Using a cane, wheelchair, or walker

You should let your physician know if you believe that you need a cane, walker, or wheelchair.  You should try your best to obtain a prescription for the assistive device from your health care provider.  Even a simple notation from a qualified medical professional that states your assistive device is medically necessary can suffice.  In my experience at hearings before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), the ALJ may not be convinced that you need an assistive device if you obtain it on your own from a pharmacy or relative. 

The use of a cane can prevent a worker from performing heavy, medium, light, and even sedentary work as it is normally performed in the general economy. Even in sedentary desk jobs such as those common in the administrative, secretarial, assembly, and customer service fields require workers to be able to stand and/or walk two hours out of an eight hour day in addition to sitting for six hours out of an eight hour day. This is because even jobs that require a worker to spend most of his or her time sitting down in a desk chair in front of a desk also require a worker to transport assembled products from his or her workstation to a completion area in the case of an assembly job or pick up mail from a mail room and distribute it into mailboxes in a central office area, all while remaining on his or her feet. A person who has to use a cane to stand or walk cannot perform such tasks successfully as an unimpaired worker would be able to do because he or she would only have one hand available to carry objects that require two hands to carry, with his or her other hand holding the cane.

The use of a cane, walker, or wheelchair can eliminate potential jobs you can perform.  Often at a Social Security disability hearing, a Vocational Expert (VE) will testify that these types of devices are an accommodation in the workplace. In other words, an employer would have to make an exception for you to work there, and this is not consistent with competitive employment. There are other rules based on your age, education, and previous work experience that, when combined with the use of an assistive device, can greatly enhance your chance of winning your claim. 

If you need help applying for Social Security Disability or SSI, please contact me at joshben99@gmail.com. I have over 20 years experience with Social Security Disability cases.

Location: Michigan, USA

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