Articles Posted in Children

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August is Back to School Month for families with school age children.  The National Retail Federation (NRF) notes that consumers were cutting back on non-essential items or shopping sales in order to afford back to school supplies with the current inflation rate.  For families with disabilities, subsisting on Social Security benefits, this can be especially daunting.  NRF calculates the average cost per family to be $864 this year, mostly owing to inflation.

The Social Security Administration provides income for children through two programs.  SSA pays benefits for minor children of disabled adults who paid into the Title II program through pay roll taxes.  Second, SSA provides direct benefits to disabled children of low income families through its Supplemental Security Income program.  These benefits provide for approximately 4 million children in this country.

For families with a disabled child, the family must be low income to be considered eligible.  Review this chart to see if your family meets the threshold requirements.  The SSI Program provides critical support for 1.2 million children in this country.  Fifteen percent of all SSI recipients are children.   Because eligibility for SSI depends on meeting both medical and financial criteria, the rate of SSI receipt varies geographically depending on local health, economic and demographic factors.  In 2020, Georgia had 42,750 children receiving SSI.

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The best gift you can give your child after your love and care is financial security and a safety net that will help him in the case of an unforeseen situation later in life. When you are applying for your child’s birth certificate, remember to apply for a Social Security card at the same time. You can also apply at any Social Security office near you. You may be asked to provide evidence of your child’s name, age, proof of US citizenship as well as your identity proof.

Also, remember that your children may be eligible to receive benefits on your account. The eligibility criteria include your child being unmarried and below the age of 18. However, a child over 18 can be eligible for benefits too if they were suffering from the disability before they turned 22. Conditions for which a child may become eligible for benefits on your record include autism and visual impairments.

A woman may receive lower disability benefits than a man because of lower pay and frequent absences from employment. Many women take breaks after having children to raise their families, and unfortunately, they find that this has an impact on their disability benefits accruals.  If you have children, it’s even more important that you maintain a strong, recent, well-documented employment history, so that you can continue to maintain your eligibility for benefits.

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Scientists recently announced that they have discovered a gene that is responsible for a condition that causes children to be born with blindness, deafness, and other serious symptoms.

This condition is known as COMMAD Syndrome, and children born with it suffer from deafness, blindness, albinism, fragile bones, a large head, malformed eyes, and prematurely graying hair. According to scientists, the condition is caused when children inherit a gene mutation called MITF from parents who are deaf and suffer from another genetic disorder called Waardenburg Syndrome 2A.

Not every person who suffers from deafness also suffers from Waardenburg Syndrome 2A. In fact, most people do not suffer from this rare genetic disorder. However, deaf persons often prefer to marry other deaf persons, and according to the researchers, it is important for persons to undergo genetic counseling before they get married to confirm that both of them do not suffer from Waardenburg Syndrome 2A. If they do, they may be at risk of transmitting the MITF genetic mutation to their children.

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Children who suffer from a mental or physical disability may be at a much higher risk of suffering from abuse or neglect.

Those are the results of a new study that yielded disturbing findings. According to the study, children who suffer from mental or behavioral disorders have a heightened risk of abuse, and those risks differ depending on the type of disorder from which the child suffers.

Researchers found that children who suffer from autism, spina bifida, and Down syndrome, are not at a high risk of abuse, but those who suffer from intellectual disabilities or mental/behavioral disorders such as depression and developmental delays are much more likely to experience abuse or neglect.  Moreover, children whose parents lack support to deal with their child’s disability, or are overwhelmed by the responsibility of caring for a disabled child, are much more likely to suffer from neglect.

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If you are living in a low-income household, with a child suffering from disability, you can potentially receive social security income benefits for your child.

Generally, the following requirements must be met to receive government assistance:

  • Your child can’t be working and earning more than $1,130 per month in 2016
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When you qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits (SSDI), you are automatically eligible for a number of forms of assistance.

For starters, you are immediately eligible for monthly cash benefits. These disability benefits will be in the form of checks that you receive every month. The amount will depend on a number of factors, including the amount that you have contributed in taxes to the Social Security system, as well as your work history.

A Social Security disability beneficiary will also become eligible for Medicare benefits. This eligibility will kick in two years after you become eligible to receive disability benefits.

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In order to receive Social Security disability benefits for a child suffering from autism, your child must suffer from a number of cognitive impairments and impairments in social and personal functioning.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) will look for signs that a child suffers from multiple types of impairments when evaluating eligibility for benefits on the basis of his autism. For instance, the child must have deficits in social interaction, communication and imagination, and must be limited by his or her activities and interests. These limitations must impact the child’s cognitive, personal, social and social functioning.

Proving these types of impairments is frequently done through the results of standardized tests. For instance, you can establish the extent of cognitive and communicative impairment by using standardized tests as well as special tests for language development. In the case of social functioning impairment, your claim may depend on evaluations by a doctor and observations of the child’s capacity to form relationships, interact with others, including parents, adults, and peers. Personal functioning refers to the child’s ability to look after himself, perform self-grooming tasks and dressing, eating, and visiting the toilet on his own.

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Adults who are disabled before they reach the age of 22 may qualify for child benefits provided a parent is deceased, or has begun receiving retirement or Social Security disability (SSD) benefits. These benefits are typically regarded as child benefits because the payments are paid on the parents’ Social Security record.

In order to qualify for a children benefits, the adult child must be above the age of 18, and must be unmarried. His/her disability must have begun before he/she reached the age of 22. The child in a case like this can include an adopted child of a parent with a Social Security record, or even in some cases, a grandchild, a stepchild or step grandchild.

Typically, child benefits will stop when the child reaches the age of 18, unless the child continues to be a student in elementary or high school. In such cases, however, benefits can continue until the child is 19 years old. However, for a child to qualify for disability benefits on your record after the age of 18, then the above-mentioned conditions must apply. The disability must have begun before the age of 22, and he/she also must meet the disability criteria for adults.

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ADHD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a condition that affects approximately 5% of all American children. Children whose ADHD symptoms reach a certain intensity level are likely to qualify for benefits. However, you will be required to provide solid medical evidence about the severity of your child’s symptoms.

Symptoms of ADHD typically begin in childhood, and can continue well into adulthood. Primary symptoms include inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior. A child who suffers from ADHD is likely to face problems adjusting in school, and keeping up with work in adulthood.

You must provide the following types of evidence in support of your claim.

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Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) who participate in regular exercise may see enhanced memory, cognitive skills and mental preparedness as a result.

According to research recently published in The Journal of Pediatrics children who took part in regular physical activity or exercise showed much greater improvements in cognitive performance than children who did not. According to researchers, the findings support a growing movement to increase physical activity among children who suffer from ADHD.

Physical exercise and activities are good for all children and adults, but are often highly recommended for children who suffer from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. In fact, researchers found that certain activities may help ADHD sufferers resist distraction, and increase memory and cognitive proficiency. In the study, children were able to switch from task to task much more easily after they had engaged in physical exercise.

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