Non-Exertional Limitations And Your Social Security Disability Claim
Posted on: 1 April 2015
You may think of your disability as "back pain," or some other form of physical disability, and you can't help but be aware of the physical limitations of your condition. However, it may very well be the non-physical limitations of your condition that win your Social Security disability claim. Here's what you should know about the importance of including both the "exertional" and "non-exertional" limitations of your condition when describing your condition.
What Is Your Residual Functional Capacity?
When evaluating your disability, Social Security will develop what's known as your residual functional capacity (RFC) assessment. This assessment basically details the type of physical and mental activities that you're able to do, despite your condition.
What Are Your Exertional Limitations?
The physical RFC breaks the type of work you are still able to do into categories ranging from very heavy work to sedentary work based on your exertional limitations. Your exertional limitations are based on things like how much you can lift, how long you can stand or walk, and whether or not you can push, pull or carry anything of weight.
For example, if you have a back injury that causes you muscle spasms, difficulty standing or walking, and numbness in your legs and feet, you might be found capable of only sedentary work (the least physically intense jobs) based on your exertional limitations. These are often desk jobs, with very little walking or standing involved.
What Are Your Non-Exertional Limitations?
Your non-exertional limitations are anything else that impairs your ability to work that isn't strictly physical. Examples include:
- Needing a quiet, non-distracting work area.
- Having to take frequent bathroom breaks due to a disorder.
- Difficulty maintaining concentration due to pain, fatigue, or medication side-effects.
- Problems seeing or hearing.
- Problems following multi-step or highly detailed instructions.
- Problems with social interaction that prevents communication with coworkers or customers.
When people describe the difficulties of their conditions on Social Security forms they often forget to include the non-exertional limitations they suffer, which is a mistake.
Why Is The Combination So Important?
Essentially, without the added non-exertional impairments, many conditions are not considered disabling because you can still be found capable of sedentary or light work. Even with little education or sedentary work histories, people are generally found capable of being "retrained" to do desk jobs or jobs that require only minimal physical effort.
However, by detailing your non-exertional limitations, you clarify for Social Security the full nature of your disability - which bolsters your claim and changes how it's evaluated. In order to deny your benefits, Social Security has to be able to show that are jobs you can do that will accommodate all of your limitations together. That's a more difficult task, once all the information about your non-exertional restrictions is supplied.
If you've already filed for disability and been denied, contact an attorney who can represent you. Social Security disability representation attorneys understand the need to detail all your limitations and can help you best present your case in order to maximize your chances of approval.
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