My name is Dan and I have some relatively good news and some relatively bad news for those that have afflictions associated with this site.

I was in a horrific car accident in 2002 and was hospitalized for about 2 months. During the accident, I "bruised" my brain which caused me to begin having seizures. I began the long road to testing different meds for the seizures, hospitalization in an EMU unit and well you can fill in the blanks. Fortunately for me, my company had both long and short term disability and was required to keep paying 100% of my medical payments. One requirement was that I apply for social security benefits as I would definitely be out of work for a year and the seizures met the criteria. I initially applied in January 2003. I had my hearing with the ALJ, February 22, 2007. 4 years!! Now I am waiting for his decision which could take up to 8 weeks and, if approved, another 4-6 weeks to get paid. My advice is to get an attorney at the git go and let them find and fill out all the paperwork. If you have good medical insurance, see as many doctors (specialists) as you can as often as you can. Contact the Americans With Disabilities and read the act. The road to the ALJ is long and frustrating but I let my advocate (ALLSUP Inc) handle everything and they keep me updated on the status of my claim. Now I am at the end, pretty much because although they say you can go to the Appeals Board if the ALJ denies your claim. Very few cases get there and you must prove the ALJ made a mistake hearing your case. The Appeals Board will add another 1 to 2 years. Good luck to all and I'll post my results from the ALJ and be happy to answer any questions.