Otr request
 

Can you make this request on your own?

The request should be filed by your attorney.

No
 

What if they say no? Good to hear from you Lit

Then ask for an explanation why not. The attorney will get paid the same amount regardless, so if they can avoid the extra time in court, they will.

Trouble getting on
 

What can a person do if they are having trouble becoming a member?

I'm confused by this question.

Recruiting
 

I told someone how wonderful this forum was compared to ss facts.com, and they were having trouble joining this forum.

Request
 

I may have asked this before, can Otr request be sent to Senior Adisory Attorney? What makes for successful Otr request in your opinion?

I'd start with your normal procedure--if your regular contact is a paralegal or junior attorney, then start there.

If your attorney/s are in agreement that this is a good idea, fine. If not, it is a bad idea to push for it in my opinion. I think you're potentially squandering a big opportunity to have a hearing before a new, fair ALJ. The ALJ can deny you OTR as well as approve you and then you would have to appeal yet again and even be potentially faced with a Federal Case--which many attorneys won't even touch and if they do they are no longer limited to the $6000 maximum.

You need to accept that while your previous ALJ might have had a low approval rating, your first application didn't have enough documentation to prove your case. You must remember you chose not to pursue the first Federal Case, and you amended your Alleged Onset Date after filing your second application--so you can't consider that this case has been going on for 8 years.

It is extremely difficult to be patient at this stage, but I encourage you to speak with your therapist if you're struggling. Read up on how to prepare. There are plenty of people that have been in your exact position and are denied at their 3rd, 4th, or 5th ALJ hearing and then denied at appeal. You really need to treat this opportunity seriously in my opinion.

Let me give you a baseball analogy. You're at bat and have 3 balls and 2 strikes--going to your ALJ hearing is like having the opportunity to hit a homerun on the last pitch.

Otr
 

In talking to my attorney, they are waiting for report from my psychiatrist to go along with CE Examinator who has me mentally retarded with severe depression, and then see if Otr is possible.

Than they're already doing everything possible in your best interest. Be patient, okay? ;)

I'm trying
 

It's not easy after 102 months, but I truly believe in my heart this is it, 5 of my doctors, 3 of theirs all say the same thing. One other thing Lit, when you file a discrimiantion claim, why doesn't anyone tell you the results of investigation, or does that form go into circular file?

You filed a discrimination claim against someone at SS? Why? When?

Why, when
 

The ALJ that I had 3 hearings with, failed to listen to social securitys doctors, my doctors, even on remand, didn't address appeals council directive on addressing ME who testified at hearing, notorios judge who has a high number of cases remanded. Was warned, he doesn't believe in physche cases, 38% approval rating, just doesn't seem like smart judge. Actually filed 2 discrimiantion charges, latest 10-13, if you don't listen to my doctors or ssa doctors, what chance does anyone have with this guy?

You've been given a new ALJ, so you've moved your case forward. At this point you need to concentrate on proving your case and your own health.

I came across these links and thought they might be of some interest to you. I'm guessing the first and second link are more applicable, but that's is just a guess, so I included both. The first gives some suggestions about additional documentation that might be of some help at your ALJ hearing.

http://www.disabilitysecrets.com/res...g-benefits.htm

http://www.disabilitysecrets.com/page9-16.html

http://www.disabilitysecrets.com/page11-10.html

Good stuff
 

Thanks, I just have to get a ALJ who will fall the rules, not take things personal, and who's not a war with the Appeals Council, then that box of evidence will mean something. That's why I believe a OTR request is appropriate, because if it's denied, you can gage where your case is weak.

Iq score
 

Here's the words of the Examinator, "Mr. Jones obtained a full scale iq score of 58, which would classify him in the mental retardation range. However, I am not comfortable assigning this diagnosis, because of his appeared lack of effort likely impacting his true scores. Does this fall into malingering, and this test is thrown out or maybe retesting? Mr. Jones does appear to be experiencing symptoms of major depressive disorder. Aging has to play a part in low iq, and medication.

If accepted, that score would qualify for a listing of intellectual developmental disorder, but I think there is almost no chance you'll receive an OTR decision with the qualifications the Examiner wrote.

I believe an ALJ could deny you benefits at a hearing based upon what that Examiner wrote.

If you could be retested before the ALJ hearing, that would be a VERY good idea.

Why
 

Isn't that her opinion, and what's a high IQ got to do with major depression, I didn't try hard to get that. I wish I had refused to take that test. If they don't accept that score, how can I legally challenge their rationale? It's amazing, 36 straight years of working, now I'm perceived as a cheat.

It is the examiner's opinion, but the court recognizes her as an expert, so they value that opinion very highly. Since you haven't been tested by your own docs, there is no test to compare this one against.

(When my son took an IQ test in elementary school, it came back lower than expected, and it turned out he had missed an entire page. He gained 40+ points when retested. Mistakes happen.)

You could have an IQ in the genius range and still receive SSDI for depression. The problem is if there is a question that you purposefully lowered your IQ score, than it would also make sense if you exaggerated your depression as well.

