[villager99]

I applied online and then had intake interview over the phone with followup handled by mail as it was difficult for me to travel to the social security admin office. just be sure you organize your thoughts by listing ALL; aspects of your qualifying disability along with contact info for doctors who can verify the validity of your condition. my disability is the result of a stroke and although I reached a good level of independence thru rehab I can not function at a cognitive, visual or physical level required to do the type of finance and accounting work I did prior to the stroke event. I believe a list of some of the qualifying conditions can be found online
at the ssdi site.
p.s. I was ten years shy of the 62 early retirement age and that may well change your options. but again there should be clarifying information at the ssdi site.