Meeting with disability lawyer
Feb. 7th, 2019 02:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sasha_featherMet with my disability attorney today. He's a very nice man, but definitely a talker, so I am trying to determine and remember what is actually important from all of what he said.
Because I'm well under 50, this may be a harder case than some. He talked about how a lot of my jobs were ones where I used my brain, so I'll have to talk about why I can't do these kinds of jobs anymore. He seemed to want to know what the causes were for my fatigue and facial pain, for which I was like, no one knows.
Do you miss out on fun things, social events? Talk about examples. The example he gave was someone who missed the wedding of a favorite relative.
Don't under-report. Many people are embarrassed by their symptoms, but under-reporting is lying.
But don't whine! (not sure what he meant here). Be disciplined in what you say.
Be specific. Answer questions and give specific examples. Don't go off on tangents.
I am supposed to get a list of my filled prescriptions from the last few years from my pharmacy. This will show how much I use them / need them.
I asked him if I could practice what to say, but he said no, then it will sound like you are rehearsing. Just be yourself.
Dress conservatively and professionally. (But practical footwear is fine). Don't wear your hat into the courtroom (we can ask if I can put it on once I'm in there, to protect me from light sensitivity, but, take the buttons off).
The hearing is on March 5th, arrive early.
That's really all I got and the appointment was about 45 minutes. So, that was confusing!
Because I'm well under 50, this may be a harder case than some. He talked about how a lot of my jobs were ones where I used my brain, so I'll have to talk about why I can't do these kinds of jobs anymore. He seemed to want to know what the causes were for my fatigue and facial pain, for which I was like, no one knows.
Do you miss out on fun things, social events? Talk about examples. The example he gave was someone who missed the wedding of a favorite relative.
Don't under-report. Many people are embarrassed by their symptoms, but under-reporting is lying.
But don't whine! (not sure what he meant here). Be disciplined in what you say.
Be specific. Answer questions and give specific examples. Don't go off on tangents.
I am supposed to get a list of my filled prescriptions from the last few years from my pharmacy. This will show how much I use them / need them.
I asked him if I could practice what to say, but he said no, then it will sound like you are rehearsing. Just be yourself.
Dress conservatively and professionally. (But practical footwear is fine). Don't wear your hat into the courtroom (we can ask if I can put it on once I'm in there, to protect me from light sensitivity, but, take the buttons off).
The hearing is on March 5th, arrive early.
That's really all I got and the appointment was about 45 minutes. So, that was confusing!
no subject
Date: 2019-02-07 09:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-02-08 01:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-02-07 10:02 pm (UTC)Probably the difference is between saying "I frequently suffer from leg pain" and "My leg hurts a lot and it's just soooo hard to move around, you have no idea, and I just can't stand it!"
The latter may be true, but people don't like hearing it.
no subject
Date: 2019-02-08 01:39 am (UTC)Conuly's nailed it
Date: 2019-02-11 10:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-02-08 02:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-02-08 06:45 am (UTC)This comment might be unhelpful! If so, okay to ignore!
Date: 2019-02-09 01:56 am (UTC)I wonder if some DW entries might be helpful too, although maybe you've already mined them (I am also very behind on DW, so apologies if you've already discussed this elsewhere!). But like, days where you say, you could only do x/y/z - then why? Because fatigue? What happens when you hit that point? Your body won't move? You can't fathom doing it? etc. Maybe specific days will be helpful, not sure.
The thing about literally asking you to not wear your hat, & then only with permission, strikes me as absurd, but also a way to right off the bat be like, "x environment does y to me and that's why I have to wear a hat," so they already see you use lots of practical solutions where possible.
You strike me as someone who's not going to sound rehearsed, even if you practice what you want to say. Your default is pretty conversational, even if you're saying something you've said 85 times (think explaining something to someone at WisCon or comics club lol).
When he talks about under-reporting, one thing that strikes me is, not to forget mental health symptoms for favor of focusing on physical ones. Chronic pain really fucks you up. If you already had a condition prior to getting sick, has it gotten worse?
Re: This comment might be unhelpful! If so, okay to ignore!
Date: 2019-02-09 04:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-02-12 09:56 pm (UTC)Like going out for a paid birthday dinner but, nope, can't do it :,)
Like all the romantic encounters you haven't had the energy to seek out?
He seemed to want to know what the causes were for my fatigue and facial pain, for which I was like, no one knows.
Yes, and fortunately you have medico-jargon to describe them. "Trigeminal-neuralgia-like idiopathic neuropathy" is better than "my face hurts." Trot out all the diagnoses!
no subject
Date: 2019-02-13 12:25 am (UTC)