Disability After a Stroke. What remains three months later.

How Social Security evaluates stroke

Social Security’s neurological listings cover stroke under vascular insult to the brain. In general terms, the listing is met when, at least three months after the stroke, you still have speech or language loss that prevents effective communication, or extreme difficulty using two limbs. It can also be met with a marked limitation in physical functioning together with a marked limitation in one area of mental functioning.

When no listing is met

Most claims are decided on residual functional capacity: what you can still do in a work setting despite your symptoms. Social Security then asks whether any jobs fit those limits. After a stroke, limits often include weakness on one side, reduced use of one hand, balance, fatigue, slowed thinking, memory, and vision loss.

Evidence that matters

• Hospital records from the stroke, including imaging.
• Follow-up neurology visits at three months and beyond.
• Physical, occupational, and speech therapy records and discharge summaries.
• Neuropsychological testing for memory, attention, and processing speed.
• Statements from family about changes in thinking, mood, and stamina.

Ask your doctor to complete the stroke form in our free doctor forms. It records your limits in the terms Social Security uses.

Why these claims are denied

• A decision made on hospital records alone, before lasting effects were documented.
• Therapy ended and no later records describe what remains.
• Thinking and fatigue problems never tested.
• Good physical recovery, with cognitive limits overlooked.

Apply now, even though Social Security waits

Social Security generally waits about three months after a stroke before deciding, so it can see what is lasting. Do not wait to apply. The application date protects your back pay. Keep attending follow-up appointments so the record shows your condition at the three-month mark.

If you are 50 or older

Under Social Security’s grid rules, a person limited to sedentary work at 50, or light work at 55, may be found disabled depending on education and past work.

Next steps

If you have been denied, you have 60 days to appeal. See what to do after a denial in Arizona, SSDI in Arizona, and SSI in Arizona. There is no fee unless benefits are awarded.

J Disability Law Firm, PLLC · Joseph J. Duerst, Attorney · 18444 N. 25th Ave, Suite 420, Phoenix, AZ 85023 · (602) 607-0000. This page is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different. Past results do not predict the outcome of your case.