K-so hope I'm posting this right. Anyway I noticed you stated you were approved for "Social Security Disabled Adult Child Benefits" I currently am receiving SSDI/SSI, but I have never heard of: Social Security Disabled Adult Child Benefits. Can you please explain this to me? Thanks! --Aimee

Priscilla this is from the SS website Question # 156

There are two Social Security disability programs that include disabled children.

Under the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, a child from birth to age 18 may receive monthly payments based on disability or blindness if:

He or she has an impairment or combination of impairments that meets the definition of disability for children and
the income and resources of the parents and the child are within the allowed limits.


Under the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program, an adult child (a person age 18 or older) may receive monthly benefits based on disability or blindness if:

He or she has an impairment or combination of impairments that meets the definition of disability for adults; and
the disability began before age 22; and
the adult child's parent worked long enough to be insured under Social Security and is receiving retirement or disability benefits or is deceased.
Under both of these programs, the child must not be doing any "substantial" work, and must have a medical condition that has lasted or is expected either to last for at least 12 months or to result in death.

Thank-you Echoes long ago, I think maybe I ought to get a little more specific on here since my situation is somewhat unique. Evidently I gave the wrong date of the onset of my disibility due to the fact I thought I had to list the last known date based on current records in my possession at the time, but the truth is it dates back to when I was age 14. (SSA has it down as age 22) I do not know how to correct it since my attorney failed to submit the older records I requested. There is proof and I'd like to apply for benefits going back to age 19 on my own record and ages 14-18 on my father's record, since I believe that is the only way it can be done. So basically, does ANYONE know how to go about this? I spent over a year trying to work w/ the attorney to acknowledge they had made a mistake, but of course they were not willing to help since they considered it closed after they got paid. Anyway, if ANYONE knows the answer to this I know it will help 2 ppl since my brother has same disability since he was born and noone (gov)seems to be forthcoming w/ this information which I am sure all of you would agree!
Thanks and much appreciated!

When did your father die or turn age 62 and file a retirement claim or become entitled to SSDI himself? At age 14, a child can get benefits from a parent's record on the basis of AGE alone - if the family max is high enough, the parent is deceased or entitled to Social Security disability or retirement. A 14-17 year old child does not have to have a disabling condition to qualify. If your father is 61 or younger, still breathing and able to work, there is nothing for you to qualify for on your father (or mother if she is still healthy and not retired) Social Security record. And, if you got married, you might not be entitled as an adult. Or if you engaged in Substantial Gainful Activity and it was not an Unsuccessful Work Attempt (and you must have worked a year and a half to get SSDI) you might not be able to get benefits from a parent.

If your brother is disabled and unable to perform Substantial Gainful Activity, he should file his own claim since filing date is a factor in determining payment date. He should contact SSA before the end of December 2009 if he hasn't done so already. 1-800-772-1213.

If your attorney thought you could be entitled to more money by pursuing an earlier onset based on an earlier filing date, the attorney would then be entitled to a higher fee, so I would guess that the attorney is not interested in pursuing this because there is no money in it for anyone.

Go get your own records if you want them, and file a claim on your deceased, disabled or retired father, but it may do absolutely nothing to change your entitlement to Social Security or the amount of your monthly benefits. Help your brother get his own records and help him file a claim. But again, the retroactivity of an SSDI claim is AT MOST 12 months before application (with the 5 month waiting period, 17 months for onset) and for SSI, zero months before application.

Filing a claim and, if denied, filing an appeal is what keeps a claim alive for years and sometimes results in years of retroactive benefits and sometimes nothing.

Thanks for the friendly reply!! Both my brother and I are receiving SSDI and SSI (my brother only gets one of these...unsure which one) However, for both of us Social Security benefits only went back a few years; more than likely back to the date of application...However, I was told that if there was proof of diagnosis/treatment than the benefits could potentially date back to when the disibility actually began, rather than the date of your 1st application. In my case, I was diagnosed at age 14. My current claim goes back only to age 22. Perhaps I was misinformed, but it was a disability advocate who told me so that this has been known to happen... I wonder if ANY of you out there have heard of this happening?? Both I and my brother have been living with the same condition since childhood, app age 14 for me and my brother was born w/ his disability but not tested until age 15. School/work has been affected all along since early teenage years for the both of us and as a result our parents have spent countless thousands seeking help eg treatment.
My father and mother will not retire for app 4-5 years from now. They did not know they had options to apply for SSDI/SSI when we were kids....
Thanks very much for any advice!

You were misinformed.

SSI does not pay claims for months before some applies. SSDI may in some cases pay claims for 12 months before the application date. You cannot get any kind of benefit from a parent who is not deceased, or entitled to SSDI or entitled to retirement. SSI benefits for disabled minor children are based also on the parents' income, so even if your parents had applied for you as a minor, there might not have been any benefits because they had too much income. From what you have said, I do not see how you can qualify for anything more than what you are currently receiving.

They will only pay back pay for the last 12 months/ but you have to subtract the whole 5 month waiting period. That is if those five months were included in the past 12.

this is incorrect. you can get up to 12 months of backpay previous to the date you filed if you were unable to work for the period of time of 17 months before the date you filed and that is determined to be your start date by ss. The 5 months waiting period is subtracted from the 17 months previous not the 12 months previous If it takes years for you to go through the disability process such as waiting for an alj hearing you also get that period of time in your backpay if your start date is determined to have been when or before you filed.

That 12 months and 5 month waiting thing has been explained to me a dozen times and I still can't understand it...I have no clue...too confusing.

Hope this helps:

I applied for SSDI in February 2010 claiming an onset date of April 2009. Since April 2009 is within 12 months of my application, then I can be approved for an onset date of April 2009. However there is a five month waiting period, so my back pay would be calculated starting October 2009 (Add 5 months to the April 2009 date).