Social Security Disability Conditions – Special Senses and Speech

Visual Disorders

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI or SSD)
Is a payroll-funded program to supplement the income of those unable to work due to disability.

General Qualifications for SSD Eligibility

For you to be eligible for SSD, your disability must last for at least a year or be terminal. You must also be under age 65 to be eligible, as 65 is normally the age of Medicare eligibility.

To be eligible for SSD, you must have accumulated a prescribed number of Social Security credits (normally accumulated through work experience and payment into Social Security) during the 10 years immediately preceding disability.

Requirements vary according to age, and if you suffer disability before age 23 you may be able to draw on your parents’ Social Security credits without affecting your parents’ eligibility for SSD.

Visual Disorders and SSD

If you meet the general qualifications for SSD and have satisfactory evidence of suffering from “statutory blindness,” you are eligible to file for SSD benefits relating to your blindness.

“Statutory blindness” means:

  • The central visual acuity in your better eye is 20/200 or less in your better eye even with the aid of glasses or a contact lens, or you have a limitation in the field of vision of your better eye causing a contraction of peripheral visual fields to 10 degrees from the point of fixation
  • You have a limitation in the field of vision of your better eye causing the widest diameter of your visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees
  • You have a limitation in the field of vision of your better eye causing a contraction of peripheral visual fields to 20 percent or less visual field efficiency.

If you do not meet any of these criteria but your peripheral vision is so restricted that it causes you to be a danger to yourself and others, you may be able to make a case for vision disability. Additionally, if you do not meet any of the criteria for “statutory blindness” but your reduced vision, alone or in combination with other disabilities, makes it impossible for you to work, you may still be eligible for SSD benefits.

You may also qualify for SSD benefits if you are diagnosed with a cortical visual disorder, a condition in which the visual system does not interpret what the eyes are seeing. A cortical visual disorder can result from causes including traumatic brain injury, cardiac arrest, stroke, and infections of the central nervous system.

For further information about blindness disability or conditions relating to visual disorders, click here.

If you’re considering applying for Social Security Disability, click here for a free SSD evaluation. If you’d like more information about Social Security Disability, a bonded, licensed MedicareMall representative will be happy to answer your questions. We’ll also be glad to answer any questions you may have about Medicare or Medigap [link].

Contact MedicareMall now and we’ll make it our priority to help you make the best-informed decisions possible when it comes to your health or disability.

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