Anyone with a mental disability has a hard enough time in life, but there has been a stigma around the term “mental retardation,” still under use by the Social Security Administration today. Now, the administration is considering changing the phrase for those seeking disabilities seeking benefits to “intellectual disability.”
According to a post by the agency on Regulations.Gov, they want to adopt the term as an official part of Title II of the Social Security Act and Title XVI concerning the Supplemental Security Income for people who are disabled.
No matter what this is called, the Social Security Administration said there is a need for medical evidence and an assessment of how severe the patient has it.
“We measure severity according to the functional limitations imposed by your medically determinable mental impairment(s),” the Social Security’s website said. “We assess functional limitations using the four criteria in paragraph B of the listings: Activities of daily living; social functioning; concentration, persistence, or pace; and episodes of decompensation.”
The Law Offices of Harold W. Conick & Associates have successfully represented hundreds of mentally challenged adult and child clients seeking disability benefits for over 25 years. We are experts in obtaining credible medical evidence that enables the Social Security judges a basis to approve our clients claims.
