Hello dworth24,
My 19 yr-old son has been getting SSI for nearly a year, but he has Asperger's syndrome. I'm not sure if severe ADHD or bipolar will be considered enough of a disability to qualify. We started the process online - you can go to the Social Security website for this, or google "applying for SSI online". Then we decided that we wanted to talk in person to someone, so we went to the local Social Security office and they started our application. You need to be VERY prepared. We went through all of his medical and school records and made copies of anything that would show he had a severe disability, such as IEP records. We asked his therapist and psychiatrist to write letters, and provided copies of the letters to SSI. We made sure we had names and addresses of any medical professionals who treated him, all the way back to infancy. We had all of this BEFORE we met with SSI. We had records of work evaluations conducted by our state Dept. of Labor Vocational Rehab that showed he was too disabled to work.
You also need to look at his assets and if he has assets more than ,000 they will not give him SSI. We had to "spend down" some of his bank accounts and show receipts for what we bought (had to be for his benefit) to get below the K level.
Hope this helps!
i have been told that children with severe adhd could be eligible for social security or state/federal funded benefits. my son who has had adhd symptoms since a early age and has been diagnosed as bipolar. he recently turned 18 and has a hard time staying focused at jobs which has unfortunately led him to being let go from jobs. is there any benefits for my son and how would we go about applying???