Typical Mental Impairments in Young Adult SSI Claims

Disability claims involving young adults with mental impairments can be particularly challenging for advocates. Advocates must have a basic understanding of the typical psychiatric diagnoses confronted by young adults in order to work with the young adult claimants and develop evidence to support their claims. In this session, a psychologist, in conjunction with an experienced advocate, will explore typical diagnoses from the psychiatric perspective. The psychologist will update advocates on the significant changes in the latest edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), especially as they relate to young adult claims. The psychologist and facilitator will also cover how the psychiatric profession and SSA view Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scores in these cases. Finally, they will suggest ways in which the subtest scores from formal intelligence tests can be used to demonstrate vocational limitations in young adult cases, and to compensate for the lack of relevant vocational issues in typical young adult cases.

CLE credit: 1.5 Professional Practice

Date of original presentation: September 2014

Presenters: Catherine M. Callery, Empire Justice Center and Katrina H. Colistra, PsyD

Viewing time: 1 hour 27 minutes

If you do not want CLE credit for watching this training, there is no charge. If you want New York State CLE credit, you may receive 3.0 hours of CLE credits for Professional Practice. The cost of CLE is:

$60.00 for Not-for-Profit Agencies; $90.00 for Private Practice Attorneys. When you complete this registration form, you will receive a link to the training. The link to the CLE forms will be on the training page.

Financial Hardship Policy available upon request. Contact Michelle Peterson, Training Coordinator

Newly admitted attorneys in New York State can not receive CLE credit for online training.

If you are an attorney who is not licensed in New York State and want CLE credit, please check to see if your state allows New York State CLE credits to be applied to your state's CLE requirements.