Being bound to a wheel chair is not in and of itself a disability.

You need to demonstrate that he has other factors that limit his ability to do Substantial Gainful Activity. I have a friend who has been wheelchair bound for twenty years. She would never qualify for SSDI because she can do many jobs from her wheelchair.

If he can find something that he can do from his chair, it will be worth the effort. If after trying to sustain employment from his chair, it become obvious that he cannot maintain "pace and persistence," then he may qualify. Pace and persistence means he can work a forty hour week, week after week. If he can work a week or two but then needs a week or two foo to regain his strength, that is a limit due to pace and persistence.

Employers are required to make reasonable accommodations for his wheel chair disability.

Qualifying for a handicap placard on his car does not mean he is SSDI disabled.

Get the counsel of a Social Security Disability attorney. They get paid from the back SSDI payments at 25% to a max of $5300.

Also, find out why he was denied. He has a right to know the reason for denial.

It is very difficult to fake a SSDI qualifying disability. Work Comp and other disabilities maybe but not SSDI. Besides, it is a serious federal crime to defraud SSDI.

Those of us who have qualified for SSDI have had to work hard to get approved. It took me three years.