In determining disability in children’s cases, social security first looks at whether the child is engaged in substantial gainful activity. If the answer is “yes”, the child is found to be not disabled.
Next, social security looks at whether or not the child has a medically determinable impairment, or combination of impairments, that meets or medically equals one of social security’s impairments. These listings are set forth in social security’s rules and regulations.
If the answer is “no”, then social security looks at whether the child’s impairments are “functionally equivalent” to one of the listings. To determine this, social security will decide whether or not the child is “markedly” limited in at least two of six broad domains of functioning, or “extremely” limited in at least one of the six domains. These six domains are intended to encompass all of a child’s possible activities. They are:
1) Acquiring and using information,
2) Attending and completing tasks,
3) Interacting and relating with others,
4) Moving about and manipulating objects,
5) Caring for yourself, and
6) Health and physical well-being.
Examples of moving about include:
- Rolling,
- Rising up from a sitting position,
- Raising the head, arms, and legs,
- Twisting the hands and feet,
- Shifting weight while sitting or standing,
- Transferring from one surface to another, Lowering down to the floor, as when bending, stooping, kneeling, or crouching, Moving forward and backward as when crawling, running, walking, and negotiating different terrain (as curbs, steps, and hills).
Examples of manipulating objects include:
- Engaging the upper or lower body to push, pull, lift, or carry objects from one place to another,
- Controlling the shoulders, arms, and hands to hold or transfer objects, and
- Coordinating the eyes and hands to manipulate small objects or parts of objects.
Both physical and mental impairments can impact this domain. Some examples are:
A child with a benign brain tumor may have difficulty with balance, A child with rheumatoid arthritis may have difficulty writing, A child with developmental disorder may be clumsy or have slow eye-hand coordination.
There are cases where an impairment that causes limitations in this domain could also limit another domain, such as Health and Physical Well-being. Considering an impairments affects across multiple domains is not considered double weighting.
Some examples of limitations in the domain of moving about and manipulating objects are:
- Muscle weakness, joint stiffness, or sensory loss that interferes with motor activities (such as unintentionally dropping things),
- Difficulty climbing up or down stairs, difficulty balancing, or jerky or disorganized locomotion,
- Trouble coordinating gross motor movements (such as crawling, running, kneeling, jumping rope, or riding a bicycle),
- Difficulty with sequencing hand or finger movements (such as using utensils or manipulating buttons),
- Difficulty with fine motor movements (such as gripping or grasping objects),
- Poor eye-hand coordination when using a pencil or scissors.
See Social Security Ruling (SSR) 09-06p
The rules for determining childhood disability can be tricky for a lay person. It is often helpful to consult an experienced attorney regarding your childhood disability case
This material should not be construed as legal advice for any particular fact situation, but is intended for general informational purposes only. For advice specific to any individual situation, an experienced attorney should be contacted.