CHILDHOOD DISABILITY
The requirements for childhood disability claims are different from that of an adult and have been the subject of relatively recent Supreme Court action. As any practitioner will tell you – winning a child disability claim is not easy. This struggle for benefits is based largely in part to the strict definitional requirements for childhood disability.
Where an adult will be evaluated under a 5 step sequential evaluation process, a child will only go through 3 steps.
1. Is the child working at a gainful level? (If yes, the claim is denied at the first step)
2. Does the child have a severe impairment? (If no, the claim is denied at step two)
3. Does the child equal or meet the functional limitations of a listed impairment?
It is often at the 3rd step where the difficulty begins. After all, how do you determine a child’s “functional limitations”??
In determining a child’s functional limitations, SSA will look at the child “as a whole” under 6 domains. These domains are:
1. Acquiring and using information
2. Attending and completing class
3. Interacting and relating with others
4. Moving about and manipulating objects
5. Caring for oneself
6. Health and physical well being
A child must be found to be at least markedly impaired in two of the six domains to be considered disabled. What is markedly limited? SSA defines that as “less than extreme but more than moderate”. See how clear that is? There will be more blogs in the near future on childhood disability claims. Stay tuned!
