Does Social Security Consider
Epilepsy a Disability
in Wisconsin?
How You Could Qualify for Financial Relief
Epilepsy doesn’t automatically qualify you for Social Security Disability benefits, even if your symptoms are severe, but it is a condition Social Security recognizes as a disability under the right circumstances.
To receive benefits, you’ll need to show you can’t work any job for 12 months or more. This is a high standard to meet.
More than three million Americans have epilepsy, but many won’t qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits because they can manage their epilepsy enough to keep working.
If you can’t work much at all because of your symptoms, you may have an epilepsy disability claim. Our Madison disability lawyers can help.
The disability attorneys at the Becker Law Office and Hawks Quindel have helped thousands of people in Wisconsin with their disability claims for decades.
We are local disability attorneys who don’t treat you like a case number, like some big firms would. We give every Social Security Disability claim the personal attention it deserves. Don’t go through this process with a stranger.
There’s little financial risk to working with a lawyer on your disability claim. You won’t be charged an upfront fee.
In fact, you won’t pay an attorney fee until you win benefits.
When Can I Claim Disability for Epilepsy?
Epilepsy is listed in Social Security’s “blue book” of health impairments, so there is a specific set of criteria claims examiners can use when you apply for disability for epilepsy.
Social Security will want to see one of the following situations:
A. Generalized tonic-clonic seizures occurring at least once per month for at least three consecutive months
B. Dyscognitive seizures occurring at least once per week for at least three consecutive months
C. Generalized tonic-clonic seizures occurring at least once every two months for at least four consecutive months—and a marked limitation in one of the following:
a. Physical functioning
b. Understanding, remembering and applying information
c. Concentrating on tasks, persisting in work and staying on pace
d. Adapting to your surroundings and managing yourself
e. Interacting with others
D. Dyscognitive seizures occurring at least once every two weeks for at least three consecutive months and a marked limitation in one of the following:
a. Physical functioning
b. Understanding, remembering and applying information
c. Concentrating, persisting, and keeping on pace with tasks
d. Adapting or managing daily life
e. Interacting with others
And you need to display these medical issues while adhering to treatment and trying to address your symptoms.
If you don’t meet these exact requirements, that doesn’t mean there’s no hope of qualifying for disability benefits. You can still document how your epilepsy limits your everyday life.
Explain to Social Security how seizures limit or rule out your ability to safely do activities like driving, working around heavy machinery, working in high places, maintaining close attention to your surroundings and responding quickly to issues.
Our Wisconsin disability lawyers can help you build your case.
We’ll help you fill out forms, get the medical evidence you need, and request statements from friends and family members who have witnessed your health issues firsthand.
Get started with a FREE evaluation of your epilepsy disability claim.
What Information Should Go into My Disability Claim for Epilepsy?
How do you show Social Security that you meet their definition of when epilepsy qualifies as a disability, or even that your particular case of epilepsy makes working out of the question?
With medical evidence and documentation. Lots of it.
But don’t worry. An experienced disability lawyer can help you with all of this.
These are the kinds of evidence our lawyers look to make sure are in epilepsy disability claims:
- Written diagnosis naming types of seizures
- Records indicating how long ago you started experiencing seizures
- Physical exam reports
- Neurological exam reports
- Electroencephalogram (EEG) results
- Brain MRI or CT scans
- Neurologist reports of your seizure frequency
- Neurologist reports of your medication history
- Neurologist reports of your response to treatment
- Records indicating you have consistently followed treatment plans
- Record of medication side effects like fatigue, dizziness and slowed thinking
- Detailed descriptions from doctors of what your seizures are like
- Reports from witnesses of your seizures
- Your own diary of seizure experiences
- Hospitalization records
Social Security will ask your medical providers directly for some of these documents, but it’s important to be sure they get all of the right information and to collect and send more if needed.
It’s also important to communicate well with your doctors, so they document the details you need for your epilepsy disability claim.
Your disability lawyer can be your guide through this process, making it easier on you and helping you avoid omissions or mistakes.
How Long Does Social Security Disability Take?
Winning Social Security Disability benefits isn’t easy, and the process won’t go quickly. Hearing back about your initial application for benefits can take more than six months, sometimes as long as a year.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) always has a large backlog of claims and not nearly enough examiners to quickly run them through Social Security’s strict standards.
When you eventually win benefits, you’ll receive a lump sum of back pay to make up for some of the time you waited.
If you get denied disability benefits (which happens in most cases at least once), the process takes longer. Each stage of appealing adds time.
It can take months to hear back after requesting reconsideration, your first chance at appeal.
If you get denied again, the second stage is a disability hearing. According to recent data, it can take around eight months to get your time in front of a judge in Madison.
Appealing to the SSA Appeals Council and filing a suit in federal court both take a while as well.
This is all the more reason to work with a local lawyer who’s going to keep you updated about how your claim is progressing and what to expect.
Our Madison disability attorneys are your partners at every step, and we’ll keep you informed and updated if there are any developments.
Disability law is all we do.
We’ve helped many Wisconsinites win SSDI or SSI benefits that put them back on the road to financial stability.
Let us help you with your epilepsy disability claim.