If you have a mental impairment, you will probably need to convince the ALJ at your disability hearing that you are not able to perform the mental activities that are generally required for unskilled work. If you still have these abilities, you will probably not qualify for disability benefits.
Your Ocala disability attorney or the administrative law judge will need to ask you some questions to help the judge fully understand how restricted your ability to work is due to your mental impairments. The questions will be designed to determine whether you have the following skills and abilities that are required for all paid unskilled jobs.
1. Responding appropriately to supervision, co-workers, and work pressures in a work setting.
Can you:
- Ask simple questions or request assistance.
- Accept instructions.
- Respond appropriately to criticism from supervisors.
- Get along with coworkers or peers without unduly distracting them or exhibiting behavioral extremes.
2. Managing changes in a routine work setting:
Can you:
- Respond appropriately to changes in a routine work setting.
3. Comprehending, remembering and carrying out instructions.
Can you:
- Understand and remember very short and simple instructions.
- Carry out very short and simple instructions.
- Remember locations and work procedures.
- Maintain regular attendance.
- Be punctual within customary tolerances.
- Sustain an ordinary routine without special supervision.
- Maintain concentration and attention for extended periods (the approximately 2-hour segments between arrival and first break, lunch, second break and departure).
- Perform activities within a schedule.
- Work in coordination with or proximity to others without being unduly distracted by them.
- Complete a normal workday and workweek without interruptions from psychologically based symptoms.
- Perform at a consistent pace without an unreasonable number and length of rest periods.
4. The ability to make simple work-related decisions.
Can you:
- Make simple work-related decisions.
- Be aware of normal workplace hazards and take appropriate precautions.
For help with your Social Security disability claim, whether you suffer from a mental disorder, a physical disorder, or both, contact experienced Ocala disability attorney Claudeth J. Henry.
