overall iq of 74 please read

SSA used to require…

The achievement of only those developmental milestones generally acquired by children no more than one-half the child’s chronological age.

or

IQ of 59 or less.

or

IQ of 60-69 inclusive, and a physical or other mental impairment imposing a significant restriction of function or developmental progression.

NOTE: This is all from memory and is the way decisions were made for many, many years. It is NOT taken from a current SSA publication.

Based on my 30+ years of working with individuals with disabilities…the only way to ever know about SSI or SSDI is to apply.

John

Oh, and to expect to apply more than once. What I hear from folks around here is that basically *nobody* gets it the first time. You just apply again.

Why would a child in the slow learner category qualify for SSI? I thought SSI was for significant handicaps that required special care, etc.

Janis

SSI is for those who can’t take care of themselves…and need to live in a sheltered work/living environment as adults…or kids with TBI, mental illness who live in group homes. I thought SSI kicks in once they are out of the education system by 22 years of age…

This kid is young yet…and his IQ may improve with the proper remediation.

From what I see everyday at work the following info is still accurate. From an old handbook “Disability Evaluation Under Social Security”… it’s dated 1986. Looks like somebody took my new one. Okay, maybe they ‘borrowed’ it.

“Who can get…

Title II, SSDI: A person continuously disabled since childhood(before 22) if one of the parents who is covered under SS retires, becomes disabled or dies. The payments can continue as long as the individual continues to be disabled. The individual need not have worked under SSA.

Title XVI, SSI: A child (under the age of 18) who is disabled. The requirements for disability are such that there must be an impairment or impairments of comparable severity to that which is considered disabling for an adult. Vocational factors are not considered. Instead, with children, interference with normal growth and development is a prime consideration.”

I’d guess half the folks who end up receiving payments get them on the initial filing. Some of the other 50% get them on reconsideration and some
work their way to the hearing level. Some lose at the hearing and refile a new claim.

Maybe other states have different rates of allowance - VA has had a reputation for a well-trained and managed Disability Determination Service (SSA contracts with an agency or organization in each state to do the medical determinations. SSA the financial calculations of the payments.)
John

maybe this book could help! http://www.raise-your-childs-iq.com/

My son’s IQ went from an 85 in 1st grade to a 92 in 4th grade. He still has the specific LD’s in reading and math but his IQ went up.

Other sources:

How to Increase Your Child’s Verbal Intelligence by Carmen and Geoffrey McGuiness (this would be helpful for academic reasons, too, not just for practicing IQ test items).

Building Thinking Skills from Critical Thinking Books.

Janis

I don’t know your son or the details about your situation—but I’m a special educator and have worked with lots of kids like him. Even though school districts use WISC results to determine if a child is eligible for special education, my experience makes me question whether that’s always best. The fact is, some kids just aren’t good test-takers—they get anxious and jumpy. Just think—your son probably was tested by a school psychologist he’d never met before, just the two of them in a conference room looking at odd pictures and answering questions for a looong time. And some questions on IQ tests (I don’t know about the specific edition they used with your son) can depend on “background knowledge” that isn’t always so common. IQ testing, in my opinion (and the opinions of some researchers) just isn’t the best tool for determining if a child gets served by special ed. Even when the test itself, like the WISC, is “valid,” there are still other things (like sleep, being comfortable with the tester, whether your son was having a good day, etc.) that can affect results. One of my teaching mottoes is “parents know best”—you’re the expert on your son! Definitely keep your expectations high, and support your son however you can, at whatever level he’s performing. Hopefully there’s a teacher—maybe in the resource room or with whatever special education program your school has—who can be a good resource on what services are available in your school district.

There was a fascinating study where two groups of kids were given IQ tests - but one group was told it was a test of “solving some puzzles” and the other group was told it was an ability test… and guess which group did significantly better?

Approaching the test with the attitude that you’re going to “show what you know and how you think” instead of being worried that this is a test that will disclose that you are defective can make a huge difference in performance - yet how many of our students are set up to be in that second category?