advice please: SSDI for neurological/TBI and/or applying 10+ years late?

[Kaylee]

CRVL has many very useful and eye-opening (to Newb me) threads about Social Security Disability (SSDI).

SSDI application advice is sought from those who are one or more of:

• neurologically disabled (e.g. Traumatic Brain Injury)
• waited more than 10 years before applying
• used a lawyer

Please, no kibbitzing, this is life or death stuff.

Over the last year, a few people have urged me to apply for SSDI.
At first, I thought I no longer qualified, because the "onset date" was more than a decade ago and I have insufficient work history since then. After persistent pestering by JD GUMBEE, today I dug further and found out he's right: I may qualify.

Please share your experiences, if you're in any of the three (3) categories above.
If you'd prefer and are not a troll/spammer, feel free to PM me.
I'd particularly appreciate recommendations of law offices who have experience with both of the first two categories.

Summary of What Happened:
As I've mentioned in sundry threads, 13+ years ago I had a car accident from which I sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury.

I'm a software engineer, and my performance was immediately & obviously impacted.
I slogged along for a couple (approx) weeks, then officially asked for a leave of absence.
Things continued to degrade, I sought medical treatment, and as soon as my employer found out, they fired me & terminated my medical insurance.
Yup, classic evil.

I quickly spiralled into deep depression, and had zero further medical treatment.

It took about 3 years to get back to a state where I could reliably work (was continuing volunteer work I've been doing for half my life), albeit only telecommute from a usually quiet rental house.
First on site gig ended quickly (3 weeks), due to heinously noisy environment. Did better screening after that, but the pattern continued, such that I've had only 5 contracts and 9 1/2 paid months of work since my accident.
In all cases, I was able to work productively outside of normal work hours, however all employers grew increasingly resistant and/or I completed the work (most were emergency repair gigs).

Even worse, it's been impossible to find quiet housing on any of those contracts. I've been on a stress rollercoaster, with far more upwards curves than down/level stretches.
Those of you with TBI or similar neurological conditions, have at least some idea of what that's like.

In terms of SSDI, I have very little medical documentation.
Presumably the job I had at the time of onset, has self-damning records.
One of the two main reasons I'd rather go thru a lawyer, is I like the idea of a barracuda tackling the evil employer.

The other reason is I've had spectacularly bad experiences with confrontation government situations. The thought of going it alone shuts down my brain.

Thanks in advance for advice and personal anecdotes (even if they're failures).

 

[WanderingRose]

It is illegal under the Americans with Disabilities Act for an employer to fire you or take adverse action against you solely due to a real or perceived disability, but it is probably years too late for any remedies there.

It seems you need to start with a diagnosis, which the SSA will require to make any determination.

However you are meeting medical needs, there will be records there.

Your community mental health center may be able to help you with this process.

Good luck.

 

[B and C]

When we applied for SSDI for my wife, they required their doctor do testing. I went it alone but after their testing she was immediately qualified. Payments don't start until after two years of onset. This was approved about 2 1/2 years after onset so there was a 6 mo back payment we got in a lump sum. 10 years ago with 8 years of back payments would be quite a windfall. After this length of time though, I really recommend a lawyer that will take maybe 60% of the back payments for their work.

 

[Kaylee]

Brian, thanks for your personal experience! That's exactly what I'm looking for!
Thanks for your advice that a lawyer makes sense.

Apparently backpay is limited to one year, and SSDI lawyer fees are 25% of the backpay, capped at $6000.

I'm (probably naively) thinking that if a lawyer demands the records from the evil employer, they might cough up the relocation allowance they never paid me. Plus, of course, shaming & guilting them will be cathartic for me.

 

[JD GUMBEE]

Actually, you may want to check on the information in your post.
There will not be 8 years of payments.
Five months of "zero gainful employment" is automatically taken on the chin.
Beyond that, every one of the people we advocate for ended up with less payout involving huge red tape and an attorney, (that help up their claim in a big fat hairy way) than they would have gotten in the standard year of backdate-able payments.
As she HAS worked in the past two years...you can pretty much forget the 8 years previous.


