Motor neuron disease is actually a blanket term used to describe a variety of neurological disorders that all cause irreparable damage to the motor neurons, which are the cells responsible for controlling muscles. Neurological disorders that fall under this broad medical category are diseases in which the motor neurons are damaged, and often eventually destroyed. Neurons affected can vary as well, including those responsible for controlling the voluntary muscles required for breathing, swallowing, speaking, and walking, among other basic functions.

The Progression of Motor Neuron Disease

Motor neuron disease is typically progressive in nature, worsening over time. The initial symptoms of the illness usually present as fatigue and muscle weakness, twitching, pain, and cramping. Dependent upon the areas of the body affected by the condition, other early symptoms may also be present, and may include headaches, slurred speech, and shortness of breath, among others.

As the disease progresses, muscles become weaker, and patients typically experience worsening symptoms that include muscle spasms, stiffness, and increased pain. They may also have greater difficulty communicating, thinking clearly, sleeping, and remembering things, and may experience emotional changes that often include depression and anxiety. In its most advanced stages, motor neuron disease usually results in respiratory complications and total body paralysis.

Qualifying for Social Security Disability with Motor Neuron Disease

As a severely debilitating, degenerative neurological disorder, motor neuron disease is certainly disabling. However, there is no dedicated listing for the disease in the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Blue Book, which is the manual of potentially disabling conditions used for evaluating Social Security Disability (SSD) benefit applications.

Though there is no listing for the disease, you can still qualify for disability benefits. To do so, you must either meet or match the listing for another condition that does appear in the Blue Book, or be granted benefits under a medical vocational allowance after an analysis of your residual functional capacity.

Common conditions listed in the Blue Book that an application based on motor neuron disease may meet or match include:

• Section 11.00 – Disorganization of Motor Function
• Section 11.10 – Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
• Section 11.14 – Peripheral Neuropathies
• Section 11.16 - Subacute combined cord degeneration (pernicious anemia) with disorganization of motor function
• Section 11.17 - Degenerative disease not listed elsewhere, such as Huntington's Chorea, Friedreich's ataxia, and spino-cerebellar degeneration

In most instances, an application for SSD benefits filed with a diagnosis of motor neuron disease will closely match one of the previously noted listings in the Blue Book. If yours does not, you can still qualify for disability benefits under a medical vocational allowance.
To meet the eligibility criteria for a medical vocational allowance, the SSA will need to establish your residual functional capacity (RFC). This is achieved by reviewing how your condition affects your everyday abilities, including your ability to completed normal, daily tasks as well as typical job duties. Functional reports completed by you and by your physician will be required to evaluate your RFC, in addition to the extensive medical records that are required for any SSD application.

Medical Evidence and your Motor Neuron Disease SSD Application

Your medical records are a substantial part of proving your disability to the SSA. Records should include the names and contact information for you all your treating physicians, including any hospitals or other health care facilities at which you’ve received treatment. Your records should additionally include documentation of all medical tests you’ve had performed and medications you’ve taken, as well as the affect of each treatment you’ve received.

Specific records the SSA will look for when evaluating your medical documentation include:

• Electromyography or nerve conduction studies showing decreased functioning of the motor neurons
• Lab tests, including blood, urine and other exams that can rule out other disorders and diseases with symptoms similar to motor neuron
• At least one MRI showing neurological symptoms are not the result of a spinal cord tumor, injury, or other disorder affecting the central nervous system
• Muscle and/or nerve biopsies that confirm nerve damage and disease

Getting Help with your Motor Neuron Disease SSD Application

Because there is no dedicated listing with the SSA for motor neuron disease, your medical documentation and other records included in your application must be thorough. You may decide to seek assistance with your application and in collecting the required documentation. A social security advocate or disability attorney can be an invaluable resource when completing your initial application, in addressing any requests for additional information from the SSA, and in filing an appeal, if your initial application for SSD benefits is denied.

Reflex sympathetic dystrophy, which is also commonly known as RSD, is a muscle disorder in which nerve and muscle damage and chronic pain are the primary symptoms. Most commonly affecting a single arm or leg, the condition is believed to result from nerve damage, when it’s associated with an injury. However, not all individuals with RSD have suffered an injury or experienced nerve damage. In these cases of RSD, the condition is believed to be a type of complex regional pain syndrome, which is an autoimmune disorder.

Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is the most common type of heart arrhythmia. The two upper chambers (atria) contract irregularly, which causes blood to pool there instead of being pumped into the lower chambers (ventricles). Between 3 and 6 million people in the United States have AF, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

If AF is a burden in your life or the life of a loved one, there may be help available. The Social Security Administration (SSA) offers benefit programs to help those with a disability that makes them unable to support themselves financially.

