Do Kids Get Social Security Disability?

Social Security disability is not a children’s disability program, but an adult disability program. That is not to say that children cannot receive a monthly benefit from Social Security. The dependents of disabled individuals can receive monetary benefits if there is enough money payable on the disabled individual’s disability record to pay benefits to their dependents. Technically, however, a dependent’s benefit though based upon a disabled person, is not a disability benefit.

There are only two ways children can receive disability benefits through Social Security. Adult children can receive disability benefits from a parent who is deceased, retired, or disabled if they are not married, medically disabled prior to age twenty-two, and have not performed substantial work activity. These adult children have to go through the same adult medical determination that all Social Security and Supplemental Security Income disability claimants go through. If they are found medically disabled they will receive a disability benefit based upon their parent’s earnings record.

The second way a child can receive disability from Social Security is through the SSI, Supplemental Security Income disability program. Parents can file for disability for their children through this program, if their income and resources are below income and resource limits established by Social Security.

Most would say the impairment listing criteria for children’s disability claims is more lenient than adult impairment listing criteria. Many children who receive children’s Supplemental Security Income disability benefits are terminated when they have their age eighteen reevaluation for disability benefits, because their impairment is evaluated under adult listing criteria. Perhaps the impairment listing criteria is more lenient in children’s disability claims so that children can get help earlier with their disabling condition(s) and possibly not need disability as adults.

To recap, children can receive disability benefits as children through the SSI disability program if they are found medically disabled and their parent or parents meet the income a resource limits established by Social Security. Or, adult children can apply for disability based upon their parents earning record if they have not married or performed substantial work activity, if they are found to be disabled prior to the age of twenty-two.







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Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Overview and Treatment

Irritable Bowel Syndrome, a digestive disorder, is the most common digestive condition among the population. IBS is a chronic condition that can cause a variety of symptoms including cramping and pain in the abdomen, diarrhea and/or constipation, urgency in bowel movements, passing mucus, bloating and swelling in the abdomen, and excessive gas. There can also be symptoms of pain in the lower back, muscles and joints, tiredness, nausea, headache, burping, halitosis, and increase and urgency in urination.

Most people with IBS typically experience symptoms as 2-4 day flare ups. Otherwise symptoms improve or are nonexistent. Women are twice as likely to have IBS than men are, and usually develops while people are in their 20s. Causes are unknown, but abnormality in digestive tract muscles, sensitive digestive organs, poor immune system, a problem with the central nervous system and signals to the digestive system, infection response, and stress, depression or trauma are all considered possible factors.

Treatment for IBS usually involves lifestyle changes. Diet and exercise can help with controlling symptoms. In dietary changes, be sure to eat slowly, have regular meals and small snacks during the day, and drink at least 8 cups of water or other non-caffeinated drinks. Avoid processed foods, have no more than 3 cups of tea and coffee per day, limit alcohol and fizzy drinks, and limit fresh fruit to 3 portions per day. Altering fiber intake may also be recommended by a doctor. Exercise at least 30 minutes each day, at least 5 days per week.






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Can My Doctor Help Me Get Approved For Social Security Disability?

There is a possibility that your treating physician can provide help with your Social Security disability claim. However, a simple statement from your doctor stating that you are totally disabled is not enough to get you approved for Social Security disability.

So how can your doctor help you get approved for Social Security? If your treating physician is willing to complete a detailed residual functional capacity statement that includes the diagnosis, prognosis, and what you are able to do in spite of the limitations imposed upon you by your medical or mental condition, that may help tilt the balance in your favor. In other words, it may help you win your disability case.

Of course, your doctor’s statement, with regard to your condition and limitations, must be evidenced by accepted objective medical findings which might include clinical notes, testing, evaluations, etc.

Social Security regulations state that your treating physician’s opinion should be given weight, if that opinion is substantiated by medical evidence.

As you can see, your doctor could very well help you get approved for Social Security disability, if he/she provides the proper information on their residual functional capacity statement.

Additionally, Social Security considers an individual’s treating physician to be a preferred consultative examination source if they are qualified and willing to perform the examination for the authorized fee. However, as a former disability examiner, I never saw a consultative examination performed by an individual’s treating physician.

Most individuals are not aware their own doctor can even perform a consultative examination, so they do not request it, and there is always a possibility that your treating physician may refuse to perform such an examination for authorized fee. Sadly, you may not be even able to get your own doctor to provide you with a residual functional capacity statement let alone conduct a Social Security disability examination for the authorized fee.

It is in your best interest to ascertain if your treating physician supports you decision to file for disability prior to doing so. At the very least, you should request a copy of your medical treatment notes, so that you have no surprises.

From my experience as a former disability examiner, treating physicians sometimes write negative information in treatment notes and this may have a negative
effect upon your chances of being approved for Social Security disability.






