Special Senses and Speech

• Author: David A. Morton III
• Pages: 177-286

2-1

Chapter 2

Special Senses and Speech

Contents

Part I – Adults

§2.00 Special Senses and Speech

§2.01 Category of Impairments, Special Senses and Speech

§2.02 Loss of Visual Acuity

§2.03 Contraction of the Visual Field in the Better Eye

§2.04 Loss of Visual Efficiency, or Visual Impairment, in the Better Eye

§2.05 (Reserved)

§2.06 (Reserved)

§2.07 Disturbance of Labyrinthine-Vestibular Function

§2.08 (Reserved)

§2.09 Loss of Speech

§2.10 Hearing Loss Not Treated With Cochlear Implantation

§2.11 Hearing Loss Treated With Cochlear Implantation

Part II – Children

§102.00 Special Senses and Speech

§102.01 Category of Impairments, Special Sense Organs

§102.02 Loss of Central Visual Acuity

§102.03 Contraction of Visual Field in Better Eye

§102.04 Loss of Visual Efficiency, or Visual Impairment, in the Better Eye

§102.05 (Reserved)

§102.06 (Reserved)

§102.07 (Reserved)

§102.08 (Reserved)

§102.09 (Reserved)

§102.10 Hearing Loss Not Treated With Cochlear Implantation

§102.11 Hearing Loss Treated With Cochlear Implantation

Part III – Forms

§2.02F Impairment of Visual Acuity

§2.03F Impairment of Peripheral Visual Fields

MEDICAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY 2-2

§2.06F Ophthalmoplegia

§2.07F Disturbance of Labyrinthine-Vestibular Function

§2.09F Loss of Speech

§2.10F Hearing Impairments

Long Forms on Digital Access Only

§2.02F(L) Impairment of Visual Acuity

§2.03F(L) Impairment of Peripheral Visual Fields

§2.06F(L) Ophthalmoplegia

§2.07F(L) Disturbance of Labyrinthine-Vestibular Function

§2.09F(L) Loss of Speech

§2.10F(L) Hearing Impairments

2-3 SPECIAL SENSES AND SPEECH §2.00

Form Reference:

See Forms 2.02, 2.03, 2.06, 2.07, 2.08, 2.09 to

solicit treating source medical information relevant to

the above adult and corresponding child listings.

General Legal Text Cross-References:

Also see Bohr’s Social Security Issues Annotated

(James Publishing), §320, regarding specific court

cases involving special senses and speech impairments.

Part I – Adults

§2.00 Special Senses and Speech

[The applicable Listing of Impairments introduces

each chapter and is typeset in Helvetica. Author

comments follow each Listing subsection and are type-

set in Times.]

SSA Listing of Impairments

A. How do we evaluate visual disorders?

1. What are visual disorders? Visual disorders are

abnormalities of the eye, the optic nerve, the optic

tracts, or the brain that may cause a loss of visual

acuity or visual fields. A loss of visual acuity lim-

its your ability to distinguish detail, read, or do

fine work. A loss of visual fields limits your ability

to perceive visual stimuli in the peripheral extent

of vision.

2. How do we define statutory blindness? Statutory

blindness is blindness as defined in sections 216(i)(1)

and 1614(a)(2) of the Social Security Act (Act).

a. The Act defines blindness as central visual acuity

of 20/200 or less in the better eye with the use of a

correcting lens. We use your best-corrected central

visual acuity for distance in the better eye when we

determine if this definition is met. (For visual acuity

testing requirements, see 2.00A5.)

b. The Act also provides that an eye that has a

visual field limitation such that the widest diameter

of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than

20 degrees is considered as having a central visual

acuity of 20/200 or less. (For visual field testing

requirements, see 2.00A6.)

c. You have statutory blindness only if your visual

disorder meets the criteria of 2.02 or 2.03A. You

do not have statutory blindness if your visual dis-

order medically equals the criteria of 2.02 or 2.03A

or meets or medically equals the criteria of 2.03B,

2.03C, 2.04A, or 2.04B because your disability is

based on criteria other than those in the statutory

definition of blindness.

3. What evidence do we need to establish statu-

tory blindness under title XVI? To establish that you

have statutory blindness under title XVI, we need

evidence showing only that central visual acuity in

your better eye or your visual field in your better

eye meets the criteria in 2.00A2, provided that those

measurements are consistent with the other evidence

in your case record. We do not need documentation

of the cause of your blindness. Also, there is no dura-

tion requirement for statutory blindness under title

XVI (see §§416.981 and 416.983 of this chapter).

4. What evidence do we need to evaluate visual

disorders, including those that result in statutory

blindness under title II? To evaluate your visual

disorder, we usually need a report of an eye exami-

nation that includes measurements of your best-

corrected central visual acuity (see 2.00A5) or the

extent of your visual fields (see 2.00A6), as appro-

priate. If you have visual acuity or visual field loss,

we need documentation of the cause of the loss.

A standard eye examination will usually indicate

the cause of any visual acuity loss. A standard eye

examination can also indicate the cause of some

types of visual field deficits. Some disorders, such

as cortical visual disorders, may result in abnormali-

ties that do not appear on a standard eye examina-

tion. If the standard eye examination does not indi-

cate the cause of your vision loss, we will request

the information used to establish the presence of

your visual disorder. If your visual disorder does

not satisfy the criteria in 2.02, 2.03, or 2.04, we will

request a description of how your visual disorder

affects your ability to function.

5. How do we measure your best-corrected central

visual acuity?

a. Visual acuity testing. When we need to measure

your best-corrected central visual acuity (your opti-

mal visual acuity attainable with the use of a correc-

tive lens), we use visual acuity testing for distance

that was carried out using Snellen methodology or