If you become disabled again after your SSD benefits have stopped, you’ll need to reapply for disability based on your new medical condition. This is true even if your new disability is the same condition that qualified you for SSD benefits the first time around.

While submitting a new disability application is what’s required, there are some additional details you’ll need to understand about how this process works.

Any U.S. citizen that’s otherwise eligible for Social Security Disability (SSD) can receive benefits, even if living overseas. There are however, certain countries the Social Security Administration (SSA) cannot mail benefit checks to, and payments cannot be processed and sent to someone other than you.

The SSA considers any stay outside the U.S. or its protectorates (e.g. Puerto Rico, Guam, etc.) that lasts longer than 30 days to be residence outside the U.S. rather than just a visit. Therefore, any stay lasting 30 days or more requires you report your status change to the SSA, including submitting change of address information.

Though a U.S. citizen otherwise qualified for SSD benefits can continue receiving benefits even when living outside the U.S., there are countries to which benefit payments cannot be sent. A full list of these nations can be found on the SSA’s website.

Some exceptions to this rule do apply, but you’ll have to visit the U.S. consulate or embassy to determine if you may be approved as an exception. It’s also important to keep in mind that among the rules to qualify for an exception is the agreement that you’ll pick up your benefit checks in person each month from the U.S. embassy or consulate.

If you’re receiving benefits as a dependent or beneficiary, there are different rules that apply. You can still continue to receive benefits as long as you have not been outside the U.S. for more than six months, and provided you don’t live in one of the countries listed here. Again, there are some exceptions to this rule.

Under no circumstances can you receive SSD payments while residing in North Korea or Cuba. There are no exceptions to this restriction.

It’s also important to note that benefit payments withheld due to regulation restrictions while you’re in another country are still available to you. You may not receive them immediately, but you can obtain them once you leave the country in which restrictions applied. Of course, keeping the SSA updated on your whereabouts is an essential part of this process.

You will also periodically receive questionnaires from the SSA if you’re residing in another country. Failure to complete and return the questionnaires within the prescribed time frame will result in your benefit payments ceasing.

Any changes in your address, work status, disabling condition, marital status, income, or parental status, among others, must be reported in a timely manner to the SSA to avoid benefit disruption and/or penalties.

Tourette’s syndrome is a neurological disorder that causes involuntary physical movements or vocal sounds. These actions may include kicking, facial tics, sudden jerking movements, shouts, grunts, or many other fits. In some cases, the symptoms can be quite severe, including involuntary jumping or biting, and can put the individual’s safety and well being in danger.

Applying for Social Security Disability Benefits with Tourette’s Syndrome

Many people suffering from Tourette’s syndrome are able to control and manage their symptoms with the help of therapy and medications. When the symptoms are severe, this is not always possible, and the symptoms make it difficult or impossible for an individual to work. Fortunately, there are several ways in which an individual may be approved for Social Security Disability benefits if they cannot work due to Tourette’s syndrome.

Ways to Qualify for SSD Benefits Due to Tourette’s Syndrome

For adults suffering from Tourette’s syndrome, the SSA does not have a standard set of guidelines pertaining to this condition. Instead, they evaluate the results found in one of two assessments:

• The Physical Residual Functional Capacity Assessment
  

  The physical residual functional capacity (RFC) assessment measures an individual’s physical ability to complete common workplace tasks. An individual with severe Tourette’s syndrome symptoms may be found unable to safely perform many tasks such as lifting heavy objects or working around dangerous machinery.

• The Mental Residual Functional Capacity Assessment
  

  The mental RFC evaluates an individual’s ability to mentally handle job-related activities. Tourette’s syndrome may make it difficult for an adult to concentrate on tasks, socialize with others, or follow directions.

Children Applying for Social Security Disability Benefits for Tourette’s

When it comes to children with Tourette’s syndrome, the guidelines are someone different. To be eligible for benefits, a child must meet one of the following requirements:

• Suffer ongoing, involuntary repetitive motor movements that affect multiple muscle groups and suffer from vocal tics

OR

• Have significant ongoing difficulty, caused by Tourette’s syndrome, with at least one of the following areas:
• Speech
• Vision
• Hearing
• Movement and control of the body
• Use of an arm or leg
• Obsessive hypochondria
• Physical sensation
• Digestion

The child must also have severe difficulties, for their age group, in at least two of the following areas:

• Cognitive or communicative function
• Social functioning
• Maintaining concentration, pace, or persistence
• Personal functioning

Hiring a Social Security Disability Attorney before Applying for SSD Benefits

In order to better your chances of receiving approval for benefits, and avoid costly common mistakes on your application, it is recommended that you enlist the guidance and assistance of an experienced Social Security Disability attorney. They do not charge anything upfront; they are paid on a contingency basis and are not paid unless you are successfully awarded benefits.

