How to Secure SSDI for a Traumatic Brain Injury

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) happens when you receive a sudden blow or forceful jolt that causes your brain to bounce around inside your skull. This can cause brain hemorrhages, contusions, swelling, or tissue tears. Multiple incidents, including falls, auto accidents, sports injuries, or assaults, can cause TBIs. While most TBIs are relatively minor, moderate to severe TBIs can be permanently disabling. If your symptoms are severe and likely to last for 12 or more months, you might qualify for SSDI for a traumatic brain injury.

Symptoms of Moderate to Severe TBIs

Severe, long-lasting brain injury symptoms that prevent you from working might qualify you for SSDI for a traumatic brain injury. Some symptoms of a moderate or severe TBI include the following:

• Loss of consciousness for 30 minutes or longer
• Coma
• Speech and language problems
• Loss of motor function
• Seizures
• Loss of hearing or sight
• Sleep disturbances
• Irritability
• Depression/anxiety
• Cognitive problems

Disability Benefits for a TBI

To qualify for disability benefits, your condition must be severe and expected to last at least one year. It should also prevent you from returning to your job or performing any substantial gainful activity. Finally, you’ll also need to have paid enough into Social Security through your work.

You can satisfy the disability criteria either by meeting a disability listing in the Social Security Blue Book or demonstrating that your symptoms are severe enough that they prevent you from working. Listed conditions are those that the SSA views as particularly severe and disabling. Each listed condition has specific criteria you must meet. If your medical records show that you meet all of the criteria, you’ll be approved for SSDI for a traumatic brain injury.

Meeting the Criteria of a Listed Condition

Traumatic brain injury appears as listing 11.18 in the Blue Book. To qualify, your TBI must meet the following criteria:

• Extreme limitation in your ability to walk, stand, sit, or balance because of motor skill disorganization in two extremities for at least three months; or
• A marked limitation in your physical function; and
• Marked limitation in understanding, applying, or remembering information; or
• Marked limitation in interacting with others; or
• Marked limitation in concentrating, maintaining pace, or persisting; or
• Marked limitation in managing yourself

Alternatively, your TBI might qualify under listing 12.02 as a neurocognitive disorder if your TBI doesn’t interfere with your physical functioning but does severely impact your cognitive abilities. The criteria to meet the listing under 12.02 include the following:

• A significant decline from your previous cognitive functioning level in one of the areas of complex attention, learning and memory, executive functioning, social cognition, or perceptual-motor functioning; and
• Extreme limitation in one or a marked limitation in two areas of cognitive functioning: understanding instructions, completing tasks, interacting with others, or behaving appropriately; or
• Your condition is serious and persistent, has lasted at least two years, and you have shown minimal improvement despite receiving treatment

Qualifying When Your TBI Doesn’t Meet a Listing

Even if your TBI doesn’t meet the criteria of one of the listed conditions, you might still be approved for SSDI for a traumatic brain injury. The SSA will assess your residual functional capacity (RFC) to assess whether you can perform any type of substantial gainful activity. You’ll need to submit substantial medical evidence demonstrating the severity of your symptoms and their impact on your ability to work or perform the activities of daily life.

Evidence to Support Your Claim

You’ll need to present medical evidence with your application to prove that your condition meets a listing or that your symptoms are severe enough to prevent you from working and are expected to last a year or more. Some of the types of evidence to submit include the following:

• Emergency department records
• Doctor’s notes
• Nurses’ notes
• Imaging studies (CT scans, MRIs, or X-rays)
• Neuropsychological testing
• Counselor’s notes
• Written statements from your former employer, friends, or family members about how your symptoms impact you and your ability to work or engage in routine activities
• Evidence of other conditions you have (PTSD, anxiety, depression, etc.)

Work Requirements

You must have paid into Social Security through your job and have earned enough work credits. In general, you must have earned 40 credits with 20 earned in the last 10 years. You earn a maximum of four work credits based on your earnings each year. If you’re younger, you might qualify with fewer work credits.

Consult a Disability Lawyer

If you want to apply for SSDI for a TBI, you should talk to one of the experienced disability lawyers at Ellis & Associates. We provide free consultations and can help you understand the strengths and weaknesses of your case and the types of evidence to gather. Contact us today to schedule by calling 800-MR-ELLIS or sending us a message online.