How to Handle the Adult Function Report when Applying for Disability Benefits
The Adult Function Report (Form SSA-3373-BK) asks you to explain how you function in daily tasks, like household chores, yard work, and grocery shopping.
They’re trying to confirm you can’t exert yourself much—because you must be unable to work to qualify for disability benefits.
People make two big mistakes when they do this form:
Number 1: Overestimating your physical abilities. Maybe you were always active and a hard worker. Like a lot of people, you don’t enjoy admitting your health has gotten bad. You may be embarrassed about filing for disability. So you report that you still mow the lawn, take walks, and play with the grandkids—even if you really can’t do those things much. To a Social Security claims examiner, it looks like you’re fine, healthy enough to work—and ineligible for disability benefits.
Number 2: Underestimating your physical abilities. At the same time, you don’t want to say you’re confined to bed all the time if you occasionally feel better and have a more active, busy day. Social Security could get a report from one of your health care providers mentioning the activities you sometimes do—and from then on, they’ll doubt what you say about your health status.
Some people want their disability lawyers to fill out the forms for them. We are indeed here to help every way we can. But it’s important to do this yourself because only you know answers to some of the questions about your personal situation.
When Social Security claims examiners see forms filled out by disability attorneys, they may doubt how genuine you are about the hardships you’re facing with bad health and money worries.
Talk to us at The Clarkson Firm for advice and guidance and filling out the SSA forms for disability benefits. Then put your answers in your own voice.
To get started, it’s free to have a conversation with us about your case.
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How to Handle the Work History Report for Your Disability Application
The Work History Report (SSA-3369-BK) asks you to list all your jobs in the last 15 years and describe your duties and physical demands of each one.
These are some our top tips for filling out this form:
- Don’t include jobs from longer than 15 years ago.
- Give the correct length of time you were in each job.
- Give the correct hours you worked.
- Give the correct pay.
- Don’t underestimate the physical demands of past jobs.
People trip themselves up when they accidentally describe a job as full-time when it really was part-time. Or they don’t explain that a job lasted for a short duration.
This matters because Social Security looks into your work record to see if you have the background and capability to return to lighter work than in your past. If so, they may deny your benefits.
Another mistake is failing to account for all of the strenuous demands of a past job. Don’t gloss over how much your job required you to lift, for example, because you’re in a hurry and want to finish the form.
Really think about it and include every way you had to exert yourself in a job.
This is especially important for people over 50, because the older you get, the less likely Social Security is to decide you could keep working but in a lighter job. They need to see just how hard your past jobs are.
Social Security Disability forms can be overwhelming. A Clarkson disability lawyer is here to support you. It’s worth it when you get through it, receive financial assistance and lead a more stable secure life.
Contact Us Today! »Help for Every Step of Getting Disability Benefits
Are you trying to figure out if you should even try getting disability benefits? Do you need to put in an application? Have you already applied, but been turned down? Your Alabama Social Security Disability lawyer can step in at any point and help you.
How Does Social Security Disability Work? Get Answers.
Social Security Disability is a huge, complicated program that often doesn’t seem like it cares much about you and your needs. Can’t get answers to your questions? Your disability attorney from The Clarkson Firm is the one who truly cares and guides you. Talk to us.
Common Questions About SSD »
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