Please ask your attorney if retesting is needed while you still have time to do something about it.

"Because if a consultative physician or mental health professional suspects that you are not giving an honest portrayal of the limitations caused by your mental condition, your claim stands a good likelihood of being denied. And once there is a notation of malingering in your disability case file, it will be hard to win your disability claim if you have to use the Social Security disability appeal process."

http://www.disabilitysecrets.com/dne...ty-mental.html

BTW, refusing to take tests or cooperate in evaluations ordered by SS is considered a sign of malingering, so that would have been just as bad.

CE
 

That's just it Lit, take away what she said about that test, she firmly believes I have major depressive disorder, which as my attorney says, that's what we were looking for. I have been treated for depression since 1998, but kept working until 2006, because I was missing on average about 60 days a year due to my depression. So for 16 years I have been malingering.

Obviously you were not attempting to set yourself up for SSDI benefits 16 years ago by seeking help for your depressive order.

The question the ALJ might ask is, since you've been struggling to receive SSDI benefits since 2006, did you purposefully underperform on your IQ test? If she decides that you were malingering about your IQ, she would then question if you exaggerated the severity of your depression as well.

If this is the less experienced attorney, and you haven't spoken with the senior attorney about if you need to be retested, than I encourage you to write to the senior attorney asap.

caution with malingering conclusion
 

Malingering: Why SSA Must Proceed With Caution
Malingering is defined as pretending or exaggerating incapacity or illness as to avoid duty or work (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/malingering). People may malinger for a variety of secondary gain motives, which may include financial compensation, avoiding work, school or military service, obtaining prescription drugs, or simply to attract attention or sympathy. Malingering presents a problem for SSA when it comes to determining disability, however, SSA must be careful about how possible malingering is investigated.
In the past, ALJs had the option to order tests from Disability Determination Services (DDS) to determine whether a claimant is malingering. The most widely-used tests were the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) and the Rey Memory Test.
The TOMM is a 50 item visual recognition test. It is specifically tailored to be sensitive to malingering while at the same time, insensitive to a wide range of neurological impairments, such as traumatic brain injury and dementia. The test consists of two learning trials and an optional retention trial. The results are based on two cut-off scores: below chance and criteria based on head-injured and cognitively impaired individuals. The examiner uses the TOMM manual to evaluate the results.
The Rey Memory test was devised by Andre Rey. It consists of the examiner showing the claimant a page of items for 10 seconds and instructing them to memorize 15 items. After the page is taken away, the claimant would then be asked to re-produce as many of the items as possible either immediately or after a short delay.
Beginning January of 2012, SSA ordered DDS to deny ALJ requests for malingering tests. This is an important step for claimants and their representatives, due to the fact that these tests were entirely too subjective. A claim would be completely denied by the ALJ if the state examiner conducting the TOMM or Rey Memory Test felt the claimant was malingering based on the test results. There is no set “gold standard” for malingering that can be used across the board, making the use of these tests unfair. In the audit report Consultative Exams at the Indiana Disability Determination Bureau, the Inspector General stated: “[y]ou cannot prove malingering with tests; there is no test that, when passed or failed, conclusively determines the presence of inaccurate patient self-report. Even a high likelihood of malingering does not preclude severe limitations resulting from a genuine MDI (Medically Determined Impairment).” (please see http://oig.ssa.gov/sites/default/fil...5-10-21061.pdf for the complete audit report)
While it is important for SSA to discover a malingering claimant as quickly as possible, this cannot be done with one Consultative Exam alone. The combination of medical records, observations of the claimant, as well as any consultative exams, is what SSA should be looking to in order to evaluate malingering.
Written by Anna Westfall & Attorney Andrew November


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I was already familiar with that information. SS no longer tests specifically for malingering, because the tests themselves were unreliable. This doesn't mean that SS ignores evidence of malingering though.

There is no way to know beforehand how the ALJ will react to that report. I personally wouldn't gamble that she'll overlook it, but if you want to ignore the issue and wait for your hearing, that's up to you.

What if
 

Let's say I take same test, same results, now what? I took shorter version of test in 2009, CE never questioned my effort, pretty much same results. My credibility has never been issue, appeals council remand order doesn't even call for that, they want is it mild, moderate, severe. To take that part of the CE exam and overlook everything else, is to me cherrypicking a report, and looking for reasons to deny me.

I don't think it matters what the results are, so long as the issue of malingering doesn't come up again. I guess if they are that low again and without the malingering you should automatically qualify, but you should qualify based upon the depression, so it shouldn't matter if you test higher.

I asked you before if you had been tested and you said you hadn't?

Did you fill out either your first or second application by yourself or did you need help?

Long and winding road
 

Binder and Binder have been with me every step of the way, I wonder if that's why my attorney wants my physchiatrist to fill out 8 page report, since she's a treating source over years. One thing that's gone unnoticed, my eyesight has gotten bad, just had cataract surgery in one eye, and other eye is going bad, have special glasses for reading. By the way, I was given physical and mental CE in 2009.