental Security Income, be sure to document the day-to-day troubles caused by you disability. It can be the difference between winning or losing benefits.