Getting Disability Benefits for Cerebral Palsy as an Adult

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of nervous system problems that are present from birth or soon after birth. CP is caused by damage to the brain during development and can cause problems with walking, using the arms, behavior, speech, hearing, seeing, and thinking. Some adults with cerebral palsy may experience lack of coordination and mild speech problems, and perhaps an unusual gait, but not much else, while other adults suffering from CP are unable to walk, coordinate the use of their hands, speak effectively, or hear properly.

There are several types of cerebral palsy:

• spastic (characterized by stiff, jerky muscles)
• athetoid (characterized by muscle problems and slow writhing movements)
• ataxic (characterized by poor balance, coordination, muscle tone, and tremors), or
• mixed (a combination of the above).

Getting SSI or SSDI for Cerebral Palsy as an Adult

Adults with cerebral palsy may be eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI, for low-income people) or Social Security disability income (SSDI, for those who paid taxes into the Social Security system, or in some cases for those whose spouses paid into the system). Mild cerebral palsy will not qualify for benefits, however. To qualify, an adult’s cerebral palsy has to seriously limit activities like walking or talking. The SSA details how significant the impairments caused by cerebral palsy must be for it to qualify as a disability that prevents an adult from working.

If your cerebral palsy does not meet the SSA’s official listing for cerebral palsy, you still might be able to get disability benefits based on a medical-vocational allowance if you can show that your cerebral palsy reduces your capacity to work so much that there are no jobs you can do, considering your education, your prior job experience, and your age.

While many adults who get disability benefits qualified as children for SSI under cerebral palsy, it is not unusual for an adult with cerebral palsy to be applying for disability benefits for the first time.

Qualifying for Cerebral Palsy Under the Official Listing

The SSA sets out what’s required to automatically be granted disability benefits for cerebral palsy in disability listing 11.07. You must have a diagnosis of cerebral palsy plus a detailed description from your doctor of one of the following:

• problems walking or standing
• problems using arms, hands, or fingers effectively
• an IQ of 70 or less
• behavior problems, such as destructiveness or emotional instability, or
• a defect in speech, hearing, or eyesight that significantly interferes with communication.

Let's look at these requirements in detail.

Problems Walking or Standing

Specifically, the SSA requires you to have motor problems that cause a “significant and persistent” lack of coordination of two extremities that causes “sustained disturbance” in “gait and station” (your manner of walking and your ability to stand or maintain a certain posture). If you are unable to walk independently without crutches or braces, you would fulfill this requirement. If you can move around your home without support, but cannot travel to school or work without braces, crutches, or someone’s support, your gait and station are disturbed. 

Note that you are required to have motor difficulties with both legs, or both arms, or one arm and one leg. If only one leg is severely affected, this does not fulfill the requirement (though see medical-vocational allowances, below). If one arm and one leg are affected, this would fulfill the requirement. If one leg has muscle weakness and you need to use your arm on that side to hold an assistive device for walking, that might qualify, since you aren’t able to use one arm while you are walking.

Problems Using Upper Arms, Hands, or Fingers

The SSA requires you to have motor problems that cause a “significant and persistent” lack of coordination of two extremities that causes “sustained disturbance” in “gross and dexterous motor movements” (the ability to use arm muscles in a coordinated fashion and to use the hands and fingers for skillful movements). If you are unable to reach, push, pull, lift, carry, grasp, and/or hold onto small items, you would fulfill this requirement. However, if you are able to write with a pencil or cook food and feed yourself, it’s not likely you’ll be considered to have sustained disturbance of gross and dexterous movements.

Low IQ

If you have cerebral palsy, the results of an IQ test should be in your medical record. If not, the SSA will arrange for an IQ test, either the Stanford-Binet test or the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). If you have multiple IQ scores in your medical record, the SSA must use the lowest score.

Behavior Problems

If you have emotional or social problems such as destructiveness or emotional instability (or are applying for disability for someone with these problems), you’ll need to have a mental status examination done by a psychiatrist or psychologist, unless you have already seen a psychologist or psychiatrist and there are adequate psychological records in your medical files.

Communication Problems

If you have significant difficulty communicating with others because you are hard of hearing, have a speech impairment or impediment, or have poor eyesight, you should be able to fulfill this requirement. You would have to have more than mild hearing loss in both ears, visual acuity that’s worse than 20/50 in both eyes (with correction), or such articulation or stuttering that people have trouble understanding you.

Getting Disability Through a Medical-Vocational Allowance

If you don’t automatically qualify for disability benefits under the above listing for cerebral palsy, the SSA is required to consider the effect of your impairments on your capacity to perform routine daily activities and work. For more information, see our article Getting Disability for Cerebral Palsy on a Medical-Vocational Allowance.

Applying for Disability Benefits for Cerebral Palsy as an Adult

Call the SSA at 800-772-1213 to set up an appointment to submit an application for SSI or SSDI through your local SSA office. After you submit all the necessary medical and financial information to the SSA, a claims examiner will request your medical records, review them with a medical consultant, and make a decision on whether you are entitled to disability benefits. It can take three to six months for the SSA to determine whether you are eligible for disability benefits.

If you need to apply for SSI for a child with cerebral palsy, the rules are different; see our article on how children with cerebral palsy can qualify for disability benefits.

Presumptive Disability Payments

The SSA grants immediate disability benefits to those who are likely to be found medically eligible for benefits. If you have been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and have severe difficulty speaking, coordinating hand and arm movements, or walking without braces, you probably qualify for these “presumptive disability” benefits. For more information, see our article on presumptive disability payments for cerebral palsy.