Reasons to hire an attorney>>>

The Social Security Administration (SSA) does provide Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits to some infants born prematurely; however, premature birth is not the primary qualifier for SSI benefits. Instead, it’s weight at birth that determines whether or not an infant qualifies for disability benefits.

A disability freeze is a period of time in which your earnings information is not considered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) when computing Social Security Disability (SSD) payments.

Because an average of your historical earnings is what determines the amount of your monthly benefits check for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits, having a period of very low earnings on your record can have negative effects on your SSDI benefits.
If you’re disabled temporarily and have lower income for a period of time as a result, you can apply for a “disability freeze” during that period. The SSA would then review your earnings history differently if you do later need to apply for SSD benefits.

One example of a period in which a disability freeze may be beneficial is if you’re temporarily disabled and receiving short term disability payments through your employer’s disability plan. Most such disability plans only pay a percentage of your regular wages or salary.

This means your earnings while temporarily disabled will be lower than your standard earnings. A decrease in earnings during temporary disability can bring down the overall average of your earnings record, if you do later need to apply for SSD benefits. Applying for a disability freeze during a period of disability can make the averaging of your earnings record conducted later by the SSA more accurate, which can in turn increase your monthly SSD payments as a result.

Not all individuals qualify for a disability freeze and there are a number of factors that can influence who qualifies and when. In some cases, historical periods of disability can be taken into account by the SSA even if you didn’t apply for a disability freeze at the time. Additionally, in some circumstances, a disability freeze can even be placed on your earnings record while you’re receiving SSD benefit payments.

If you need to apply for a disability freeze, or believe you may qualify for one, you can contact the SSA directly. However, as the rules governing disability freezes are complicated and can be confusing, many people decide to seek the assistance of a disability advocate or Social Security Disability attorney. Getting help with understanding and applying for a disability freeze can especially be beneficial if you believe your short term disability may turn into a long term, permanently condition.

While polio was largely eradicated years ago thanks to vaccinations, there are many people still today who live with what is known as post polio-syndrome or PPS, or other polio related symptoms. Post-polio syndrome generally affects individuals many years after they originally contracted polio. It is believed that those who suffered from severe polio symptoms initially will experience severe post-polio symptoms in the future, in many cases 30 or 40 years after they were originally diagnosed with polio. The symptoms may include:

• Severe fatigue
• Respiratory problems
• Sleep apnea
• Muscle atrophy
• Joint pain

Applying for Social Security Disability Benefits with Polio

While, for some individuals, the polio symptoms may be mild and manageable; others find the symptoms to be so severe that they are unable to continue working. If your polio symptoms are severe, you may be eligible to receive automatic approval to receive Social Security Disability benefits, and at least experience relief from the financial burdens caused by your condition. You simply must demonstrate that you meet the requirements set forth in the SSD blue book.

How Individuals with Polio Can Qualify for Social Security Disability Assistance

Polio, and post-polio syndrome, are conditions that may meet the requirements of the SSD blue book. The blue book lists medical conditions that merit automatic approval for benefits because the natures of these conditions are believed to be severe enough to restrict anyone from being able to work. One of the categories in the blue book is anterior poliomyelitis. In order to meet the requirements of this listing, at least one of the following statements must be true regarding your symptoms:

• You consistently have trouble swallowing or breathing
• You have significant trouble communicating with others due to slurred speech

OR

• You have difficulty using your arms for daily activities, or you require a walker or crutches to walk

If none of the above statements apply to your polio symptoms, but you still find yourself physically unable to perform at any type of job, you may still be able to gain approval for Social Security Disability benefits if you provide adequate medical documentation.

The Importance of Hiring a Social Security Disability Attorney

While suffering from polio-related symptoms can be extremely difficult, it is not always simple to receive approval for the Social Security Disability benefits that you definitely need. Many people are turned down for this assistance each year because they were unable to provide the necessary evidence to support their claim. To reduce the chance of this happening to you, enlist the help of an experienced Social Security Disability attorney.

A SSD attorney will go through each step of the application process with you, and help you obtain and organize all of the documentation and evidence you need in order to clearly meet the necessary requirements. Understanding exactly how the SSA evaluates these cases can be very challenging and confusing; having an attorney providing guidance can remove all of that unnecessary stress and anxiety from the process.