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Neurofeedback Treatment for ADHD, Depression, and Anxiety

Neurofeedback is growing in popularity among patients as an alternative to--or in combination with--more traditional medication and talk therapy tactics. The research on its effectiveness varies, but overall suggests that it is effective. Over half of the treatment population seem to notice a degree of improvement. Anxiety seems to be the condition most improved by neurofeedback, but by extension this also helps many people with ADHD, as anxiety tends to be characteristic of those with ADHD.

Neurofeedback is a therapy treatment for conditions such as ADHD, depression and anxiety. Imbalances in the four waves in the brain, which are delta, theta, alpha and beta, cause mood changes, like depression and anxiety, and also an inability to focus. Neurofeedback targets these waves. At the beginning of each treatment, an EEG is done to create a brain map.

Electrodes are placed specifically in areas that show up as having waves that are outside of the normal range. These electrodes monitor exactly what is happening, in real-time, in that part of the brain. Then a computer program has the patient perform mental tasks like focusing, concentrating, or relaxing to control what happens next in the program, thereby altering the range of the brain wave being targeted. These exercises condition the brain and help it to function more effectively.

If interested in neurofeedback therapy, be sure to check health insurance coverage and costs. While some are now covering treatments, they may not cover the full bill.






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Receiving Social Security Disability - How long can you receive it?

There are a few answers to this question depending upon the type of disability benefit you receive. If your are receiving Social Security disability marriage or remarriage will in no way affect your Social Security disability benefit. Social Security disability is based upon your prior work activity, thus it is not subject to any termination in the event you remarry.

If you are receiving a disabled widows benefit your benefit will not be reduced or terminated if you remarry at the age of 50 or above. A word of caution, though. If you are receiving surviving mother or father in care (minor children under 16), your benefit will be terminated if you remarry.

If you are receiving Social Security disability benefits based upon the fact that you are a disabled adult child of a deceased or living parent (receiving retirement or disability) your benefit may be terminated upon marriage if you marry an individual who is not receiving Social Security disability or who is receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

Additionally, if an individual is receiving Supplemental Security Income disability benefits their disability may be reduced or even terminated upon marriage if their spouse’s income is too high for SSI income limits. As you can see there is not one answer to this question. It's prudent to check with your local Social Security office to determine how marriage could affect your disability benefits.






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A Study Finds that Panic attacks do not Cause PTSD

Research suggests that panic attacks do not significantly increase the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The general belief has been that panic and stress at the time of an incident is a large factor in the development of PTSD. This research shows that other factors are stronger indicators, including depression before the event, emotional support and self esteem.

The study used the 9/11 plane crashes at the World Trade Center as the traumatic events and looked at panic attacks among people who experienced the event first-hand. Panic attacks are characterized by irregular or pounding heartbeat, shortness of breath, chills, hot flashes or sweating, shaking, and losing sense of reality. Panic attacks occur among roughly 10 percent of Americans, but those involved in traumatic events have a much higher rate of panic attacks.

The researchers found that most panic attacks where among 30-44 year olds, Hispanics had higher occurrence of panic attacks than other ethic groups, those with higher levels of education had lower occurrences of panic, and 30% experiencing panic attacks after the event had depression before it.

Overall the study suggests that panic during a traumatic event is just one of many factors that raise the risk of developing PTSD. Therefore, anyone experiencing a traumatic event should seek immediate counseling to avoid developing mental health issues like PTSD.







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Why Does It Take So Long For a Disability Answer from Social Security?

Over two million people file for Social Security disability each year across the nation; each of these individual disability claims must be processed to a medical decision point.

Considering this fact alone, and not even touching on the issue of current backlogs in the system, it's not difficult to imagine that it could take quite some time to receive an answer on a disability claim, whether that answer is an approval for Social Security disability benefits, or a denial.

When an individual files for Social Security disability, their claim is sent to a state agency responsible for processing disability medical decisions. When a claim arrives at this agency, it is assigned to a disability examiner who must request all of the medical source information you provided at your initial disability interview (your list of doctors and hospitals where you have received treatment).

Once the examiner has this information (which, typically, takes weeks or even months to receive in total), they must determine if your medical records contain enough information to make a medical determination. If the examiner thinks more information is needed in order to make a medical decision, it is likely that you will be scheduled for a consultative examination (an exam with a physician paid by the Social Security Administration) and/or medical tests.

Currently, most initial disability claims take between a hundred and a hundred and ten days to process.

What if the answer to your disability claim is a denial for disability benefits? If you’re denied for disability benefits, you must determine if you are going to appeal the decision. If you decide to begin the Social Security disability appeal process, it may take a long time to receive a positive disability answer.

