When my sons were around five and about two years old, my mom and I noticed that their breathing was laborious, and we could hear wheezing. Almost every person in my mother’s family has asthma except for me. However, my sons both inherited the asthma diagnosis as well.
It’s no surprise that shortly after their diagnosis, we began to give them breathing treatments through a nebulizer, which emits albuterol through a mist. They both benefitted greatly from either the albuterol in the nebulizer or the rescue inhaler. However, a quick tip is that it is much easier to use the nebulizer when they are little.
What was most interesting was how each son responded to it differently. My oldest would get all wired up and want to talk for hours in the middle of the night. On the other hand, my youngest son could get a breathing treatment first thing in the morning after a full night’s rest, and it would make him sleepy.
What we found out later was that my youngest has ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), Tourette’s, and ED (emotional disturbance). For patients with ADD or ADHD, the stimulant in albuterol actually has a calming effect. And while he could benefit from an ADHD medication like Vyvanse or Adderall, they would cause his Tourette tics to be magnified. So, we had to look into other alternatives to manage his ADHD but found a reliable source for the albuterol online.
While looking into alternatives with his healthcare team and his psychiatrist, they suggested that he should have an IEP (individualized education plan) through his school. As a result, we tested him, and he qualified for the IEP.
Additionally, once he qualified for the IEP, a nonprofit organization that helps parents with children who have IEPs offered us free workshops on how to advocate for our child, as well as other essential topics. During one of the workshop sessions, it was suggested that if your child meets specific requirements with their IEP status, they could qualify for federal SSI benefits as well as state Medicaid and food benefit programs.
I learned that if your child has an IEP, then SSA should continue to apply the child criteria for SSI until your child graduates or otherwise exits the school system through age twenty-one.
According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), it defines a child with a disability as one with one of these top thirteen qualifying disability categories:
- Autism
- Deafblindness
- Deafness
- Emotional disturbance
- Hearing impairment
- Intellectual disability
- Multiple disabilities
- Orthopedic impairment
- Other health impairment (OHI)
- Specific learning disability (SLD)
- Speech or language impairment (SLI)
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
- Visual impairment (including blindness)
It looks like my son qualifies under Emotional disturbance and Multiple disabilities. Let’s look into this some more to find out for sure.
How do I apply for SSI for my child with an IEP?
First, we will define what SSI is, as we have already defined what an IEP is. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a federal income supplement program funded by general tax revenues (not Social Security taxes). It is designed to help aged, blind, and disabled people who have little or no income. It provides cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter.
Once the proper people are contacted and the correct paperwork is completed, the Social Security office states, “When you apply for SSI payments for your child based on a disability, we will ask you for detailed information about the child’s medical condition. We will ask about how it affects the child’s ability to perform daily activities. We will also ask you to give permission to the doctors, teachers, therapists, and other professionals who have information about your child’s condition to send the information to us,”. From there, they send all the information to the Disability Determination Services office in your state.
Note that you can also apply for SSI at your local Social Security office or by calling 1-800-772-1213 or 1-800-325-0778 (TTY).
Emotional disturbance
Now that I have an idea of how my youngest may qualify for SSI, I wanted to understand more clearly what an emotional disturbance disability means precisely. Defined by the IDEA, an Emotional disturbance is “A condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child’s educational performance:
(A) An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.
(B) An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers.
(C) Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.
(D) A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.
(E) A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems,”.
It is relatively complex to identify this disability in my son as, for all intents and purposes, he looks and behaves like any typical teen. Still, there is an underlying current of “disturbance” that he feels and perceives every day. For example, on any given day, he will experience at least one of the following, if not more than one:
The IDEA went on to further define ED as having symptoms such as:
“Withdrawn or anxious behaviors, pervasive unhappiness, depression, severe problems with mood or feelings of self-worth as defined by behaviors, such as: isolating self from peers; displaying intense fears or school refusal; d. failing to express emotion; e., displaying a pervasive sad disposition; changes in eating or sleeping patterns; developing physical symptoms (obesity) related to worry or stress; distorted interpersonal relationships, such as Reality distortion beyond normal developmental fantasy and play or talk; Inappropriate laughter, crying, sounds, or language; Self-mutilation; exhibit aggressive, hyperactive, or impulsive behaviors that are developmentally inappropriate, such as: Physically or verbally abusive behaviors; Impulsive or violent, destructive, or intimidating behavior; Behaviors that are threatening to others or excessively antagonistic; A pattern of unsatisfactory educational progress that is not primarily a result of intellectual, sensory, physical health, cultural, or linguistic factors; illegal chemical use; The impaired area identified above must meet ALL of the following criteria: i. Severely interferes with the pupil’s or other students’ educational performance; ii. Is consistently exhibited by occurrences in at least three different settings: two educational settings, one of which is the classroom, and a setting in either home, child care, or community; iii. Has been occurring throughout a minimum of six months,”.
Understanding the criteria for Emotional Disturbance under IDEA sheds light on the challenges my son faces daily. By exploring these resources and seeking the proper support, we can provide our children with the tools they need to thrive academically and emotionally.
IEP and SSI
In conclusion, navigating the world of special education services, such as an IEP, for a child with disabilities can be overwhelming but also incredibly beneficial. It was eye-opening to discover how asthma treatment could impact my son’s ADHD symptoms and open up avenues for additional support, like SSI benefits.
Remember, advocacy and knowledge are vital in ensuring the best outcomes for our children with disabilities.