What is the Disability Determination Service?

The Disability Determination Service (DDS) is a state agency, whose purpose is to determine disability findings for the SSA or Social Security Administration. Claims and rules are unique for each state. Hence, the SSA, which receives all disability claims, sends the accepted applications to the respective DDS of each individual claimant. 

When the application reaches the DDS, a team – composed of medical and psychological consultants as well as evaluation specialists – evaluates the claim by looking at the claimant’s records. Usually, the cases being evaluated by the DDS involve children with learning disabilities, since a child with any form of learning impairment is considered by the law as ‘disabled’ without need for other specific considerations. An example of such limitations includes functioning limitations resulting from previously determined medical impairments. When a child is in pain, anxious, fatigued or has decreasing energy, his/her learning is affected by these functioning limitations. To assess the extent of a child’s learning disability, the SSA, through the state DDS, will go to the child’s school and ask the teacher(s) regarding his/her educational performance. Other sources of information such as teacher checklists and questionnaires, report cards and group achievement tests are also considered as evidence for the evaluation. Moreover, the SSA also looks at the information stated in the child’s Individualized Education Program, Individualized Family Service Plan, and transition services plan to further understand the child’s learning capabilities and functioning.