What are the chances of getting SSI for a child with a speech disorder?

Question

My 6 year old son has a speech disorder and I am applying for SSI benefits. He has been in speech as well as occupational therapy for 3 years through his school and I take him independently to an outpatient facility as well. I live in a rural area, and the speech therapist here has just left. I would have to drive him to a facility 45 minutes away and I just can't afford it. My husband and I are both in college and he has to drive 80 miles a day and with the gas prices I can't afford another trip. Is anyone else in this situation? I just wonder what the chances are for a child with an obvious speech problem are for getting SSI. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Answer 1

I am making an exception on this question because it is a child. Depends on the specifics. You'll never now until you apply for it at an SSA office where you live. As to chances, if they reject you,  file  for reconsideration. If still rejected appeal to a SSA judge and so on. It' may or not take a long time.; depends on the  evidence .  Not required but you may have a better chance if you have a lawyer. If you can't pay,  go to Legal Aid  in your town. Good luck.

Answer 2

I would say very low, it is not a true handicap that will disable him/her

sorry, good luck

Answer 3

Very very good… Check with your lawyer but I think that SSI is given  to anyone that has a problem that is sure to last more than one year.. And in a lot of cases with kids a school teacher or counselor is asked … and they help the kid in most cases…

Answer 4

That's a hard question....my sister gets SSI for a mental disorder. She has to go for re-evaluation every 6 months...BUT when she's stable on medicine it's going to go away. (right now they haven't found the right combo yet).

I would think that you probably wouldn't get it simply for a speech disorder. Where we live...their rules are very strict...she only gets it because she literally can't hold down a job because her illness makes it hard for her to wake up and stay awake. And it took almost a whole year before she actually got it.

I would speak to a lawyer about your son. I know that they have lawyers that specialize in helping people get SSI benefits. I simply don't know if they would care that your husband has to drive so far...it would be more like a "then move closer" kind of thing. (I'm not trying to be rude....I just know that dealing with stuff like this...they simply don't care about things like cost of gas etc. I get child support for my oldest...and the fact that we have to drive 30 miles one way to a job, and the cost of gas or the cost of food has no bearing on how much we qualify for)

Good luck. And like I said....I would definitely talk to a lawyer...most will give you a consultation for free and give you an honest answer what your chances are, and whether or not you would have a case to fight it.

Answer 5

I don't know. I know I didn't get any SSI benefits when my oldest child(now 23) was going through her speech therapies and such...I just figured whatever costs I had to pay were part of raising a child.

I don't think SSI should be paid out for speech disorders, I think that is meant more for kids with physical problems, but I don't know what stuff SSI covers, sorry

Answer 6

to get ssi you must be both low income and disabled if you are disabled but not low income you might qualify for ssd....as far as being deemed disabled for speech if he can be understood in his speech he most likely does not qualify..to qualify they have to not be able to make any type of understandable speech

below is a awesome site that will break it all down for you

Answer 7

Surely, better than mine. But don't worry - my father started speaking at the age of 10 and has not stopped ever since

Answer 8

A speech disorder does not make a child eligible for a regular IEP in school and it is not considered a learning disability or anything of the sort. I doubt very seriously if you can get SSI for a speech disorder. However this may change if your child has an underlying LANGUAGE disorder. This differs from a speech disorder because it indicates dysfunction in the language processing areas of the brain and is permanent. Speech is considered mechanical and can be fixed.

You might watch the Speech therapist because much of what she does can be done at home. I am sure he or she can develop things for you to do at home. Actually this is the best way to do speech therapy because the child practices everyday.

Answer 9

I would say 0.