Seeking Philadelphia disability benefits is not always a smooth process for parents of disabled children. If your application has been delayed because of a consultative exam request, you might have concerns about what this means. Consultative exams are similar to medical exams and are done by a medical professional chosen by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to gather further evidence of your child’s disability. Feel free to talk to a Philadelphia delayed insurance benefits lawyer if you have any questions about this.

What to Expect in a Child Philadelphia Consultative Exam

Philadelphia child consultative exams are similar to consultative examinations for adults but involve looking for limitations that are appropriate to children rather than adults. For example, child consultative exams look for restrictions in a child compared to children their own age while an adult consultative exam identifies limitations related to work and physical labor. Examinations of children tend to focus on play and school-related behaviors.

Specifically, child examiners will test your child on tasks related to:

• Manipulating objects
• Self-care
• Ability to learn and use new information
• Paying attention to tasks
• Completing certain tasks to test a variety of skills
• Interacting and socializing with others
• Overall health

Lab tests may also be conducted depending on your child’s specific disability to add further evidence to the final Philadelphia consultative examination report. You might be asked questions pertaining to the history of your child’s condition and behaviors. Be prepared to describe your child’s disability and what concerns you have with your child’s behavior. All of this is important for building a strong child disability claim.

Common Concerns About Philadelphia Consultative Exams

It is not uncommon to be concerned when you find out your child will need to undergo a Philadelphia consultative examination. The first question you might have is why your child was chosen for this when you submitted medical evidence. What this usually means is the SSA needs more information than the medical records you sent.

This does not always mean your medical records were lacking evidence. In some cases, the handwriting in the medical records was hard to read, the doctor’s notes did not cover everything, or one piece of information was missing. A request for a consultative exam does not always mean the end of the world. As long as you are being honest about your child’s disability, the consultative exam should only improve your disability claim.

Parents with busy schedules often have concerns about how long the exam will take. The shortest consultative exams are reported to be only five minutes with the longest being 15 minutes. This usually varies depending on the complexity of your child’s disability and whether the disability is physical.

Disability Attorney in Philadelphia

Try reaching out to a Philadelphia disability attorney if you have questions about how to better prepare for your consultative examination or if the results of the exam contradicted what your doctor said. Call Edelstein & Nelson at 800-887-4529 for a consultation today. Our legal team of Philadelphia disability attorneys will work with you to collect the evidence you need for your claim.