Does Anyone Out There Know About SSI for Adhd Children

I worked as a Claims Rep doing SSI for the Social Security Administration for 3 1/2 years. Many parents do file for SSI for their kids when the child has ADHD. Let me just give you an overview of SSI:

There are two requirements for SSI - it's a needs based program so you have to meet 1) income and resource requirements, AND 2) a disability requirement.

To even be able to apply for your son you and your son both have to meet income and resource requirements. The Rep will ask you about your living arrangements (where you live, who lives with you, etc), all of your income (earned and unearned, like child support), all of the things you own (bank accounts, automobiles, life insurance, etc.) and from there will determine if you & your son meet the first half of the requirements to be eligible. If you meet income & resource requirements, then the Rep will proceed to the disability portion.

Your son would have to meet disability criteria. For an adult, a disability is: "anything that keeps you from working and is expected to last one year or more". For a child it's a little bit different and there's no good explanation. The disability examiner has to look into how your child functions compared to other children his age, how your child is doing in school, whether the medications are working, etc.

It's certainly worth a try - if your son gets SSI, he will get Medicaid. IF it turns out that your income is too high for your son to be eligible, what you need to do is get an informal denial letter from the rep (the formal one will come in the mail in 2-3 weeks), go to DFCS, and file for Medicaid under the KATIE BECKETT provision. 'Katie Beckett' allows children to file for Medicaid regardless of their parents income...but to do this, you have to have tried SSI first.

Write me if you have any other questions!!! Good luck!

B.

Hey W. s. My son also has ADHD and without his medication....I would need the medication for my nerves!!! lol He's a very intelligent kid but he just about literally bounces off the walls without his concerta which we had to increase to 54mg's to even notice a difference in his behavior. He now does well in school and on the bus. I once called a place near the town I live in was told that it's very hard to be approved for SSI if your child has ADHD. I never even called back. I too was asked "WHY DON'T YOU TRY TO GET A CHECK EACH MONTH"? Well.......easier said than done. Good luck.

It has been done before but its a long hard fight, my son has been denied twice and the next step is a hearing. Go to SSA.gov there is a list of conditions that are covered under SSI. In my letter they said that his condition is controlled by meds and he is not disbaled, yeah hes pretty much controlled a good part of the day when he is in school. But he scored very low on the ITBS. We got a dx of PDD , chromosome abnormality, SID but the letter doesnt reflect that. They usually will turn you down and hope you will give up. My 3 yr old on the other hand was approved in under a month, he has autism, underdevloped myelin, speech delay, glbal dev delay, SID. The more info you have the better.

W.,
I had a lot of questions about it also there is some really great info and suport on yahoo. my son is 12 with adhd and odd.The yahoo group link is here http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ADHD-ODD/

I myself don't know anything about it, though my son has been on adhd meds for the same amount of time.

I looked into this at one time. From what I recall, it has gotten much more difficult to get SSI for ADHD. Instead of using a diagnostic model, social security uses a functional model. Meaning, the level of functioning is what gets you SSI, not the diagnosis of a disability.