The amount of inquiries Indianapolis Social Security attorney Scott Lewis receives on a weekly basis concerning child Social Security disability benefits is quite large. The parent(s) or guardian(s) of these children have many questions concerning the eligibility criteria for qualifying for disability benefits. The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program can provide disability payments to children from birth to eighteen years of age if they meet medical and resource requirements.
Indianapolis disability attorney Scott Lewis finds many families fail to receive payments for a disabled child due to Social Security’s income and resource rules. The Social Security Administration will not only consider income and resources of family members living with the child, but also the income and resources of the child. Indianapolis Social Security disability attorney Scott Lewis finds most families are surprised to find the threshold for income and resources is usually a lower figure than they had anticipated. So even if your child meets the medical disability requirements set by the Social Security Administration your claim can be barred due to income and resource restrictions.
Now in the event your family and child’s income and resources are below the limit set by the Social Security Administration, you next must meet the Social Security Administration’s rules for disability. The child must have marked and severe functional limitations with a mental or physical condition, or a combination of conditions that have lasted or is expected to last for a period of twelve months. Also, for 2011 the child can not be working and earning over $1,000 a month.
When it comes to examining the mental or physical disability the child experiences, the Social Security Administration will consider:
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- Functioning in motor skills.
- Functioning in personal skills.
- Functioning in cognitive and communicative skills.
- Functioning in response to stimuli for infants.
- Functioning in concentration, persistence, or pace.
- Functioning in social skills.
It should be noted, the child must have an extreme limitation in one of the above, or a marked limitation in two of the above.
Indiana Social Security lawyer Scott Lewis finds it very beneficial to have a treating physician with a long standing professional relationship with the disabled child to document and be prepared to verify medical information that the child has marked and severe problems in these areas of functioning to establish disability. If your child ends up at an Administrative law Judge (ALJ) hearing to determine disability, some of the questions the judge may inquire about may be simple questions as to whether your child is doing age appropriate activities, are they in the correct grade at school, are they in learning disabled classes, or if they engage in activities outside of school, and various other questions. In Indiana disability lawyer Scott Lewis’ experience, one of the questions you may ask yourself is how your child is different than other children his/her own age?
