What are the SSD qualifications for failure to thrive?

On Behalf of | Aug 3, 2020 | SSDI

As past posts on this blog detailed, children can qualify for Social Security Disability benefits. Many people in Orlando may question why a child (who typically does not need to work to support themselves) would need to receive any type of financial benefit. What this musing overlooks is the financial burden that you (as the parent of a disabled) must deal with to accommodate their care.

Oftentimes the necessity of that care arises almost immediately after your child’s birth. Those first months and years are vital to your child’s development; a failure to thrive during that time can lead to subsequent health issues. If your child experiences a failure to thrive, you may wonder what criteria would qualify them for disability benefits.

Defining growth failures and development delays

Clinicians typically diagnose a failure to thrive when a child demonstrates a growth failure and/or developmental delays. Factors used in measuring adequate growth come from established weight-for-length charts and body-mass-index measurements. Specific diagnoses typically indicate developmental delays.

Identifying a failure to thrive

Per the Social Security Administration’s Listing of Impairments, the qualifications for failure to thrive include meeting criteria detailing both growth failures and developmental delays. If your child is less than two years of age, growth failure includes three weight-for-length measurements at least 60 days apart during a 12-month period that place them in the lower third percentile for their particular group. The same qualifications apply above the age of two, yet clinicians base their measurements of your child’s BMI.

Additionally, your child must demonstrate two documented developmental delays that place them below the two-thirds level for their age group that are at least 120 days apart, or one developmental delay that places them below the same threshold or is two standard deviations below the mean score for their particular cohort.