To elaborate, the first level of appeal is a reconsideration request in which your disability claim is sent back to another disability examiner at the same state disability agency for a review. Reconsideration requests take about sixty days to process, and most result in a denial for disability.

If your reconsideration is denied, you must file a request for an administrative law judge disability hearing. Depending on what area of the country you are in, your wait time for a disability hearing may take more than five hundred days, due to significant backlogs at the Social Security hearing offices.

As you can see, your wait for a disability answer may take a very long time, particularly if you pursue your claim through the appeals process. Many individuals have to pursue their claim to an administrative law judge hearing to be approved for disability benefits, and there are many others who have to persevere through the entire disability process more than one time to receive a positive disability answer.





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Good cholesterol linked to lower MS disability

Research at the University of Buffalo in New York suggests that "good cholesterol" could help patients with multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis is a progressive, inflammatory disease in the brain that attacks the nervous system, causing fatigue and difficulty with cognitive functioning, coordination, walking, and movement. "Good cholesterol" is high-density lipoprotein, HDL, which has positive, protective effects on cardiovascular health, particularly among patients with heart disease.

The study was initiated by Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, M.D., an associate professor of neurology and director of the Jacobs Neurological Institute's Baird Multiple Sclerosis Center at University of Buffalo's Department of Neurology, and first author was Allison S. Drake, MSc, a researcher at JNI. The University of Buffalo is the largest state university in New York and ranks at the top of public universities for research. The results of this research project were presented at the American Association of Neurology in Seattle, Wash.

The research study was an attempt to find a relationship between high-density lipoprotein levels and the level of disability in multiple sclerosis patients. Previous research has established the connection between HDL levels and heart disease, but the relationship with MS had not previously been evaluated. The study looked at 186 multiple sclerosis patients from the New York State Multiple Sclerosis Consortium. The consortium, headed at JNI, is an alliance of NY treatment centers with the intent of assessing clinical characteristics of patients. The average age of the 186 patients was 50. The data included clinical information and HDL levels from the beginning of patients' involvement in the study. After an average of 5 years, researchers compared the initial information with current measures of disability. Disability was measured using the Expanded Disability Severity Score, a physician-reported system.

The results showed a significant association between a patient's level of HDL and disability score. Those patients with greater disability scores had low HDL levels, while those with less disability had higher levels of high-density lipoprotein. The study suggests that high HDL levels may provide a protective effect of anti-inflammatory response in those with multiple sclerosis. The research concluded that more research is recommended, investigating the relationship between HDL levels, treatment and progression of multiple sclerosis.






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How Difficult is it to Pass a Social Security Disability Re-evaluation (CDR)?

Social Security calls their disability entitlement re-evaluations continuing medical reviews (CDR). As you can see by the name, these re-evaluations will occur periodically for all individuals who receive Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability.

By and large, most disability claimants who are re-evaluated for continuing disability benefits are allowed to keep their disability benefits. So now you may be wondering, what could cause an individual to “fail” their Social Security disability re-evaluation?

Evidence supporting medical improvement is generally what causes an individual to “fail” their CDR. There are a couple of situations which may indicate that an individual has had medical improvement. Social Security could determine an individual has medically improved after reviewing medical records or they could say an individual has had medical improvement if they have returned to regular employment.

As I said before, most disability beneficiaries continue to receive their disability benefits after their continuing disability review. Most individuals with impairments serious enough to be approved for disability in the first place do not medically improve, nor do they return to regular employment. However, if an individual was approved for disability benefits based upon some type of injury or medical condition in which improvement was likely, their disability benefits may possibly not be continued. It just depends upon your impairment, the likelihood of medical improvement, and if your have returned to regular work activity.

So what happens at a CDR or disability re-evaluation? Social Security does not necessarily require a face-to-face interview to process a continuing disability review, however some Social Security claims representatives prefer to conduct face-to-face reviews rather than mail in or telephone interviews.

Whatever the method of contact, you will have to complete a disability update form and sign medical release forms, then your disability file will sent to the state disability agency for a disability review.






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Tourette syndrome is less manageable with ADHD

The ability for children with Tourette syndrome to manage the disorder and function normally is most inhibited by the occurrence of ADHD and the severity of its symptoms. Tourette symptoms also vary in severity, and include motor tics such as blinking hard, opening eyes wide, shaking the head and grimacing, and vocal tics such as sniffing, clearing the throat and grunting. Swearing is a popular misconception and happens only rarely. About 1 in 100 people are thought to have Tourette syndrome, but many have mild enough symptoms that they do not see a medical professional for it.

In most cases (90%), those with Tourette syndrome also have another disorder, most commonly, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). The cause of this is unclear, but a research study from University of Calgary and University of Toronto attempted to understand why these disorders occur together. Their study involved almost 400 children with Tourette. Findings show a major genetic component that is shared between the two, but also suggest that perinatal stresses increase the risk that Tourette and ADHD will occur together.

