Many disabilities are related to injuries, and may be covered by both Workers Compensation and Social Security Disability Insurance. A worker falls from a ladder and suffers a serious head injury, from which they never fully recover. A person driving home from work gets in a car accident, falls into a coma and wakes up a month later with issues that will never completely heal.
However, it’s problematic to assume that all disabilities start with some traumatic event that changes a person’s life. Many noninjury related disabilities include chronic medical conditions such as Diabetes, or disabilities related to trauma that happened when the person was too young to remember it. Examples include:
- Depression
- Intellectual disability
- Dyscalculia
- Dyslexia
- Spina bifida
- Epilepsy
- Down syndrome
- Cerebral palsy
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
- Autism
Some of these, like ADHD or Down syndrome, are issues that people are often born with and have to deal with for their entire lives. Others, such as cerebral palsy, may be created even during the birthing process. If a doctor makes a mistake and cuts off an infant’s oxygen supply during birth, though the child may live, it could be born with cerebral palsy.
Since these individuals have life-long disabilities, they may never have a chance to work or further their careers. It depends on the extent of the disability and how it impacts them. These issues are often different from one case to the next, with some people having more options and abilities than others, even with the exact same condition.
Regardless, it is important for them to understand the rights they may have to Social Security Disability benefits and the steps they need to take to utilize them.