Social Security Disability Conditions – Special Senses and Speech

Speech Disorders

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI or SSD)
Is a payroll-funded program to supplement the income of those unable to work due to disability.

General Qualifications for SSD Eligibility

For you to be eligible for SSD, your disability must last for at least a year or be terminal. You must also be under age 65 to be eligible, as 65 is normally the age of Medicare eligibility.

To be eligible for SSD, you must have accumulated a prescribed number of Social Security credits (normally accumulated through work experience and payment into Social Security) during the 10 years immediately preceding disability.

Requirements vary according to age, and if you suffer disability before age 23 you may be able to draw on your parents’ Social Security credits without affecting your parents’ eligibility for SSD.

Speech Disorders and SSD

Finding and keeping gainful employment can be difficult if you suffer from a disorder resulting in speech loss. As a result, the Social Security Administration recognizes speech loss as a qualifying condition for SSD.

Speech disability can result from various causes including head injuries, strokes, brain tumors, infections, and dementia. Speech loss can be total (resulting in inability to make any vocal sounds) or partial (with inability to form sounds into specific words). Treatment can focus on efforts to regain speech or to learn other methods of communication.

For speech loss to qualify you for SSD benefits, you must be unable, by any means, to produce speech that can be heard, understood, or sustained. If a device makes it possible for you to speak, you do not qualify for SSD benefits relating to speech loss. You may qualify, however, based on the condition that caused your speech loss.

For further information about disability conditions relating to speech disorders, click here.

If you’re considering applying for Social Security Disability, click here for a free SSD evaluation. If you’d like more information about Social Security Disability, a bonded, licensed MedicareMall representative will be happy to answer your questions. We’ll also be glad to answer any questions you may have about Medicare or Medigap.

Contact MedicareMall now and we’ll make it our priority to help you make the best-informed decisions possible when it comes to your health or disability.

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