Getting disability for a child with dyscalculia is difficult, but not impossible. Your best chance comes when the child has another condition on top of his or her dyscalculia, such as low IQ, ADHD, or a learning disability. Regardless of the severity of your child’s condition, if your family’s income is above a certain level, your child cannot receive benefits.
A qualified attorney at the Disability Advantage Group can examine your situation and determine if you can get disability for dyscalculia on behalf of your child. If so, we can gather the evidence we need to build the strongest case on your behalf. Call 865-566-0800 today for a free consultation.
What type of disability benefits does my child qualify for?
There are two types of disability benefits, but children with disabilities are eligible for only one of them.
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) pays benefits when a person becomes disabled and can no longer work. Because it is a government insurance program funded by payroll taxes, only people who have worked and paid into the system can receive it. Since children have no work history, they are not eligible for SSDI.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a government benefit for the needy. Anyone deemed low-income with a qualifying disability—or a child with a qualifying disability—can potentially receive SSI. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has a list of impairments it uses to qualify SSI applicants. To receive benefits, you or your child’s impairment must match a qualifying medical condition on the list.
Does the SSA list dyscalculia as a qualifying disability?
The SSA does not specifically list dyscalculia as a qualifying disability. However, there are categories on the list under which the disorder might qualify.
Neurocognitive Disorders
Listing 112.02 of the SSA’s impairment list describes the criteria to receive benefits for neurocognitive disorders. If dyscalculia is your child’s only condition—meaning he or she has an IQ within the normal range and no diagnosis of ADHD or any other learning disability—your best chance to receive SSI comes under this listing.
To qualify for SSI with a neurocognitive disorder, your child must exhibit severe cognitive impairment or a marked decline in performance in one or more of the following areas:
- Complex attention;
- Executive function;
- Memory and learning ability;
- Language;
- Perceptual-motor skills; or
- Social cognition.
Simply having a disability in one of these areas is not enough. For your child to qualify for SSI, their disability must also be serious and persistent. This means we need to provide evidence that your child has undergone two years of medical treatment or mental health therapy for their condition.
Alternatively, your child must display an extreme or marked limitation in the ability to learn and apply information, interact with others, keep up with peers, or manage him or herself.
These standards are difficult to meet. We would need to provide extensive medical evidence attesting to the extent of your child’s condition and the treatment he or she receives for it.
Intellectual Disorders
Listing 112.05 provides the standards for receiving SSI on the basis of an intellectual disability. It is nearly impossible to qualify under this standard based on dyscalculia alone.
The SSA states that the applicant must have below average general intellectual functioning to qualify. Since dyscalculia deals only with numbers and not overall intelligence, it may not qualify under this listing.
For your child to receive SSI for an intellectual disorder, we would need to show evidence of significantly subaverage intellectual function. The best evidence of this is a below-average performance on a school-issued intelligence test, combined with a medical diagnosis of an additional learning impairment beyond dyscalculia.
If your child’s only condition is dyscalculia, we have a better chance of qualifying for SSI under the neurocognitive disorder criteria.
Are there any other qualifications for the SSI program?
Since SSI is a welfare program, income and asset restrictions apply. As of 2017, a single person cannot earn more than $735 in monthly income and cannot own more than $2,000 in assets. A married person cannot make more than $1,103 per month or have more than $3,000 in assets.
You do not have to count all the money you make toward the SSI limits. Many deductions and exemptions apply. As your disability attorneys, we can examine your finances and determine if they fall within the qualifying limits for SSI benefits for your child.
We can help get disability benefits for dyscalculia for your child.
The attorneys at the Disability Advantage Group can examine your case and determine the best way to move forward. We gather all available evidence and present it to the SSA in the most compelling manner to give your child the highest chance of a favorable outcome. We offer free consultations, so call us today at 865-566-0800 to set up an appointment to go over your case.