If you are fairly organized and know the drs you have seen and their addresses, what conditions you have and who diagnosed them, everywhere you've ever been treated for anything as far back as you can come up with symptoms, you may not need to use an agency for the first round. I decided to not do that until I needed court and since I never went to court I didn't have to pay anything for an attorney. I was pretty comfortable with government forms because of my job and felt comfortable that I could list the relevant information (thank God I've kept a running list of meds and cocktails for the last 10 years and 10 years ago the list was easy enough to go all the way back to my first meds) and also what I've been diagnosed with and where I was treated. I have allergic asthma, meaning I'm allergic to chemicals and they can trigger serious asthma attacks (although thank God we have that controlled pretty well now; it was awful for a while when it was new 5 years ago) and I had seen drs at one hospital for one visit that wasn't helpful but having seen them plus the dr I really saw and my family dr having had me do both a test for asthma and a blood test for allergic asthma and my family dr having written my pulmonologist a 3 page letter about the complexities of treating someone bipolar who can't do steroids, can't do the most likely treatment for allergic asthma, and everything he'd tried. That letter helped I'm sure even though I never saw it.

The biggest thing if you do it yourself is that EVERYTHING counts. My ankle instability counted even though it wasn't really affecting my ability to work if I wore a brace. Asthma counted. The fact that I was allergic to many home patients' homes but can't work in an institution with industrial cleaners counted. Issues I'd had with menopause that required surgery and had made me miss a lot of work counted. They maybe didn't really help me get disability but it gave me a huge pile of paperwork and that seems to be good.

You give them the information and they request the records so you just have to be able to fill out the form to do it yourself. I wouldn't have ever gone to court without an attorney but never regretted doing it the other way.