Since it seems much of what I have exchanged with you seems to have been forgotten...
In a very pro Kaylee mindset:
For the record.

1. APPLY....TODAY.
You do NOT need a lawyer. All your funds start on date of application. You can contact a disabilities advocacy outfit (I suggest this) in your state of residence. (You can do it all over the phone, so you need not be there.)
(If you get denied first round...THEN maybe get an attorney. You have hurt nothing about your case even if this happens. Especially with a brain injury history. You have a 95% likelihood of getting it first shot though.)

2. Answer every question in writing. BRIEFLY.
Answer as though you are having your worst day with as few words as possible and then shut up.
Have an advocate review it before submitting.

Break out of inaction..

(This sh!t ain't brain surgery...they are set up to actually function without a lawyer.)
APPLY, Kaylee. Now.

Kind regards...
Your friend, the grouchy gimp in Deliverance Land
Now where is my sister-momma and my banjo??

 

[Kaylee]

LOL!!! Thank you Grouchy Gimp!
I dare you to change your profile's "Custom User Title" to that!

Ok, what are the magic GoogleFu words to find a local advocacy group?

Yeah, the mistake I often make is to give Too Much Info, hence my absolute need for somebody to sanity check stuff. You evidently missed my VD thread involving my recent homelessness court case, where the city attorney suborned perjury.

The SSDI stuff I'd previously skimmed thru left out the key phrases you used, including "worst day".

The other thing I found out about last night was the "disability freeze", which would make a huge difference in how much SSDI and (later) regular SS I would get. It disappears the disabled years, so my near decade and a half of zero to low earnings would have much less impact on my final payouts.
That in and of itself makes it worthwhile to apply.

JD, what's your opinion on whether a lawyer could get the evil employer to cough up some funds (unpaid relocation allowance), quickly?
I did submit my experience to a deep web employer review project, but never publicly published it. I'm not the only one discarded by them, so publicity would be bad.

 

[WanderingRose]

I would focus on applying for SSDI as soon as possible, and leave trying to recoup from the employer of 13 years ago in the dust, Kaylee.

You could call some law firms, many of whom will speak with you briefly for free, but I believe you have a statute of limitations problem which will impede any legal action on something that happened 13 years ago.

Your local community mental health center may be able to help you, might also consider contacting Legal Aid.

Good luck.

 

[B and C]

JD's advice is good. Try on your own first and if that fails call in the guns. I was suggesting the lawyer only because of the amount of back years I thought you would be eligible for. If the first try on your own doesn't work all you have lost is time.

 

[JD GUMBEE]

Kaylee, I do not want to divert from the course.

Keep the goal in mind. Steady income to bail your ass out.
You always get to work for a 9 month trial before your SSDI is affected.
You can work one or two months a year for 7 years and the deposit will be unaffected.

Get your SS done...then worry about the rest.
(SSDI, I know. Pretty well. The other thing...???)

Your previous employer will have no choice to submit any legally requested documentation.

With a 20 minute review of some dates and diagnosis info, we could do a three way call if you are in danger of saying too much...my fee is sitting here knowing you will be alright down the road. Less than an hour on the phone and the first part would be done. It is SOOOO easy to do...

OR...Where do you claim current residence? What state/town?
(PM me with that or email me.)
Then I can put in touch with an appropriate disabilities network/advocacy situation.

Till your application is done...PLEASE do not distract on other stuff.
Like you said, life or death. Lets see life. Funded life.

I now wait for the info.
EDIT: LOL, challenge accepted on the user title...

 

[Kaylee]

Thanks Brian and JD!

If I did it on my own, who would get the info from my evil ex-employer?
I could not handle doing that myself.
Would SSA do it?
Can an advocate do it?

