If you’re wondering if the condition you have qualifies as a disability, the best place to begin is by talking to your doctor. The help of medical professionals is invaluable in this process. They can tell you what the outlook is, how the condition will impact you, how long it will last and what the odds are that you’ll eventually recover.
Still, it can also help to know about common disabilities that people face. If you fall into one of these categories, you very well could qualify for benefits. Examples include:
- Spinal cord trauma that leads to paralysis. The location of the injury determines where that paralysis will affect you.
- Physical limitations due to brain injury or neurological trauma.
- Brain injuries that lead to cognitive limitations. These often heal slightly over the first six months and then last for life.
- Serious trauma that leads to limb amputations. These amputations can either be partial or complete.
- Psychological trauma that, while it may be “invisible” to an outsider, still has a massive impact on your life.
- Blindness, deafness or other sensory disabilities.
- An injury resulting in limb deformation. This can impair your mobility and your ability to work.
Certainly, these are not all of the conditions that count as disabilities, but they do help you see just dramatic the life changes can be after suffering a serious injury. Full recovery may not be possible for a long time, if at all.
If this happens to you, be sure you understand the Social Security Disability process and all of the options you have to seek benefits.