Preparing For Your Hearing

Columbia Disability Lawyer Susan Clasbey

Columbia disability lawyer (3)One of the ways in which Social Security disability claimants can most benefit from the help of an experienced Columbia disability lawyer is in preparing for the Social Security disability hearing.

Though the Social Security Administration intends the hearing process to be more casual and less stressful than a normal court trial, most claimants feel some apprehension about testifying at their hearing. This feeling is normal, and the best way to overcome it is by being thoroughly prepared before even stepping into the hearing room. Here are some useful tips:

  1. Follow your prescribed medical treatment. The Social Security Administration may deny your application for Tennessee disability benefits if they see that you have not been following your doctor’s prescribed treatment. Although treatment can be inconvenient or expensive, the Social Security Administration may reason that if your disability is not severe enough to motivate you to follow your doctor’s advice, it is probably not severe enough to keep you from working.
  2. Keep track of all medical treatment. Following your doctor’s prescribed medical treatment will not do much to help your credibility if you don’t also keep track of your compliance. Keep detailed records of the treatment you receive, including what doctors you met with and when (business cards can be helpful), what prescription drugs or therapy you took, and what tests you were given and what your results were.
  3. Keep a diary of your symptoms. If pain, headaches, insomnia, or other subjective complaints are an issue in your Nashville disability claim, consider keeping a symptom diary noting the frequency, duration, and intensity of these episodes. Most disability claimants will have good days and bad days symptom-wise, and it is tricky, if not impossible, to remember which was which when you’re testifying at your hearing—especially because your hearing may come more than a year after your initial application for benefits. A written record made contemporaneously with your experiencing of symptoms will help refresh your memory and provide the details that are important to any disability claim.

An experienced Columbia disability lawyer will be able to provide you with forms to use for this purpose, as well as giving you some idea about the type of questions you are likely to be asked and how to best answer in a way that gives the judge the information he or she needs to find you disabled.

Contact Me for Assistance With Your Disability Hearing

Please fill out the form below or call me to schedule a free consultation:

Susan D. Clasbey
Columbia Tennessee disability lawyer

1105 South Main Street
Columbia, Tennessee 38401
Phone: 931-388-7705
Toll-free: 888-545-2582

Email Me