Do either of you (or any other SSDI experienced folks) have some specific advocacy groups you could recommend?
I know there are other TBI/similar survivors here - many of you are my inspirations for trying van dwelling.

Thanks to the member who kindly PM'd me!
I'm strictly interested in real experiences, not hand-waving kibbitzers.

 

[WanderingRose]

Sorry if my suggestions fell short of their well-intended mark, Kaylee, and that’s your prerogative to dismiss anything out of hand.

You have no idea what my history or experience is, however.

I still wish you luck, and will leave you to seeking information only from those who seem in your eyes to be adequately credentialed.

 

[B and C]

For SSDI nothing is required from your old employer that I remember. This is a federal program and only tied to the length of employment and how much you made which they figure out, not with who employed you. Testing verified the need in our case.

 

[Kaylee]

Brian, the records would tend to prove that I was immediately impaired.
The key is that I asked for a medical leave of absence shortly after the accident.
Records of the firing should also help.

There's very limited medical records of the accident itself, just the ER visit, and one followup at a local clinic.
Plus I just realized I have no idea where the clinic was, and probably paid directly (not sure if I ever submitted that). I have the vague sense I got a referral from someone in HR.

At the time, there was very little understanding of TBI, though the followup doc was great, and I did discuss with her that I felt I needed a leave of absence.
I never was given any tests (MRI/etc).

The cause and results were "obvious" to me and coworkers.

Thanks Brian - this is helping a ton to focus what I tell the lawyer/advocate/whoever!

 

[gramakittycat]

If you havent worked in 10 years I believe it would be SSI not SSDI.You must have work credits to be eligible for SSDI that are somewhat recent.Sad to say SSI pays very little.Definitly get a lawyer.

 

[JD GUMBEE]

B and C is 100% correct.
None of those things will make a bit of difference.
You think you understand what is going to happen when you apply, but you do not. Not even close.
I suggest not wasting time trying to figure out what you think you need.

Why is there no message with desired home state and town in my PM or email?

 

[Kaylee]

gramakittycat:
I do not understand your post.
Please explain in light of my first post in this thread.

 

[Pleasant Travels]

I just this week finally received my own SSDI initial check for 3.5 years of fighting for it. My situation is not like yours, however, it was contested and I was refused the first 2 times. For my final appeal, I consulted an attorney. I shopped around on one of the forums for disability folks, and was directed to an attorney whose experience included formerly being on the other side, working for the gov't, trying to defeat folks like you and me. Although he gets $6000 out of my backpay check (the statutory maximum allowable), it was worth it in the end. Not only did I get what I was looking for, he paid for himself by pointing out I was eligible for an extra 7 months of funds I was unaware of.

This attorney understood my medical issues adeptly and in our first consultation immediately identified critical mistakes by our opposition which he described were in our favor and would easily lead to an ultimate victory, which in fact happened. It took 20 months from the time I brought him on (43 months total for the entire ordeal), but retaining him was the smartest move I ever made.

If you reside in Arizona, I will be happy to put you in contact with him.

 

[Kaylee]

Pleasant Travels, thanks and congrats!
Could you PM me some links to disability forums you found helpful for research & finding your lawyer?

 

[WanderingRose]

inappropriate quoted remarks removed - cyndi

I’m not at all insulted, I’m responding to the OP.

If I wanted to lay out my life on a public forum, I could do that, or I could choose not to.

I have a great deal of relevant experience, which one can believe or not.

I will add this:  lack of medical records, testing results, diagnosis, follow up care, etc., documenting a brain injury 10+ years ago is going to be one of the impediments to this endeavor to make a retroactive case of disability.

Even a current test result showing a brain injury will be difficult to attribute to an accident 10+ years ago, minus documentation at that time.

Applications for SSI and SSDI will list what documentation is required, and that would be a good place for the OP to start.

https://www.ssa.gov/ssi/text-eligibility-ussi.htm

https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-16.html

 

[rvwandering]

Thread closed as requested by the original poster.