Thanks, Janke. Great advice.

EmbraceGrace - I am a long way from having a judge. I am awaiting my first decision. Hoping I will get approval without having to go to appeal.

I hope you do too. Good luck!

DL,

""If a person is capable of grocery shopping and going to the mall on their own without difficulty, the DDS will assume they have an effective gait."

That doesn't mean SSDI would consider you able to work. Try not to read into things.

For one thing, that says they will think you have an effective gait......that means nothing if you are disabled, like me, for RSD and TOS in the upper extremities.

It also says "going to the grocery store ON YOUR OWN" which you can not do.

It also says "without difficulty" You do it WITH difficulty.

The one thing I might be concerned about from what you just wrote is that you go to the grocery store because you and your mom don't have anyone else who can do it for you. I would watch how I phrased that on SSDI paperwork. SSDI isn't for people who would find it easier not to work, it's for people who can not work. I would not write that "I go to the grocery store because I have no one to do it for me" if I could write , "On one of the few days each month that I am able to drive the short distance to the grocery store, I drive. With great difficulty and leaning on the cart for support, I am able to pick up a few items from a few aisles. My 86 yo mother has to complete the shopping. We are reliant on store clerks to move the groceries up to the conveyor belt and put the bags of groceries in the car. We take in the refridgerator items that day and then slowly, with difficulty and increased pain, bring in the other groceries over the next few days." Well, the last parts are 'my story', just guessing it might apply to you too.

You don't have any grocery stores in the area that deliver ? Bummer !

plus most grocery stores have motorized carts to get around the store.