School Records and Social Security

Recently I was in a casual conversation with a Senior Staff Attorney about using school records as evidence in Social Security cases. His comment to me was that more and more Social Security representatives do not submit school records as evidence of intellectual deficiencies.

As a matter of course, any time I have a client that is alleging a mental disorder of any nature, I always request and submit the school records as evidence. More importantly, if a client is alleging borderline intellectual functioning or even mild retardation, school records become imperative. I feel that the most important aspect of school records, besides the obvious part about grades, are if the claimant repeated certain grades in school, was the claimant in mainstream classed or special education or resource classes, did the claimant graduate from an alternative school because of behavioral problems, and if the claimant left school because of age-related decisions.

A claimants school history can be very important evidence when it comes to his/her residual functional capacity. It becomes especially important when trying to prove 12.05C cases, in particular.