5 Tips for Completing the Function Report Form SSA-3373
The Disability Determination Services (DDS) sends a claimant a Function Report Form to complete at both the Initial Application and Reconsideration Stages. This Form is critically important for explaining how your disability affects you. Your answers on the Function Report Form are used to show how you would function in a workplace and also are used at the Hearing Stage to show that your answers to how your disability affects you are consistent.
The Function Report Form is lengthy and detailed and can seem overwhelming for most claimants. Here are 5 tips for making the process easier and more effective for your claim.
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1. Take Your Time and Give Detailed Responses
DDS sends the claimant the Function Report Form with a cover letter from the DDS Adjuster asking that the Form be returned within 10 days. Unfortunately, the letter is often sent out well after the cover letter date and the 10 day deadline can come up very quickly.
While it is important to return the Function Report within the 10 days if possible, it’s more important to complete the Form with as detailed information as possible. If you need an additional few days, call the DDS Adjuster on the cover letter and let him/her know that you need just a few more days. This is generally not a problem and calling the DDS Adjuster lets them know that you are working on the Form.
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2. Answer this Question Last
Describe what you do from the time you wake up until going to bed.
This question appears on the first page of the Function Report and should be viewed as a summary of your answers to all the questions contained in the remaining pages. This question tends to be the most overwhelming for claimants to answer so it makes things easier if you answer the shorter, easier questions first and return to this question afterwards.
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3. Don’t Feel Limited to the Spaces Provided in the Form
The last page of the Function Report Form provides additional space called the “Remarks” section. You should feel free to provide more detailed information in the “Remarks” section referencing the question in the Form you are answering and even providing Additional Sheets with even more information if the space provided for each question is too small for your answe
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4. Be Consistent
Ask someone else to review your answers to the Form, if possible, or take an extra hour or more to review your answers to make sure there are no inconsistencies.
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5. If Everyday is Not the Same, Write This in Your Answers
For many people with disabilities, each day and what happens and how you feel are not the same. If this is true for you, write this in your answers to the Function Report Form. One approach is to describe what a good day and bad day are like. Then, estimate how many good days or bad days that you experience per week or per month. Again, if you need additional space to explain the difference between good and bad days, take this extra space in the “Remarks” section or with Additional Sheets.