Can Your Outward Appearance Help or Hurt at Your Disability Hearing

Should you pay attention to your appearance - your clothes, nails, hygiene and other outward appearances - at your disability hearing?

Recently I had lunch with a former Social Security hearing office staff attorney and she revealed to me that judges do pay attention to how you look when you walk into the hearing office.

As I discuss in this video, she gave the example of a female claimant who comes to a hearing with clean and polished fingernails and toenails. If this claimant is alleging disability based on severe back pain, or carpel tunnel syndrome, or breathing issues, the judge would want to know how that person managed to bend over to paint toenails, or to sit for 45 minutes in a fume filled nail salon.

You should assume that your judge will notice everything that you wear and everything about how your present yourself. Your appearance and presentation need to be consistent with your alleged impairments.

Further, since the correct attitude to bring to your disability hearing is “I don’t want to be here and I will continue to do everything I can to return to work,” your appearance should not imply that you are happy or content to sit at home.

I generally advise my clients to dress in a very basic manner that is consistent with their claimed impairments. If you have trouble bending over, avoid wearing shoes with shoelaces that have to be tied. If you allege carpel tunnel syndrome or diabetes that interferes with fine motor skills, avoid clothes with buttons.

Whether you win or lose will depend more on your medical records than whether you have painted toenails or tie up shoes but there is no reason to inadvertently arouse suspicions that can set a negative tone at your hearing. #winsocialsecuritydisabilityhearing #ssdi #disabilitybenefits
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