A Free Guide to Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income Disability Benefits
I have an 11 year old child who has been diagnosed with Di George Syndrome,
Autism, ADHD, Scoliosis, and has a history of epilepsy and heart disease.
He is currently enrolled and has been in a class for verbal autistic
children called ABC with the public school district for the past 4 years.
Prior he attended a LIFE class and prior to that an Early Childhood class.
A few years back I was told he did indeed qualify for Supplemental Security
Income disability benefits but my then husband made too much money. My
husband and I are now separated since September of 2001. I work for a
school and make less than $11,000 a year. The child support I receive
places us $15 above the poverty level so we cannot qualify for Food Stamps
(or so I am told anyway). Regardless that he is in 6th grade and
functions at about a 2nd grade level. Since they already determined he
qualified for assistance previously, with the exception of parental income,
can they now determine he does not qualify even though the income level
falls well within their income boundaries? Also I read online that I
can request benefits be paid for up to 6 months while a determination is
being made. Is this valid and if so why did the caseworker not say
anything about it? We are about to lose our home because they first
lost his paperwork and made us start over and now are awaiting the
determination again.
If a
person’s Supplemental Security Income disability benefits are ceased due to
excessive income and resources, his or her benefits will be started again
without filing a new application if the person’s income and resources drop
back to required levels within 12 months. According to your question,
it had been more than 12 months since his benefits ceased; therefore, you
had to file a new application for disability benefits for your son.
This is a totally new application. The decision
on this case may certainly be different than the decision on his previous
case. The individuals who will be looking at his case will be
different people than the people who looked at his case before. His
condition may have improved. The medical evidence and school records
will be current records, and, therefore, will necessarily be different than
the records used in the first case. Also, the laws, regulations, and
court rulings that govern how the Social Security Administration decides who
is disabled are constantly changing. Therefore, a person who met the
Social Security Administration’s requirements for Supplemental Security
Income disability benefits a few years ago might not meet SSA’s requirements
today. For example, when I started working as a Disability
Determination Specialist in 1991, SSA allowed most SSI cases of children who
were on Ritalin for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
At that time, pediatricians were prescribing lots of Ritalin for ADHD.
SSA allowed tons of these cases. A lot of the kids just weren’t that
limited in their functioning. By the time I left my job in December
2000, SSA very rarely allowed disability cases on the basis of only ADHD.
The difference between 1991 and 2000 was a difference in how SSA determines
disability. The way SSA determines who is disabled is constantly
changing.
Please, see the article
Presumptive Disability and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Disability
Benefits that describes the process by
which benefits can be paid for up to six months while SSA gathers the
evidence it needs to make its decision on an SSI case. You cannot request
that this be done on your son’s case. It is done solely at the
discretion of SSA.
My son is 10 and
is Autistic/Asbergers. This is considered a disability for the purpose
of Supplemental Security Income disability benefits? We need to know
if the government will assist in helping our child get into a school that
has one on one help. Does the government help a little financially?
We are on a tight budget, any ideas or resources?
A
diagnosis alone is not enough to know if your child’s condition is
disabling. Whether or not his condition is disabling depends on the
severity of his illness and how it affects his functioning. Please,
see the article
Mental Conditions in Children Applying for SSI Disability Benefits
to see how SSA evaluates mental conditions in children.
The federal government provides for the
education of special needs children by providing extra funds to public
schools based on the number of special education students that the school
has. If your child is approved for SSI disability benefits, you could
choose to spend your monthly check on his educational needs. You can
contact your state’s child welfare agency to see if he qualifies for any
state programs. You can contact the school that you are interested in
to see if the school offers any financial aid.
My son is 13, in
junior H.S. ready to go into 9th grade this coming September. He
has had a long history of learning disability for written English and
speech therapy. Last year he was diagnosed by a psychiatrist as have Obsessive
Compulsive Disorder; its moderate to severe, and he is on a high dose of
medicine to maintain a normal state. He also has been classified as
having mild Tourettes and ADD. We did a big test with the psychologist
(private) to find out his exact areas of weakness and strengths
mentally. He has had and IEP since 3rd grade and still remains in
resource in the Special Educational system. He has a lot of lateness due
to his condition, but he is of superior intelligence after his recent
school evaluation. But, he shows poor grades and lacks very much in
doing homework again because he is struggling with tasks overall. I
was wondering if I should apply for Supplementary Security Income disability for
him. Because some doctors are private, and our insurance does not
cover them. And also, we prefer to choose whom we feel is best to put
care of our son in the hands of. We plan on having him continue his
education after H.S. and no matter what it will be a great struggle for
him, and to hold down a job might also be a problem though we will have
him try down the road when of age, but he might need to just be able to
concentrate on education. Is it time I apply now? Are there any
drawbacks to receiving help or just a good benefit to him so we can
provide him with every possible opportunity to help him be successful?
Please, see the article
Mental Conditions in Children Applying for SSI Disability Benefits.
I think the only drawback is that all children who are
approved to receive disability benefits are referred to the child
welfare agency in whatever state the child resides. This is partly a
good thing because its leads to children receiving Medicaid and possibly
other state benefits. On the other hand, some people may not appreciate
child welfare’s input into their children’s lives.
