Learning Disabilities and Social Security Law

While children's Social Security cases are generally harder to win than adult cases, disability benefits are available for children under 18 who suffer from serious physical or mental impairments. A child who has been diagnosed with a learning disability will be eligible for benefits if he or she suffers from certain "marked" (severe) or "extreme" functional limitations that are expected to last at least a year.

Children with learning disabilities typically struggle to keep pace academically with their peers. They may require more time to learn new concepts and acquire new skills. It is not uncommon for children with learning disabilities to score well below average on standardized tests. If a child's learning disabilities are severely limiting the child's ability to learn, complete tasks, and interact with others, Social Security may recognize that child as having a disability. But only the most severely affected children can expect to be granted disability benefits.

A significant fraction of children with learning disabilities have also been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or a speech disorder. For those children with more than one diagnosis, Social Security will consider the combination of all their impairments in deciding whether to approve or deny their claim for benefits.

How Social Security Evaluates a Child's Limitations

Social Security will award disability benefits for a child with a specific learning disorder—or borderline intellectual functioning—if that child meets the requirements of Blue Book Listing 112.11 for neurodevelopmental disorders. This listing used to be only for ADHD, but in 2017, Social Security expanded it to include learning disabilities and tic disorders. Under this listing, a child must have medical documentation showing one of the following:
•ADHD symptoms:
◦frequent distractibility, difficulty sustaining attention, and problems organizing tasks, OR
◦hyperactive and impulsive behavior such as restlessness, difficulty waiting, difficulty staying still, or behaving as if being “driven by a motor.”
•Significant difficulties learning and using academic skills (found in learning disabilities), or
•Recurrent motor movement or vocalization (found in Tourette's syndrome or other tic disorders).

In addition to meeting one of these three sets of symptoms, the child must experience either an "extreme" limitation in one of the following areas or a "marked" (severe) limitation in two of the following areas:
•understanding, remembering, or applying information (ability to follow instructions, solve problems, use reason to make decisions)
•interacting with others (ability to cooperate, maintain friendships, handle conflicts, understand social cues)
•concentrating on tasks and maintaining pace (ability to complete tasks in a timely manner, ignore or avoid distractions, work close to others without distracting them), and
•adapting or managing oneself (ability to regulate emotions, control behavior, protect self from harm, maintain personal hygiene).

A "marked" limitation, according to Social Security's regulations, is one that seriously interferes with a child's ability to start or finish activities. It is a "more than moderate, but less than extreme" limitation. "Extreme" limitations are defined as interfering "very seriously" with a child's ability to independently start or finish activities.

My former SD got SSI at age 8 for ADHD only... We (exDH and I) filed for it... as soon as it was approved, we submitted a letter stating SD was NOT disabled. We had to do it this way, because BM would've kept her on SSI until well....... forever. Took them forever to finally stop it, but it's now in exSD's file that she is definitely not disabled. All it takes to get the kid approved apparently is the right doctor saying they are disabled and no foreseeable change.

And, yes, BM was LIVID when she got the copy of the letter stating SD was not disabled.

In my experience many kids do qualify for SSDI just with learning disability