When A Stranger Gets To Decide If You’re Disabled

By Amber Hosea in The Mighty.

No one wants to be disabled, and no one wants to go through the disability process. I stopped working two years ago and applied for disability. I worked for as long as I could and pushed myself day in and day out just to get through each work day. I was sick and exhausted, and there were plenty of days that I cried on my way to work or on my way home because I felt so terrible.

When I applied for disability, I knew the process would take awhile. I thought to myself, “I have plenty of medical records, and I know how sick I am so that should be enough, right?” Wrong. I was denied. Then, I was denied a second time. Then I went for my hearing in front of a judge. I tend to be a nervous person, and this experience made me feel worthless. I’m young and have complicated chronic illnesses, and I knew this stranger was going to spend 20 minutes with me to decide whether or not I was disabled. 

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Link to Disability story