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Social Security For Adhd

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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder And Your Social Security Disability Case

Social Security Disability Claims Based on Adult ADD or ADHD

Many of the applicants who apply for Social Security Disability benefits due to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder will be denied during the initial stage of the Social Security Disability application process. In fact, only about 30 percent of Social Security Disability claims are actually ever approved at this stage. If your application is one of the 70 percent that are denied, you may still be able to obtain the Social Security Disability benefits you need.

Working closely with a qualified Social Security Disability attorney and your treating medical professionals can help you obtain disability benefits due to a case of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Statistics show that individuals who work with an attorney have a better chance of obtaining benefits at the any stage of the Social Security Disability application process.

Who Makes The Determination About My Childs Eligiblity

Eligibility is decided by the Disability Determination Service of Social Security. The DDS makes a decision initially based on the written information in medical and other records submitted. When DDS does not have enough information to make a decision, it requests, at no cost to the applicant, a consultative examination by an approved psychologist. If the DDS subsequently rejects the application for eligibility, the parent may request reconsideration, a process in which a three member team who had nothing to do with the initial decision reviews it. Reconsideration stems from timely action taken by the parent to request a second opinion. At that point the parent may appear in person at an informal hearing or simply submit additional documentation.

Is Adhd A Disability Under Social Security

Social Security Disability Insurance pays benefits to adults if they are disabled and unable to work and they are insured, which means that they have worked long enough and paid Social Security taxes.

For an adult to be eligible for ADHD disability benefits, they must be unable to perform any substantial gainful activity due to their mental condition for a period of at least a year.

Applying for SSDI involves several steps that address issues like:

  • What is your current work status?
  • What is the severity of the ADHD?
  • Can you perform the work you previously did?
  • Can you do any other type of job?

Adults with ADHD can qualify for disability benefits only in cases where they prove their condition prevents them from performing SGA.

Because it can be difficult to connect an ADHD diagnosis to a disability, it is highly recommended that you work with an experienced Kentucky disability lawyer when filing your claim.

A lawyer can ensure your application for benefits is complete and includes all supporting information detailing your ADHD diagnosis and its effects on you. If your application for benefits is denied, an attorney can help you through the appeals process as they fight tirelessly to secure the benefits you deserve.

If you require assistance filing your disability claim concerning your ADHD diagnosis, call the Paul Baker Law Office today. Our disability lawyers will work to support your claim, seeing you through the process so you can seek the benefits you are entitled to.

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How Treatment For Adhd Affects Disability

Treatment for adult ADHD most commonly involves the use of prescription stimulant medications such as Adderall, Concerta, or Vyvanse. If the patient has a history of cardiac problems or substance abuse, non-stimulant medications, such as Wellbutrin , may be prescribed instead. Adults with ADHD can also benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy, counseling, or coaching to help them learn new ways of thinking and doing things that they struggle with, including managing time, deadlines, and impulses.

Although many adults with ADHD show significant improvement with the appropriate treatment, some do not. Social Security will want to know about applicants’ past treatments that have failed as well as current treatments, and will also want to verify that applicants are currently taking medication as prescribed .

Legal Rights In The Workplace

Pin on Mothers those with ASD, ADHD, Developmental Topographical ...

ADHD is a diagnosis that frequently continues into adulthood, and often causes issues in the workplace. One of the main symptoms of ADHD that affects people in the work environment is difficulty paying attention.

The Americans with Disabilities Act is a law that helps protect people with disabilities from discrimination in the workplace. This law requires employers with 15 or more employees to make “reasonable accommodations” for people with disabilities to help them be successful in the workplace.

Having a diagnosis of ADHD does not automatically provide you with protection under the ADA. You’ll need a healthcare professional to verify that you are disabled by your condition first.

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We Offer A Free Consultation

If you have any disabling condition, then Cannon Disability offers a free consultation. But, what does this mean?

For most people who want to become clients, it means we will talk to you about your case over the phone. We will not charge you to examine the merits of your case, including questions about ADHD disability benefits. Most lawyers do charge an attorney fee to review your case. We do not.

Please understand, however, that giving you a free review of your case is not the same thing as hiring our law firm. We examine the merits of your case based upon the facts you give us.

Sometimes, we will request that you send us medical records. We also want you to send us a copy of any SSA paperwork. We ask for this so we can understand the details of your case. Even if we ask for more information, it does not mean that we are your attorney.

You will know if you hire our legal team because we will send you our contract and other SSA paperwork to fill out. Return your paperwork to us as soon as possible. If you need help with your case, contact us.

If you do not sign and send the paperwork back, then we are not your law firm. We will send you a stamped envelope to send the paperwork back to us. Or, we will accept some electronically signed paperwork.

How To Win The Case

For an ADHD disability claimant to win benefits, its not enough that the child displays behavior, at home and/or at school, thats indicative of hyperactivity and poor attention. In addition, it is not adequate to have recently been diagnosed with ADHD. It is also not enough to have been prescribed Ritalin, or any other medication commonly prescribed for attention deficit issues.

