Tucson Social Security Disability Blog

When Did My Disability Begin?

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When you apply for disability benefits, Social Security will ask you when your disability began.  Your response becomes the alleged onset date, or AOD.  Your AOD is an important part of your application. It can, for example, mark the point at which your back benefits begin to accumulate.

Calculating Your AOD

My Last Day On The Job

In determining your AOD, you need to keep a few things in mind. First, note that your AOD should not be earlier than when you were no longer able to work full time.  In reviewing cases, I see examples of people continuing to work for years after their AODs. I think this is because when people apply for disability benefits they do not think in terms of when they stopped working. Rather, they think in terms of when their illnesses or conditions began.  Consider a bad back. An applicant might have been dealing with a bad back for ten years before finally not being able to work any longer.  When Social Security asks when your disability began, it makes sense to say when the back pain began. But that is not an accurate AOD if you kept working despite back pain.

Do Your Medical Records Support Your AOD?

The second thing to remember when deciding on your AOD is that there needs to be medical records to document your claim as of that date.  Consider again the applicant with the bad back who kept working.  If he did not seek treatment for his back, it will be all but impossible to get benefits for that time frame. This is because Social Security will need medical evidence to support his claim of disability. 

doctor
First unable to work as of . . .

A Date Much More Than 1 Year Before Your Application Will Not Help Much

You might think that it makes no difference if you pick an AOD that is far in the past. But it can. Remember that Social Security cannot pay you benefits for more than twelve months before you apply.  So, any date much beyond that is not going to do you much good in any event.

A Question Of Credibility

You Sure You Became Disabled In 1937?

There is also the question of credibility.  I have had cases where people claim they were first disabled fifteen or even twenty years ago.  While that could be true, such an allegation is going to raise some eyebrows. Social Security already thinks that all applicants are lying or exaggerating.  An AOD that is too far in the past is going to reinforce their belief about you.  This means you could be starting out on the back foot before anything happens on your claim. 

Exceptions Do Apply

As always, there are a lot of exceptions and variations to take into account. I am happy to discuss this with you. But, keep these general principles in mind as you apply for Social Security disability and tell them when you first became disabled. Choosing a good AOD can help you get approved.

Hearing scheduled? Call Today.

If Social Security has scheduled your disability case to be heard by one of their judges, call me immediately. Unlike many large law firms, I can move quickly to get your case ready to be won.

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About The Author

Since 1992, I have been helping the people of Southern Arizona get the benefits they are due. Before devoting all my efforts to assisting people with Social Security disability claims, I also handled such complex lawsuits as medical malpractice and products liability. I brought to my Social Security cases all the skills and attention to detail that I developed in the courtroom. I approach each Social Security disability case as if it were a million-dollar lawsuit. For the people trying to get Social Security benefits, their claim is every bit as important. Because I have personally handled so many Social Security cases, I have refined the skills I need to win your case for you. I have helped people win cases for every kind of ailment from arthritis to valley fever. At present, I am focused on helping those persons with neurological and orthopedic disorders. Because claims for people over age fifty bring additional complications, I particularly seek out those cases to work on. I regularly write about back and spine conditions on my blog. I actively seek out the latest information about orthopedic and neurological disorders to ensure I can represent my clients as effectively as possible. Because of my current focus, I regret that I am not able to take any cases for mental disorders. If you are over age fifty and suffer from any orthopedic or neurological disorder, please contact me at once.