social security

I am a social security examiner, which means that I look at your claim and decide if it meets the criteria for a child to be considered disabled. Yes, a child can get Social Security disability for a Learning disability. However, there are some things you should know. First- your child can only apply for benefits under Title 16, which means that your family must meet income and asset guidelines for your application to even go to a disability office for review. Your child can apply for benefits if you or your husband has a disability or dies and the child becomes disabled before he turns 22. Income is not considered for these benefits. Now what makes a child disabled under Social Security rules. A disability under SS rules is defined as an impairment or combination of impairments that limits the child’s functioning to a severe level that causes marked and extreme limitations in at least two areas for marked or one for extreme domains.It must be expected to last for 12 mths or result in death. The domains are six areas of functioning such as social, health, ability to acquire information …. If your application goes to a disability office, you will be asked to provide medical reports, report cards and school reports. If the child is making good grades in a regular classroom and has no more than a less than marked in the other domains he/she will not be eligible. The child could be sent to a psychologist for an IQ test if one is not available from your school. After all the material is received it will be sent to a pediatrician or a psychologist for review. It is a long and drawn out process. It has to be. The applications for benefits for children are so overwhelming it is unbelievable. The SS system would go broke paying for everyone. If you are needing OT for your child and you do not have insurance, maybe applying for the federally funded Medicaid program each state has to pay health care for children. In our state it is called La Chip. Guidelines are 33% over the federal poverty level and increase each year. Right now, Medicaid is the best insurance that you can have for your child. It covers more than most private insurance. That is going to change though. It has grown too expensive. Our state is moving to managed care for Medicaid to help control the costs. If you have more questions, go to SSA.gov and click on SSI or call your local SSA office. For info on Medicaid programs for children you can call your local office for family support in each county. Hope this helps.

I was wondering if a homeschooled child would qualify. I was told by the Public School my son attended that they didn’t know how to help him, so I took him out to homeschool him. Thanks

Yes, you can qualify for ssi with a learning disability. However, it depends on the severity of the condition.

Here is more info on learning disabilities and SSD: [url]http://www.socialsecuritydisability.tv/blog/can-children-with-learning-disabilities-receive-disability-benefits[/url]