Full-time employment can be impossible if you suffer an injury to your brain. You may be entitled to benefits from the Social Security Disability program (SSD), but proving the extent of your disability can be challenging.
Get help from a Richmond brain injury SSD lawyer at Harbison & Kavanaugh. Our attorneys have years of experience helping people access the benefits they have earned for a wide range of disabling conditions.
Types of Disabling Brain Injuries
The Social Security Administration recognizes specific brain injuries for the purposes of SSD benefits. They are vascular insult to the brain (stroke), benign brain tumor, and traumatic brain injury. A potentially fatal condition such as a malignant brain tumor is also eligible for SSD benefits. Survivors of stroke may experience paralysis on one side of the body and have difficulty with speech. People with traumatic brain injury may have persistent headaches or dizziness if their injury is mild. Moderate or severe traumatic brain injury can cause mood disorders, cognitive impairment, mobility issues, and even leave a patient in a vegetative state.
Clear evidence of symptoms and the limitations they cause is essential to support an SSD application. Our attorneys in Richmond can advise you about the type of documentation you should compile if you intend to apply for SSD due to a brain injury.
How Do Your Symptoms Impact Your Work?
When the Social Security Administration assesses an application for benefits, it looks for evidence that your medical condition prevents you from doing your job. If the assessor determines that you cannot perform the tasks your job requires, they will then consider whether you are able to perform any job. The answer to that question can impact the amount of your benefits and their duration.
A brain injury can affect your ability to work in many different ways. If your job requires physical movement and your injury affects your mobility, the impact of the injury on your ability to work is obvious. However, in many cases, the impact of a brain injury is more subtle.
For example, you may no longer be able to tolerate office lighting or noisy environments, or your doctor may have advised against reading computer screens for extended periods. The injury may have impacted your speech, cognition, memory, or caused mood regulation issues that make professional interactions with customers or colleagues challenging. Our Richmond attorneys will work with you to identify all the restrictions and limitations that you have experienced since your brain injury, which can qualify you for SSD.
Proving You Are Entitled to Benefits
Your application for SSD must demonstrate your inability to perform essential job functions with as much objective evidence as possible. The SSD evaluators will consider the physical damage to your brain, the impact the damage has on your physical functioning, and the injury’s psychological impact when deciding whether you qualify. The evaluators must consider the cumulative effect of your symptoms when deciding whether you are able to work.
Our Richmond attorneys will compile as much objective evidence of your brain injury as possible to support your SSD application. This may include medical tests such as MRIs, but also neuropsychological evaluations, cognitive function tests, and other assessments that can quantify the extent of your disability. If your initial application was denied, we may recommend additional testing and evaluations to ensure a robust record on appeal.
Consult Our Richmond Attorneys About Securing SSD for Brain Injuries
Brain injuries vary in severity and symptoms, but can prevent you from working. You may be entitled to disability payments through the Social Security Administration, but you must prove you cannot work. Seek guidance from a Richmond brain injury SSD lawyer at Harbison & Kavanaugh to submit the strongest possible application for benefits.