Is a person with ADHD eligible for
SSI funding? The person is a child, how does that work?
Children can apply for Supplemental Security
Income disability benefits.
The child’s parents or guardian must have below a certain level of
income and resources. Only very severe cases of attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder are considered disabling. Please, see the
article
Mental Conditions in Children Applying for SSI Disability Benefits.
Our son has more than one condition, and it is hard to describe
all of his specific problem areas. What if there are not enough
medical records to determine if he is eligible for SSI?
Most
of the information on this site applies to children as well as
adults. It is very important that SSA understand all of his
conditions and all of his problem areas. You can add additional
sheets of paper to the application for Supplemental Security
Income disability benefits in order to list all of his problems
areas. If there are not enough medical records to document all
of his problems, SSA will schedule whatever examinations are
needed to fully evaluate all of his problems. SSA will also get
copies of his school records, if he is school age, to see how
his condition limits his ability to function.
My daughter has a rare medical condition. She has DiMorsier's
syndrome, also known as Septo Optic Dysplasia. It is a congenital birth
defect. She is completely blind in the left eye but she has pretty good
vision in her right eye. The only thing it affects right now is her
depth perception. She has some midline brain abnormalities, including a
missing Septum Pellucidum. DiMorsier's Syndrome usually causes severe
learning disability, mental retardation, and several hormonal
deficiencies and imbalances. She has to get her blood tested every year
for hormone levels for the rest of her life. She sees an
Ophthalmologist, Neurologist, and an Endocrinologist. The reason I am
writing to you, is because even though my daughter has this condition,
she is only blind in one eye. She also seems to be functioning well.
She is doing very well intellectually. She's three years old. The
concern with DiMorsier's syndrome is that she could get sick at any time
in her life and start having severe endocrine deficiencies. I do feel
that she is a "special" child and I want to get her early intervention
and get her on the right track to help her as much as I can. I also want
her to get Supplemental Security Income disability benefits.
When SSA
evaluates Supplemental Security Income disability claims, it concentrates on how the person’s
condition currently limits his or her ability to function. When
evaluating vision impairments, SSA looks at the vision in the person’s
better eye. Even if somebody is blind in one eye, the claim will
be denied if the person has adequate vision in the other eye. You
state that otherwise she is functioning well. Even though this
syndrome can cause severe limitations and may cause further limitations
in the future, if she is functioning fairly normally now, then SSA will
not consider her to be disabled.
We have an 11 yr. old girl who has
had severe ADHD and a history of petit-mal seizures. The seizures have been
stopped for about 5 years, but have left her with several learning
disabilities. She has always had social developmental problems and has been
developmentally delayed. She is showing signs of improvement, but as she
gets older, more and more time she is spending in special education. We
can't seem to get the additional help that she needs in the regular
classroom and teachers just can't seem to find the time to work with her. My
husband and I both have to work to pay bills. I have taken a cut in pay and
have stepped down from a salaried position at my job so that I can get off
of work in the evening to pick our daughter up at school to work with her on
her homework. She has to have a lot of one-on-one teaching to learn. We have
tried Sylvan learning center, had private tutors, and have spent all of our
savings and additional resources in trying to get help for our daughter. She
has taken several IQ tests and been tested by doctors and by the school. At
this point, additional funds would definitely help out. Didn't know if we
would be able to get SSI since we both work. Do you have any answers or
recommendations?
SSI is a need-based
program. The parents of the child must have below a certain level of
income and resources. Call your local SSA office and let them know your
monthly income as well as any other resources such as bank accounts.
Then SSA can let you know if your income and resources are too high to
qualify for SSI. Let me also suggest that you read
Mental Conditions in Children Applying for SSI Disability Benefits
and
School Records and Supplemental Security Income Disability
Benefits
in the articles section
of this site.
My daughter is 2 years old; she was born Feburary 2, 2000. She has Down Syndrome. She
had surgery for Heart tetralogy of Fallot at six months old. She now has
a heart murmur. Also she has ear tubes and her right ear tube is
considered extremely small. She is mentally retarded. I don't know
what her IQ is, but she doesn't speak yet and she is almost 3 years
old. And my question was regarding being denied SSI for my daughter,
what is my recourse?
According to Social Security regulations, children under the age of 18
who have Down syndrome are considered disabled. In children under the
age of 18, Down syndrome established by clinical and laboratory findings
meets Listing 110.06. Mosaic Down syndrome, which is a milder
condition, is evaluated under a different part of the regulations. Even
if your child is disabled based on medical criteria, your child can
still be denied benefits for nonmedical reasons; for example, your child
can be denied benefits on the grounds that your family has too much
income and resources to qualify for SSI benefits. If your daughter’s
case was denied for nonmedical reasons, it should be stated in your
denial letter. You have 60 days after the denial to file an appeal. Be
sure the medical records documenting that your daughter has Down
syndrome are in the file. Your daughter’s denial notice should list
that medical records were used in making the initial decision. If the
60 day time period has elapsed, file a new application and ask SSA to
reopen the prior case. Reopening the prior case will allow your
daughter to be paid benefits back to the first day of the month you file
the previous case. Carefully read your daughter’s denial notice to
find out why SSA denied your daughter benefits.
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