Special Senses and Speech

• Author: David A. Morton III
• Pages: 167-266

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

 

§2.05-06 (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

 

§102.05-09 (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

§2.06F Ophthalmoplegia

§2.07F Disturbance of Labyrinthine-Vestibular Function

§2.09F Loss of Speech

§2.10F Hearing Impairments

SPECIAL SENSES

AND SPEECH

MEDICAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY 2-2

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

SPECIAL SENSES

AND SPEECH

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



involving special senses and speech impairments.

Part I – Adults

§2.00 Special Senses and Speech

[The applicable Listing of Impairments introduces

each chapter. Author comments follow each Listing

subsection.]

SSA Listing of Impairments

A. How do we evaluate visual disorders?

1. What are visual disorders? Visual disorders are abnor-

malities of the eye, the optic nerve, the optic tracts, or

the brain that may cause a loss of visual acuity or visual

 -





peripheral extent of vision.

2.      Statutory

 

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

 

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



testing requirements, see 2.00A5.)

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

 

     

degrees is considered as having a central visual acuity

 -

ments, see 2.00A6.)

c. You have statutory blindness only if your visual dis-

order meets the criteria of 2.02 or 2.03A. You do not

have statutory blindness if your visual disorder med-

ically 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



3. -

ness 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



provided that those measurements are consistent with the

other evidence in your case record. We do not need doc-

umentation of the cause of your blindness. Also, there

is no duration 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,

 

title II? To evaluate your visual disorder, we usually need

a report of an eye examination that includes measure-

ments of your best-corrected central visual acuity (see



  

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





may result in abnormalities that do not appear on a stan-

dard eye examination. If the standard eye examination

does not indicate 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

  

ability to function.

      

visual acuity?

a. Visual acuity testing. When we need to measure

your best-corrected central visual acuity (your optimal

visual acuity attainable with the use of a corrective

lens), we use visual acuity testing for distance that

was carried out using Snellen methodology or any

other testing methodology that is comparable to Snel-

len methodology.

(i) Your best-corrected central visual acuity for

distance is usually measured by determining what

you can see from 20 feet. If your visual acuity is

measured for a distance other than 20 feet, we will

convert it to a 20-foot measurement. For example,

if your visual acuity is measured at 10 feet and is

SPECIAL SENSES

AND SPEECH