The First Step

                                                  Social Security will determine if you are working

As of 2010, you are considered working at Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) and not disabled if you earn more than $980 per month.

The Second Step

                                 Social Security will determine if you have a severe condition

Social Security will consider your impairment(s) severe if your impairment interferes with basic work related activity. If they find your condition not "severe," they will determine that you are not disabled.

The Third step

                      Social Security will determine if you meet the "listed" impairment requirements

If your condition is on Social Security's listing of impairments and the condition is severe enough to meet the requirements of a listed impairment, you will be found disabled. If your impairment is not on the list, Social Security will determine if your condition is equal to the severity of one of the listed impairments. Therefore, if Social Security finds that you meet or equal a listed impairment, you will be found disabled. In order for your condition to qualify as a listing, more is required than just the same name of the condition and the listing itself.   Your condition must meet all of the requirements of that particular listing to be found disabled. For a full understanding of the listing, please see the Medical Listings page. For child listings, please see the page entitled Child Listings.

The Fourth Step

Social Security will determine if you can do your previous work

If Social Security decides that your condition is severe but it does not meet or equal a listing, then they will determine if your impairments keep you from performing your past work. If Social Security decides you can perform your past work, they will find that you are not disabled. The jobs you have performed in the past have certain exertion and non-exertion requirements. For example, if your previous job required you to stand for one hour and your medical condition limits you to stand for one-half hour, you would not be able to perform that particular prior work. If Social Security determines you can not perform all of your prior work for the past 15 years, then you go to the next step. If they find you can perform any of your past work, then they will find you not disabled.

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The Fifth Step

                                                         What if you can perform current jobs?

If Social Security determines that there are a significant number of jobs in the local or national economy that you can perform, then you will be found not disabled. At this step, Social Security considers your age, education, past work experience and any transferable skills acquired in former jobs. To understand this step in the process, you must understand the GRID Rules. See the GRID Rules page on this site for a full explanation. If the Social Security Administration finds you can adjust to another type of work, they will find you not disabled. If it is found that you cannot adjust to other work, you will be granted Social Security disability benefits.

Are you disable? The answer lies in your understanding from reading this site and your understanding of each aspect of Social Security Disability. These are the steps that someone at Social Security will use to determine if you are disabled. If you are not working, and you have a serious condition, and are getting medical treatment, you can probably focus on these critical three steps:  One, study the medical listings in this site and find if your particular impairment is listed. If so, find out what you have to prove to meet that listing. Even if you think you meet a listing, you should study the other steps because Social Security might not see it the way you do. Second, think about your past work. What were your duties on that job? What prevents you from performing this job now? Did your doctor fill out an RFC that shows your limitations that would prevent you from performing your past work? Second, can you perform any other work? This can be difficult to access. Keep in mind that this last question will be determined by the limitations stated in the RFC(S) from your doctor(s) and the information Social Security Employees provided.  Examine the GRID Rules at this point and understand how they are applied. Even if your circumstances are not disabling and you have non-exertional limitations, you can still be found disabled. If you are under 50 years old, chances are the non-exertional impairments will be crucial to winning your claim.

If your case is won, the Social Security Administration will pay you based on an onset date 

This date is the date that you are found to meet the disability requirements. The Social Security Administration determines the actual date that you became disabled.