For those people in Florida who struggle with disabling conditions, the assistance offered through disability benefits from the Social Security Administration helps fill the financial void left by them not being able to work to support themselves. Yet as the parent of a child struggling with a disability, you know full well that often it is not just the person experiencing a disability that feels its affects.
Indeed, supporting your child’s care can place a heavy financial burden on your family. The question then becomes whether your child’s condition qualifies for disability benefits.
Exhibiting a failure to thrive
Sometimes it can take years to for your child’s condition to begin to impede their quality of life. Yet in many other cases, their problems may manifest themselves right at birth. Such is the case if your child exhibits a failure to thrive. Those first few months and years of their life are vital for their later development. Thus, care and attention is often needed right away to help encourage healthy growth. That care can be costly.
According to the SSA’s List of Impairments, failure to thrive is a condition that merits disability benefits. To qualify, your child must have at least three documented weight-for-length measurements in a 12-month period (each of which are at least 60 days apart) that place them in the bottom third of their age cohort up to the age of two. After that, from age of two to three, the SSA defines failure to thrive as three distinct BMI measurements that again place your child in the bottom third category in their age group.
Experiencing developmental delays
in addition to the aforementioned body measurements, your child must also exhibit developmental delays that show them failing to develop at two-thirds the level expected for their particular demographic.
