Traumatic brain injuries and Social Security Disability
There are many types of injuries and illnesses that are considered to be permanent disabilities. Among these is a traumatic brain injury, or TBI. No matter how the injury occurred, a TBI can have an impact on all the different aspects of your life. It can leave you unable to work, and can also harm your ability to handle the tasks of daily living and enjoy your personal life. Understanding what kinds of symptoms a TBI has and the benefits you can get to help you becomes very important when living with this kind of disability.
What Are The Symptoms Of A TBI?
There are a lot of symptoms that can occur after a person has experienced a TBI. For example, a traumatic brain injury commonly causes symptoms such as:
- dizziness and balance problems
- poor motor skills or trouble with fine motor skills
- distorted speech that can be difficult to understand
- blurred vision or trouble seeing either nearby or far away
- trouble finding and saying the right word
- breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure issues (in some cases)
Even if you only experience some of these symptoms, or if the symptoms are relatively mild, they can still impair your ability to work. That’s often true with non-sedentary jobs where balance issues, dizziness, and blood pressure issues could be big factors. However, it can also be a concern for sedentary jobs, since these often require either fine motor skills or cognitive abilities that a person who has experienced a TBI may have trouble with.
Can You Get SSD Benefits For A TBI?
Fortunately, it may be possible to receive SSD benefits for a traumatic brain injury, to help with some of the costs of the disability and to make it easier for those who have a TBI and are not able to work, or to work at a more demanding, higher paying kind of occupation. To quality, your TBI and its resulting symptoms must keep you from doing any kind of work for which you are qualified. A doctor must diagnose your TBI, and then you can apply for SSD benefits. Be sure that you are clear about all the ways your TBI affects you, so you have the highest chance of having your claim approved.
An Attorney Can Help You With An SSD Claim For A TBI
In many cases, your initial claim for SSD will be denied. If that has happened to you, or if you’re ready to make a claim and want the best chance of having it approved the first time around, you will want to hire an attorney who is familiar with that area of law. Then you can reduce your chances of receiving a denial letter, and can start receiving your SSD benefits faster.