To win disability benefits predicated on ADHD, in most cases it must be shown that the child is taking medication as prescribed and, despite this, is having considerable issues with a variety of age-appropriate activitiesmainly grade-level schoolwork. The following factors can make or break your childs case.

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Win Adhd Disability Benefits Without Meeting The Listing

If you do not meet the ADHD disability listing, there are other ways to win your benefits. For instance, your ADHD symptoms, in combination with other mental conditions, may equal the severity of the listing.

If you have depression along with ADHD, for example, then those two mental conditions together can be as disabling as the symptoms from one mental condition. If this is the case, then the SSA judge can find you should win benefits under equalling listing 12.11. Find out more about depression and benefits here.

However, if you do not meet or equal a listing, then the SSA will also assess your residual functional capacity . Your RFC is what you can physically and mentally considering your illness. If your RFC limits your ability to complete a 40 hour work week, then you would be win benefits under a vocational framework.

If you need to find out more about winning benefits using a vocational analysis, then read more about your residual functional capacity here. At your hearing, there is a good chance there will be a vocational expert who will testify. The vocational expert testifies about whether or not there are jobs that someone with your RFC can perform. You can also learn more here about vocational expert testimony here.

Disability Benefits For Adhd: Its All About How Well You Function At Work

Disability Benefits For children With ADHD

While your diagnosis is important, the SSA really wants to see how it affects your ability to work. If youve always had ADHD and a normal work history, for example, you likely wont qualify for disability benefits. The SSAs evaluation of your functionality doesnt stop there, however. They also review your educational background to see if you finished high school or college as well as your current age.

To receive benefits, you must prove your ADHD makes you unable to complete work tasks, interact positively with your coworkers, or show up on time. If you had ADHD as a child, this only strengthens your case. Regardless of your current medical evidence, you must also show youre unable to work for at least 12 months or your doctor expects you to die.

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How Difficult Is It To Get Disability Benefits For Adhd

It’s not easy to get disability benefits for a child with ADHD. Part of the problem has to do with the subjective nature of how the Social Security Administration evaluates the condition. Most medical consultants who decide mental disability claims at the application level rely on the subjective observations of others, mostly teachers, to determine whether a child has an impairment and how severe it is.

Observations of behavior, of course, are always open to interpretation. In actuality, the only objective standards for evaluating ADHD disability claims are a student’s school records and the results of standardized psychological testing. As a result, whether or not a child is found eligible for disability benefits almost always depends on their academics that is, how well they’re doing in school.

Under the rules Social Security uses to determine disability, an applicant’s actual diagnosis is much less important than how that condition impacts the applicant’s ability to engage in certain activities. For children, this means being able to adequately perform age-appropriate activities, such as functioning in school.

Therefore, to win an ADHD disability claim, it’s not enough to be given an ADHD diagnosis. A child must also have measurable functional deficits in the context of school performance. If a child has adequate performance at school but has severe ADHD symptoms at home, even with accompanying serious behavioral issues, the child is unlikely to qualify for benefits.

Okay So What Is Executive Functioning

Executive Functioning is a critical mental skill set that enables individuals to think and plan ahead, start, organize and finish tasks, and prioritize the input from the world around them- including regulation of our emotional responses.

The processes of Executive Function are developed and reinforced as we age, and become a crucial part of our functioning as we enter adulthood.

Our brains are highly adaptable and with support and training, the EF processes of a person with ADHD can improve. Yet these factors can appear insurmountably difficult for school-age children.

Children must adapt to an educational environment where almost every moment is governed by a curriculum focused on tasks that require the use of their Executive Functioning skills.

For lack of a better metaphor, a minor with ADHD lacks the processing power to execute the thinking required to excel in a traditional academic setting.

The result is a minor who will struggle to cope with the demands of an academic environment due to a condition that makes focusing their attention more difficult. Add this situation to the list of emotional and social hurdles that accompany youth, and the stress becomes compounded. The combined pressures mounted onto a child that is naturally developing their EF processes more slowly than their peers, and suddenly it becomes clear why ADHD can have devastating effects on those who suffer from it.

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The Social Security Disability Programs

The Social Security Administration offers two different disability programs including Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income . Both programs provide a monthly payment and medical coverage to severely disabled individuals. In addition to meeting the SSAs disability criteria to receive such benefits, one must also meet the financial requirements of each respective program.

To be eligible for SSDI benefits, an individual must have worked enough in the past to earn sufficient work credits by paying Social Security taxes. For every $1,200 earned, an individual receives one work credit and can receive a maximum of four work credits per year. If you are 62 years of age, you will need 40 work credits to qualify, 20 of which must have been earned in the last 10 years. If you are under 62 years of age, you can qualify for benefits with fewer credits. The exact number of credits needed is determined by your age.

