"Mentally retarded" is not a medical diagnosis, jack ass.
Shut the fuck up
Criteria for Mental Retardation
SSA disability determination for mental retardation requires that the individual have “significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning with deficits in adaptive functioning initially manifested during the developmental period; i.e., the evidence demonstrates or supports onset of the impairment before age 22” (Social Security Administration, 2002, p. 76). Children must also have significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning with deficits in adaptive behavior. Since they are children and under age 22, such findings will have manifested during the developmental period. The
Listing of Im pairments, which specifies medical criteria and associated diagnoses, includes separate criteria for adults and for children and adolescents with mental retardation.
Listing 12.05 of Part A lays out criteria for mental retardation; it is closely paraphrased here. In order to be found eligible for benefits due to mental retardation, adults must be mentally retarded as defined above, and must meet one of four requirements:
- mental incapacity as evidenced by dependence upon others for personal needs (e.g., toileting, eating, dressing, etc.) and an inability to follow simple directions that is so severe that standardized measures of intellectual functioning cannot be administered;
- valid verbal IQ (VIQ), performance IQ (PIQ), or full-scale IQ (FSIQ) equal to 59 or less;
- valid VIQ, PIQ, or FSIQ between 60 and 70, and a separate physical or mental impairment that imposes an additional and significant limitation on work-related functioning; or
- valid VIQ, PIQ, or FSIQ between 60 and 70, along with at least two of the following: (a) marked restriction of activities of daily living, (b) marked difficulties maintaining social functioning, (c) deficiencies of concentration, persistence or pace that results in problems completing tasks in a timely manner, or (d) repeated episodes of decompensation.
Satisfaction of any one of these four criteria in an individual who has mental retardation meets the step 3 criterion of SSA's determination process; i.e., that the individual has a prima facie case of disability that results in an inability to work.
Separate determination criteria have been developed for children and adolescents, which recognize the different processes and effects that mental disorders have on their functioning. Determination criteria for children are further subdivided by age and associated developmental expectations. Criteria are provided for infants and toddlers (e.g., between ages 1 and 3) and three age groups of children and adolescents (e.g., ages 3 to 6, 6 to 12, and 12 to 18). These age criteria are designed to assess the severity of the disability's impact on the child's or adolescent's functioning, with benefits provided for conditions that cause “marked” restrictions, defined as “more than moderate but less than extreme.” On standardized tests, a score that is “two standard deviations below the mean for the test” is evidence of a marked restriction. A score that is three standard deviations below the mean on a standardized test is evidence of an extreme limitation.
Medical criteria for evaluating children with mental retardation are described in
Listing 112.05.Like the definition for adults, mental retardation in children for SSA disability purposes is characterized by significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning, with deficits in