Both children and adults can be found disabled under Social Security, but the rules are different. Adults have to show that they have a medical condition that prevents them from working full time for 12 months or more. The emphasis is on whether the person is able to work.
Since children are not expected to work, the focus is on the child’s functioning compared to other children of a similar age. A child can be found disabled because he or she has a condition that fits criteria in Social Security’s “Listings,” a list of common mental and physical conditions.
If they don’t meet criteria under the Listings, children can be found disabled because their medical condition causes problems in various areas of functioning:
It is quite common for children who received disability payments to be cut off disability when they turn 18. From age 18 onward, a person has to show that the medical condition would prevent any full-time work on a regular basis. This is a very hard standard to prove, especially if the person has never worked or tried to work.
Social Security uses a five-step process to decide if you are disabled:
If you are age 50 or older, Social Security’s rules make it somewhat easier to qualify for disability. If you’re age 55 or older, the possibility of getting disability increases even more.
Social Security rules encourage younger people to work but also recognize that older individuals can have a harder time adjusting to other jobs when they become disabled. Age is a factor in something called “Medical Vocational Guidelines,” which Social Security uses to decide if someone is disabled.
For people between ages 18 and 49, it is very hard to qualify for disability based only on a physical condition. Your physical condition has to be so severe that you wouldn’t be able to do even a “sedentary” job – or a job where you can sit for eight hours per day.
Even if you’re under age 50, if you feel your conditions make it hard to work full time, give us a call.
Someone who is unable to read and write can qualify for disability starting at age 45 if they can only do sit-down work and are unable to do their past jobs.
At age 50, Social Security rules make it easier to qualify for disability. If you are unable to do your past job that required a lot of standing or lifting, and would be limited to sit-down types of jobs, you might qualify for disability starting at age 50.
At age 55, it can be a little easier to qualify for disability. For example, if you are no longer able to lift even 20 pounds occasionally and you can’t do your past job any more, you might qualify for disability.
Social Security disability is long and complicated process that can take months or even years. You can file online or in person, but Social Security encourages people to file online.
To file online, go to www.ssa.gov. Click on the “disability” tab to begin the application. The application will ask about your spouse and children, work history, medical conditions, treatment information, and a number of other things. After you submit your application, Social Security will schedule a phone interview to ask you some more questions and to doublecheck your answers on the forms.
If you want to file in person, call the national Social Security toll-free number: 1-800-772-1213. They’ll set up the appointment for you and tell you where to go.
You can also find your local Social Security office by entering your zip code in their “Office Locator.” Click here to open their Office Locator in a new tab.
Whichever way you file, you will have a lot of forms to fill out about your daily life, medical conditions, work history, and other subjects. Some of these forms may seem unimportant, but can be critical to your case.
If your application is denied, you can file a reconsideration, again, either online or in person. If you are denied at this stage, then you can ask for a hearing in front of a judge. From this point on, you’ll wait about a year for the hearing.
If you have applied already or will apply on your own, give us a call anyway. We will be happy to give you a free consultation.
Our firm represents all kinds of people, with all kinds of conditions, and at all stages of the disability process.
We represent people who need help filing their first application. We also help people who have already filed and have decided they need our help with the rest of the process. Whether you are at the application, reconsideration, or hearing level, we will work with you.
If you are denied after a hearing, we can help you decide what your options are and represent you either for an appeal or for a new application.
Even if you have missed a deadline, call us. We might be able to help.
We represent adults. We also represent children. We have experience handling many different kinds of disabilities: back pain, migraines, skin conditions, cancer, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and many other conditions.
Social Security has two types of disability programs: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). For both programs, you have to show that you have been unable to work for 12 months or more because of your physical or mental conditions. The medical criteria are identical for both programs.
SSI is for people who have little work history in the past five to ten years. The maximum benefit is $914 per month – but you might get less if your household has other income.
SSDI is for people who have worked and paid taxes long enough to become “insured.” The amount of disability benefits you get depends on how much you earned over the years. Having other household income does not affect the amount of monthly SSDI you get.
If you are eligible for SSDI and have children under age 18, your children might also be able to get what’s called “auxiliary benefits.” The total amount of auxiliary benefits to your children is calculated based on the amount of your monthly SSDI benefit.
People can apply for Social Security Disability on their own, but the rules are complicated.
Just living with your disability can be stressful. Trying to handle your own Social Security Disability benefit application, with all the paperwork, deadlines, and bureaucracy can easily be overwhelming.
Because the process can take so long, it’s a good idea to have someone experienced and knowledgeable represent you. Any missed deadline or delay can easily delay benefit payments for many months and sometimes even years. We understand all the complicated rules and simplify the entire process for you.
We also try to help Social Security staff and judges make sense of your case. Social Security does the best they can, but they deal with thousands of cases at a time. It’s easy for any single case to get lost in the shuffle. Worse, you can be denied based on otherwise easily correctable misunderstandings.
You need to know that your case can involve hundreds of pages of medical records. We summarize all of this medical evidence for the judge. We write legal arguments known as “briefs”, to help the judges understand exactly why you deserve benefits under Social Security rules.
We are not a large “volume-based” disability benefit business. We know who our clients are. We are attorneys with many years of experience. We have done hundreds of successful Social Security hearings.