Understanding the Guidelines to Assess Limitations and Determine Disability

According to a Social Security lawyer in Ocala, understanding the Medical Vocational Guidelines will help you have a greater knowledge on decisions made by the Social Security Administration regarding limitations and disability.

Medical Vocational Guidelines and RFCs

Two main assessment guides are used to make determinations of limitations and disability. Your exertional level is assessed to establish a Residual Functional Capacity (RFC). Your Social Security attorney in Ocala would tell you that the disability evaluators then use the Medical Vocational Guidelines to further evaluate your limitations. “The grids,” as the Medical Vocational Guidelines are called, help evaluators determine whether you are disabled. A Social Security lawyer in Ocala says the 3 charts that make up the grids use various combinations of RFC, past work experience, education and age.

Age Plays a Factor

Even with a medical condition, a Social Security lawyer in Ocala advises that with the more work experience and education you have, the grids would indicate that a younger person could more easily adapt to a new job.

For those under the age of 50, you must be unable to perform even a sedentary job for the grids to determine you to be disabled. Limited sedentary work would be the criteria for those 50 to 54 years of age and limited light work for those over the age of 55 to be found disabled.

Limitation from Non-Exertional Factors

Non-exertional limitations would be considered if the grids do not indicate you are disabled. A Social Security attorney in Ocala says disability evaluators would look at your ability or limits with being able to kneel, stoop, bend and climb along with being able to crouch and crawl.

Manual dexterity would be considered such as reaching, fingering, handling and the feeling in your hands. Your ability to see objects up close and at a distance, depth perception, color recognition and peripheral vision are taken into consideration. How well you hear and your ability to speak is also taken into account.

Mental Health RFC

Disability examiners, as contributing to possible limitations for work, also consider mental disorders. Your ability to concentrate and remember, being able to interact with co-workers and your ability to adapt to change are part of the Mental RFC assessment. Your Social Security lawyer in Ocala points out that your ability to do skilled, semiskilled, unskilled or being unable to perform even unskilled labor would be part of the mental RFC considerations.

You need to have an experienced attorney on your side who fully understands the various guidelines used by the Social Security Administration in determining whether you are disabled or not. To consult with a Social Security lawyer in Ocala, contact the office of CJ Henry Law Firm, PLLC at 352-304-5300 today.