Our Charlotte SSD Lawyers Discuss Functional Equivalence in Minors’ Cases

If you would like to know more about children's claims and how they are determined contact Charlotte SSD lawyers from the Bridgman Law Offices by calling 704-815-6055.

The Social Security Administration establishes clear guidelines for adult claimants. Charlotte SSD lawyers can explain that if your condition meets or is equal to one in the Listing of Impairments, you can be awarded disability benefits. In children’s cases, the assessment is similar. However, their approval is also based on their ability to function.

Assessment

Ultimately, the Social Security Administration is concerned with the activities that the child is still able to perform given his or her impairment, which activities are no longer possible or have limited imposed on them that similarly-situated children without any impairments do not suffer from, and where the child with the impairment has difficulties with activities. Additionally, the Social Security Administration will want to know whether the child has difficulty with starting, continuing, or finishing activities and how much assistance he or she needs with such activities.

Domains

Charlotte SSD lawyers can explain that the Administration uses a variety of domains to make these assessments, including the claimant’s ability to:

• start and complete tasks
• interact and relate appropriately to others
• groom himself or herself
• acquire and utilize information
• move and manipulate objects
• attend to his or her health and physical well-being

Comparison

Charlotte SSD lawyers can explain that representatives of the Social Security Administration compares the claimant’s functioning with the functioning of a child of the same age who does not have such impairments. The focus is on whether the impaired child can perform activities appropriate for his or her age.

Equaling Listings

In order for a child to be found to equal one of the impairments in the Listing of Impairments, he or she must have “marked” limitations in two or more of the domains listed above. Alternatively, the child can have an “extreme” limitation in just one domain. A limitation that is marked means that a child’s impairment significantly interferes with his or her ability to start, continue or finish activities, while an extreme limitation is one that has the highest degree of impairment. However, this does not constitute that a child has no ability to function in that domain, but rather that his or her impairment very significantly impacts the child’s ability to start, continue or finish activities.

Legal Assistance From Charlotte SSD Lawyers

If you would like to know more about children’s claims and how they are determined contact Charlotte SSD lawyers from the Bridgman Law Offices by calling 704-815-6055.