Perinatal stress can include low birth weight, premature birth or mother smoking during pregnancy. Researchers divided the children with Tourette syndrome between those with and those without ADHD, then compared the rates of these perinatal stress. FIndings show those with perinatal stresses were 2-3 times more likely to have ADHD with Tourette syndrome. Those who know they are genetically at risk for Tourette should take extra precautions while pregnant to lower the chances of both Tourette and ADHD occurrence.





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How Long Do I have After My Husband’s Death to Prove My Disability for Social Security?

Recently, I came across this question in a forum and it appeared that the woman who received a denial letter for disabled widow’s benefits did not understand why she was being denied.

She stated that she had issues with the reason they denied her claim, so she appealed the decision. The reason her disabled widow’s claim was denied was that she did not meet the non-disability criteria for disabled widow’s benefits. She was denied because she was not age fifty within seven years of her husband’s death (the seven year period known as the prescribed period begins with her deceased husband's death, or when she last could receive benefits as a mother in care of minor children) and she did not meet any of the exceptions that might have extended that seven-year period.

Social Security provides benefits for men and women who are the surviving or divorced surviving spouses (divorced spouses must have been married ten years or more prior to divorcing) of a deceased spouse at the age of fifty if they are disabled and sixty if they are not disabled prior to the end of the prescribed period.

The Social Security Act states an individual must have become disabled prior to the age of sixty and no later than seven years after the deceased spouse’s death unless they were receiving as a surviving mother or father with children in care.

If an individual has minor children at the time of their spouse’s death, they are entitled until their child turns sixteen years old. As you can see, this exception can greatly lengthen the time an individual is eligible to apply for disabled widow or widower’s benefits.

In this case the woman was entitled to disability based upon need through the Supplemental Security Income disability program because she must not have been insured for Social Security disability when she was found to be disabled, additionally she was not fifty years old at the time she was found to be disabled by Social Security.

In fact, she states that she would not have been fifty until fifteen years after her husband’s death, and she did not indicate that she had been entitled to any type of surviving mother in care of children benefits. This widow, unfortunately, has nothing to appeal, because the Social Security Act basically states that an individual can only be entitled to disabled widow’s or widower’s benefits if they turn fifty within seven years of the deceased spouse’s death unless she met on of the exceptions mentioned above. It does not matter if she was disabled immediately after her spouse’s death if she did not reach the age of fifty within seven years of her spouse’s death. In this widow’s case there is no choice but to file for widow’s benefits based upon age at sixty.

Additionally, this beneficiary stated that she receives disability through SSI, so I am sure that she receives Medicaid. She seems very anxious to get the higher monetary benefit of her deceased spouse record, however she may not be able to considering the fact that the higher benefits may cease her eligibility for Medicaid.

In her case, not being able to file for widow’s benefits may allow her to receive medical coverage for a longer period of time. The SSI program will force her to file widow’s benefits at sixty because all SSI beneficiaries must apply for any benefits they might be entitled to when receiving a need based SSI disability benefit.

Unfortunately, many individuals loose their Medicaid benefits when they have to file retirement or widow’s benefit claims.





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If I Win My Disability Benefits, When Do My Benefits Start?

If you have won your disability benefits, you may have to wait some time before you actually begin to receive your disability benefits.

For instance, if your month of entitlement is in the past and you are approved for disability benefits, you will receive benefits as soon as your local office clears your disability claim.

But if your month of entitlement is at a later date in the future (which, in some cases, may happen because of something known as the five month waiting period) you will have to wait until the month you are actually entitled to begin receiving your disability benefits even though you have been approved for disability.

If you win your disability benefits at the initial disability application or reconsideration appeal level, you are likely to begin receiving benefits within thirty days. However, this time frame could be longer if your disability claim involves other issues such as workman’s compensation settlements or weekly benefits or complex computational issues.

If you win your disability benefits at the administrative disability hearing or Appeal Council Review, your claim will be sent to a Social Security Payment center for processing. And there it may take a little longer to start receiving disability benefits than those beneficiaries who are approved at the initial or reconsideration levels.

However, Social Security is working to improve processing time for all disability claims including the disability hearing level and the Appeals Council review level. In an effort to shorten the processing of administrative law judge decisions, Social Security now includes hearing decisions in the electronic process. All administrative law judge decisions issued on disability claims for which certified electronic files have been created are faxed into the electronic file. Payment center claims and benefit authorizers are able to view the hearing and Appeals Council decisions in the electronic file versus waiting for them to be mailed and received. This appears to be saving some processing time; consequently disability beneficiaries are starting to receive their disability benefits sooner.

To sum it up, Social Security has no certain time frame in which to start your disability benefits.









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