Hi I am legally blind since I was born and work and I became disabled under my own social security at 36 years of age, when I became disabled under my social security as a blind person and another combined condition, later I found out that I received a child support payment When I was a child because my father was incapacitated, but my mother did not complain when I turned 18 years of age that continuity as a legal blind person, I have the right to receive a benefit of a blind adult child under the benefit of my disabled father by social security since I was a child or continuity at 18 years of age and it is a retroactive one since my father was disabled, if I am entitled to that benefit of 50% of my father's disability benefit when I was a legal blind child, after 10 years my father died and I was an adult I was entitled to a benefit of 75% of my dad's surviving benefit ,,,, this is a very long-standing 50% retroactive claim when I was a child and a change to 75% when I was an adult up to the age of 40, as well, I have also understood that the right to a special blind law of social security limits my protection and gives me the right to work and earn below the lucrative substantial limit for legal blind from 18 years of age to adult present, can you clarify this …

Hi,

You're correct that blind individuals are allowed to earn a higher amount than people with other types of disabilities and still potentially qualify for Social Security disability (SSDI) and/or disabled adult child's (DAC) benefits. The monthly substantial gainful activity (SGA) limit for blind individuals in 2019 is $2040, whereas it's only $1220 for non-blind individuals. It sounds like you may have qualified for DAC benefits when you turned age 18, but an application is required to claim those benefits.

You could apply for DAC benefits now, but whether or not you would qualify depends on how much you've earned since you reached age 22 among a number of other factors. And, the limit on retroactivity for DAC survivor benefits is 6 months from the month of your application, so it sounds like that's probably the maximum amount of back pay that you could expect to receive if you do qualify for DAC benefits. Furthermore, you couldn't be paid both full SSDI and DAC benefits for the same months. You could only be paid the higher of the 2 rates.

Your situation sounds much too complicated for me to properly advise you based on the limited information in your question. I would recommend that you discuss your case with a Social Security technical expert if possible.

Best, Jerry