These steps are part of the process by which a disability determination is made. An experienced Chicago Social Security disability attorney can provide you with additional information and help you understand these processes.
Past Relevant Work (Step 4)
If you are still able to do the work you have done over the past 15 years (“past relevant work”), you are not disabled. This includes the 15 years prior to meeting your last disability insured status requirement, depending on which came first. You and your Chicago Social Security disability attorney must therefore show clearly why you are no longer able to fulfill the requirements of the least demanding position you held during that period.
The Listing of Impairments
Unless you and your Chicago Social Security disability attorney can either prove that you cannot perform the requirements of the easiest job you have had, as described above, or that your impairment can be found in the Listing of Impairments, you are unlikely to be determined disabled.
The “Job as It Is Ordinarily Done” Rule
Your Chicago Social Security disability attorney will define the “job as it is ordinarily done” rule as your ability to perform normal tasks in a particular occupation. Unless you can demonstrate that you are unable to perform a job as specified above, you will not be found disabled whether or not the position you currently hold is more demanding and you can no longer do the work.
A Chicago Social Security Disability Lawyer Explains How This Works
The application of this rule is more likely to work against you than for you. Your Chicago Social Security disability attorney can advise you that the SSA determines your ability to perform past relevant work by evaluating your current residual functional capacity as compared to the requirements of your past relevant work. If that work was less demanding that what you are doing now, the SSA will evaluate the demands of the position based on how you met them in the past. If the job was substantial gainful activity, it does not matter whether it was full- or part-time.
Adjusting to “Other Work” (Step 5)
Your Chicago Social Security disability lawyer can tell you that the most complex part of the sequential evaluation process is attempting to ascertain your possible adjustment to another kind of position that may be available in the job market. To do this, the SSA uses the Medical-Vocational Guidelines (the “grids”). Your age, education, professional or employment experience, and capacity for remaining work are all factors that affect this determination. As you grow older, the probability that you will be found disabled is increased.
Contact a Chicago Social Security Disability Lawyer
Learn more about the sequential evaluation process by contacting your Chicago Social Security disability attorney at Chicago Disability Law: 312-561-3030.
