To determine if you qualify as disabled based on the terms set by the Social Security Administration, one of the things you need to do is look at the Social Security Blue Book. While there are exceptions to the rules in this book, it gives you a good place to start when determining if you may qualify for disability benefits.
For adults, you will go to the Social Security Administration’s website and click on “adult listings” to see the Part A information in the Blue Book. This is further broken down into 14 categories, which include in no particular order:
- Musculoskeletal disorders
- Special senses and speech
- Respiratory disorders
- Hematological disorders
- The cardiovascular system
- Endocrine disorders
- Skin disorders
- The digestive system
- Genitourinary disorders
- Congenital disorders that affect multiple body systems
- Mental disorders
- Neurological disorders
- Cancer
- Immune system disorders
It’s important to understand under which of these your main medical conditions fall. You may have multiple disabling conditions that fall under several of these categories.
Finding your disability
Once you know the category that a disability belongs to, you click into it and start looking for your particular condition. For example, if you click into Immune System Disorders, this section is further broken down into conditions like inflammatory arthritis, systemic vasculitis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and others.
After you find the condition you’re looking for, you can click on the link on the site to go to the specific details that help you qualify for Social Security Disability benefits. For instance, someone with HIV would need to have a firm diagnosis that shows it is multicentric or that it has caused one of several other issues, such as central nervous system lymphoma or Kaposi sarcoma.
It can be complicated to determine if you’ll qualify for Social Security Disability benefits, and you may have multiple illnesses or conditions that have to be considered. It’s not a bad idea to get support as you begin working through the paperwork, so you can improve your chances of an approval when you file your application.
