Disabled Children Benefits Attorney
When your child has a disability, the financial challenges can feel overwhelming. Between medical bills, therapy costs and time away from work for appointments, many families in Northwest Indiana struggle to make ends meet. The good news is that Social Security offers financial support through the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program for disabled children.
Understanding SSI Benefits For Disabled Children
Families from Hobart to Valparaiso along Route 6, and from Crown Point near the lakefront, can access these important benefits when their child meets specific medical and financial requirements. Understanding how to navigate this system can make a real difference for your family’s financial stability.
If your child is disabled, you may be eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. SSI is a needs-based program; your family must have income and resources below a certain level to qualify. Social Security also designates five “domains” of difficulty, one or more of which must be in evidence for a child to qualify. The child must have trouble:
- Acquiring and using information
- Attending and completing tasks
- Interacting and relating with others
- Moving and manipulating objects
- Caring for himself or herself
These five areas help Social Security determine if your child’s condition significantly affects their daily life and development.
Medical Qualifications For Children’s SSI
In order to qualify, your child must have a medical or psychological condition, or a combination of conditions, that causes severe functional limitations or is likely to lead to death. The condition must have existed for an entire year or be projected to last for an entire year.
These are some of the more common conditions qualifying children for SSI benefits:
| Severe asthma
Cerebral palsy Attention deficit disorder Premature infants Bipolar disorder Epilepsy Rheumatoid arthritis |
Down syndrome
Scoliosis Muscular dystrophy Cognitive impairment Spinal disorder Blindness Growth impairments |
Many other medical and mental health conditions can also qualify your child for benefits, depending on how severely they affect your child’s functioning.
How Joe Can Help Your Family
There are many more qualifying impairments, listed in Social Security’s “Blue Book” of serious children’s medical and mental conditions. But it is not necessary that your child’s impairment be listed in the Blue Book. Migraines, for instance, are not listed, but SSA does qualify children with serious migraine problems.
This information is just the tip of the iceberg. To learn more about your child’s eligibility for disability benefits, call Joseph Nugent, Attorney at Law, today at 219-945-9766 or toll free 888-393-2475 to schedule a free consultation. Or write to Joe, a Northwest Indiana disabled children’s benefits lawyer, using this online form.