Show Notes:

1) dear Jonathan, i was finally able to go before the ALJ yesterday, my lawyer was 25 mins late and had no clue about the case ,we did not get together to discuss my case anytime before hand, needless to say i was trying to get across that i was having problems concentrating, what is this lawyers problem?, i was advised of nothing..i am late deafend hearing loss, have balance problems ,dizziness, and lack of concentration, i was ranting and raving like a fool, in there, trying to explain this concetration problem. Is there any hope of getting a favorable judgement. my dr still needs to do more test on me. i am also being treated for depression should i just forget about it , i cannot work. There wes one job that was there for me and nothing more. do i just need to forget about it?
–Denise

2) dear jonathan–i have a question about my hearing. The vocational ex. testified that with the judges prsumptions, no work available. how often does that result in an unfavorable decision and why? Thank you, and bless you for helping us on this site!
–Jill

[tags] Social Security disability hearing, vocational witness, hypothetical question, unfavorable decision, Social Security disability claim [/tags]

In this episode I discuss the term "residual functional capacity" and explain why your "RFC" is such an important part of your claim for Social Security disability benefits.

[tags] residual functional capacity, RFC [/tags]

In a departure from my practice of answering blog visitor questions, in this episode I am presenting an interview I recently conducted with attorney John Hogan, who represents Social Security disability lawyers in the 11th Circuit on the board of NOSSCR (National Organization of Social Security Claimant’s Representatives). The issues that John and I discuss are timely in that on August 1, 2006 Social Security is launching a new disability determination process. This new process will be introduced in a few northeastern States this year, with the rest of the country being added year by year over the next seven years. John explains how the new process works, NOSSCR’s role in advocating for both claimants and representatives and we both discuss our concerns about whether SSA can successfully make some of the big changes that are being planned. The interview runs about 27 minutes – which is a bit longer than my normal ssdRadio installment, but I felt that presenting this interview in its entirety made more sense than breaking it up into two shorter installments. If you are either a claimant or a claimant’s rep and you have experience with or thoughts about this new adjudication process, please let me hear from you.

[tags] John Hogan, Social Security disability, new disability process, elimination of reconsideration, federal reviewing officers [/tags]