Neuropsychological testing’s impact on your disability claim

On Behalf of | Jan 11, 2022 | Disability

If you are attempting to get Social Security Disability benefits and have and neuropsychological condition, then you may need to go through neuropsychological testing for the purpose of your claim. Neuropsychology testing can be an excellent way to bolster your application and help you get the benefits you need.

Mental disorders, which are disorders like schizophrenia or other neurocognitive disorders, are listed in the Social Security Administration’s Blue Book starting in section 12, Mental Disorders.

Some of the conditions that are listed directly include:

  • Personality and impulse-control disorders
  • Eating disorders
  • Somatic symptom and related disorders
  • Anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder
  • Autism spectrum disorder
  • Neurodevelopmental disorders

These and other conditions may qualify you for Social Security Disability benefits if you meet the requirements or an equivalency of them for each section.

What is neuropsychological testing?

Neuropsychological testing measures how your brain is working. It tests things like your attention, processing speed, remembering, problem-solving, language usage, reading and more. Neuropsychology’s purpose is to determine how well your brain is working and may be used after a brain injury or when you’re diagnosed with (or need to be diagnosed with) a psychological disorder.

This kind of test can help with diagnosis. It can also identify cognitive strengths and weaknesses, so you can see which of your cognitive functions may have changed. This test establishes a baseline, which could be positive in your initial claim.

With the full examination and testing done, you’ll be able to have a better idea of how serious a psychological condition or physical trauma is and how it will impact you in the future. It could be helpful in establishing a diagnosis if you don’t have a firm diagnosis yet. This test may show that it’s not yet appropriate for you to return to work, for example, and it may also help establish a treatment plan to help you recover.

This kind of testing can be positive for your long-term disability claim, but it does also have the potential to be negative. Sometimes, showing major improvement on this test could be harmful to your application. That’s why you should think carefully about the test and decide if it would be valuable to help push your application forward.