Posted on :October 6, 2015Byjpadmin
It is not uncommon for disability claimants to tell their Los Angeles disability attorney that they are nervous about how to testify at their hearing. If you are preparing for a disability hearing, you might be worried about what questions you will be asked, how you should answer, and whether you will come across as credible and sympathetic. These are all valid concerns, and your Los Angeles disability attorney will help you prepare before the hearing. There are certain subjects that most judges will ask about at disability hearings. One of these is how you conduct your day-to-day activities.
Expect to be asked how you spend a typical day since your impairment began. The judge is interested in how the impairment has affected your day-to-day life and, more importantly, whether your activities are consistent with the known symptoms and effects of your impairment. A claimant who claims to have severe debilitating leg pain that makes walking and standing difficult will probably face a very skeptical judge if they also say that they like to go out clubbing several nights a week. Rather than see this as a minefield for the judge to trip you up, you should see this line of questioning as an opportunity to explain your impairment in detail and why it prevents you from working. You can do this by thinking about your answer to this question: “What do you do on an ordinary day?” Some people automatically answer “nothing,” especially if they feel so immobile and helpless that it feels like the right answer. But right or not, that answer is not very helpful to your case. Be more specific. If you spend most of the day sitting and watching TV because it is too painful to do anything more physical, say that. If you have to lie in bed for most of the day because you cannot even get up to eat, say that. The idea is to give the judge a clear and detailed illustration of how your life has changed due to your impairment.
Some disability claimants, not wanting to appear too helpless, might answer this with “I do some cleaning, a little cooking, and maybe do some laundry if necessary.” While this might not sound like a lot of work, it gives exactly the wrong impression to the judge. If you are really disabled, chances are you cannot perform any of those activities without help. Maybe you can only clean for a few minutes before having to sit down and rest, or maybe you can only cook very simple meals because you can’t stand long enough. If you go shopping for groceries, you might have to bring along a family member to help you carry them. These are the important details you should stress in your testimony so that the judge can see what it is like to live a day in your shoes.
For more information on what you can expect at your disability hearing, contact a disability attorney in Los Angeles. Call Lowenstein Disability Lawyers, A Law Corporation at 800-954-7752.