If an individual doesnt have enough work credits, or doesnt have any at all, the SSI program would be ideal. As children typically lack work credits, they would more likely be eligible for SSI. The SSI program is a needs-based program and is based on financial need rather than work history. As of 2014, to qualify for SSI benefits, you must not have a household income exceeding $721 per month as an individual or $1,082 per month as a couple. Household assets must also not exceed $2,000 as an individual or $3,000 as a couple.

Filing For Social Security Disability With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Child Disability Starter Kit

When an applicant applies for Social Security Disability benefits, the examiner reviewing the claim refers to a published listing of impairments referred to as the Blue Book. This Blue Book lists the disability guidelines for a number of common disabling conditions. Fortunately, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is included in this published listing of impairments.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is listed under Section 112.11 of the Blue Book. It is important to note that this listing refers to children, although adults can qualify for disability benefits due to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder as well as long as they can prove that the condition prevents them from being able to perform substantial gainful work activity.

As a general rule, in order to qualify for Social Security Disability benefits due to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder you must experience marked impulsiveness and marked hyperactivity. You must also have an impairment in age-appropriate communication, cognitive abilities, social functioning and/or personal functioning.

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I Have Been Diagnosed With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Can I Apply For Social Security Disability Benefits Disability Insurance Benefits Or Supplemental Security Income Benefits

Receiving a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is just the start. The main focus in a Social Security disability claim is usually on the symptoms you experience from ADHD/ADD and how those symptoms affect your ability to engage in physical and mental work-related activities eight hours per day, five days per week.

Cannon Disability Law Works On A Contingency Fee Basis

If you have an ADHD disability, you may need to hire an attorney to help you with your Social Security case. In order to hire Cannon Disability, all you need to do is call or contact us. We offer a free review of your casee. And, it doesnt cost anything to call us.

Better yet, it also doesnt cost you any upfront money to hire us. Why? Because you only pay us an attorney fee if we win your case. This is a contingency fee. It means if we win your SSD case, you pay out of your back benefits. If you do not win, there is no attorney fee to pay.

If there are costs in your case, then you pay those. But normally those costs are less than $100. Once we win, we are paid from your back benefit. But, to hire most lawyers, you have to pay upfront. We dont work like that. You dont have a job. So, the only way to pay us, is for us to win your case. That is our goal. Call and see what we can do for you.

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Is Adhd Considered A Disability In Canada

As we mentioned earlier- yes! ADHD does qualify as a disability, provided that the impairment is severe enough. Many cases of ADHD are mild or moderate in nature. With multi-modal treatment, the majority of those affected can live happy and fulfilling lives.

Yet, when we think about the impacts that ADHD can have on an individuals life and the treatment required in managing the condition, it is fortunate that it qualifies for the Disability Tax Credit.

Now we must note that the diagnosis of ADHD is not the sole qualifier for The Disability Tax Credit. The severity of the condition and its effects on the daily life of the sufferer are the major deciding factors.

Whether or not your ADHD qualifies as disabling will depend on how it affects your life and the advice of medical professionals. A practicing medical professional will be required to fill out a section of the DTC application, providing detailed information about the way the individuals life is severely affected.

ADHD does not just cause stress to an individual and their family.

There is an economic cost shared systemically and socially when those with ADHD are not supplied with support. We broke those costs down with this handy graphic.

But treatment for ADHD may come at an additional cost to those affected. Thats why it qualifies for Governmental Tax Credits.

ADHD is best managed with multi-modal treatment, meaning varied strategies that holistically approach the condition, tailored to the individual.

What If My Adhd Symptoms Dont Exactly Match The Ssa Blue Book Listing

Social Security Disability For Kids | Payouts for Minor Children

If your ADHD symptoms do not exactly mirror the SSA Blue Book requirement described above, it does not mean that you will not be able to obtain Social Security Disability Benefits.

It means, however, that you will need to prove to the SSA that your condition is just as severe as the Blue Book version of ADHD.

You will be required to demonstrate through the provision of medical evidence that your condition meets the definition of disability described at the beginning of this Article.

What medical evidence is required for approval of a non-Blue Book disability claim?

The SSA will review only supportive medical records provided by an approved medical service provider. Depending on what symptom you are alleging, the evidence may be provided by a variety of medical service providers, including:

  • Licensed physicians
  • School psychologists or similar individuals operating in a school setting
  • Licensed optometrists
  • Licensed podiatrists
  • Qualified speech-language pathologists
  • Licensed physician assistants for impairments within their limited scopes of practice
  • Licensed audiologists for hearing-loss or auditory impairments
  • Advanced Practice Registered Nurses for impairments within their limited scopes of practice.

The documentation provided by AMSs must consist of objective medical evidence, including signs, laboratory findings, or both. The SSA will not establish an MDI based on symptoms, a diagnosis, or a medical opinion.

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