Dependent on Wheelchair or Walker 

If you are disabled and unable to work, being dependent on wheelchair or walker to move about may be persuasive evidence to prove that you qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. Use of canes, walkers, and other devices to assist with mobility or with balance may affect your ability to work as well as limiting the types of jobs available to you. 

A Social Security disability lawyer at Disability Partners, PLLC, uses experience and knowledge to help you through the difficult determination process that is used to evaluate your disability. More than 66% of people have their claim for benefits denied during the initial determination process, but a disability lawyer understands how to use the available evidence, including mobility limitations, to obtain a favorable decision on your behalf. 

Being dependent on wheelchair or walker and disability benefits 

Social Security uses the following five-step process to evaluate your application and determine whether you are disabled according to its criteria: 

• Step 1: Financial eligibility: If you are working when submitting an application for SSI or SSDI, Social Security looks at your earnings to determine whether you are able to engage in substantial gainful activity. If your monthly earnings average more than $1,350 a month or $2,260 if you are blind, you are not disabled. 
• Step 2: How severe is your impairment: If you got past the first step in the process, Social Security evaluates the severity of the impairment based on your ability to perform work-related activities, including standing, lifting, walking, sitting, and remembering. The limitation must last or be expected to last for at least 12 months or be expected to result in death. 
• Step 3: Listing of Impairments: If your condition matches one found on the list of medical conditions maintained by the Social Security Administration (SSA), it is a qualifying disability. If it does not match or equal a listing condition, then you move to the fourth step in the process. 
• Step 4: Previous work: If you can do work that you did in the past, then you are not disabled. 
• Step 5: Other type of work: If you can do another type of work, including sedentary or light-duty work, you are not disabled according to the SSA definition.

If your mobility is dependent on wheelchair or walker, it may be evidence that proves you cannot do sedentary work. 

Mobility and other types of work 

When a walker, cane or wheelchair is prescribed by a physician, it must be medically necessary. In other words, your doctor must base the decision to prescribe it on clinical findings through an examination, diagnostic testing and other medical evidence supporting the need for mobility assistance. 

The SSA uses vocational experts to determine types of work that you could perform, but the number of jobs may be limited by dependence on a walker or other device for mobility. Even sedentary jobs may require some standing, walking, and lifting. 

Contact a disability lawyer for more information 

If you are disabled and dependent on wheelchair or walker for mobility, speak to a disability lawyer at Disability Partners, PLLC, about your eligibility for SSDI and SSI benefits. Learn more during a free consultation and claim assessment.