Applying for Long Term Disability if You or Your Child have ODD

Usually, a person with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) manifest an ongoing pattern of hostile, uncooperative, and defiant behavior toward authority figures that seriously interferes with day to day functioning.  Symptoms may include frequent temper tantrums, excessive arguing with adults, often questioning rules, active defiance and refusal to comply with adult requests or rules, deliberate attempts to annoy or upset people, blaming others for misbehavior or mistakes, often being touchy or easily annoyed by others,  frequent anger and resentment and a mean, spiteful attitude.  Many adults and children without mental disorder disabilities could be accused of exhibiting just such behaviors.  The important thing to understand is that an applicant claiming eligibility for disability benefits based on an ODD disorder will need to prove to Social Security that his disability is severe enough to warrant an approval for benefits on his claim.

Measuring Severity of a Disability  

Most people seeking to access disability benefits begin the process by filing an application with a Social Security administered program such as Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance program.  The disability eligibility medical requirements are the same in both programs but the specific program eligibility requirements are different.  The disability medical eligibility requirements in both programs differ in terms of evaluating a disability claim submitted by an adult and that submitted by a child.  An adult’s ODD claim will be evaluated by the Disability Determination Service of the Social Security program applied to and will involve a review of the severity of the ODD as it affects the adult applicant’s ability to engage in gainful employment.  The child applicant’s ODD disability claim will be reviewed to determine the level of his ability to perform daily functioning tasks compared with non-disabled children of his same age to measure the severity of his disability.

Getting Legal Help

If you or a member of your family suffers from Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) it may be important to discuss the disability with a disability lawyer.  An attorney can explain the methods used by the Social Security to evaluate and rate the severity of an ODD impairment.  He can help you to understand what disability benefits might be available to an applicant claiming an ODD disability from the Social Security Disability Insurance program and/or the Supplemental Security Income program.  An attorney can also provide guidance on the appropriate medical documentation and psychological testing necessary to survive the ODD disability evaluation process and ultimately be approved to receive benefits.