The CDC reports that about 2,000 people per day experience an eye injury. While many eye injuries happen on the job, eye injuries can also occur from a car or other accidents, fireworks, as well as incidents like falls. Veterans may also find themselves with injuries from combat or other duty.

Eye injuries can be difficult to overcome. If they’re severe enough, can inhibit your ability to return to work. You may eventually need to apply for disability after a vision-related injury. The cause of vision impairment or the length of time isn’t a consideration. However, the degree of vision impairment is, as well as how well your medical records support your claim.

Disability For Vision Loss

Your vision loss must be substantial in order to meet the definition set out by The Social Security Administration (SSA). If you have a good vision in one of the eyes, SSA will not consider you “disabled.”

SSA has three conditions for blindness, and most cases of blindness meet at least one. To qualify for disability, you must meet one of them:

• Loss of central visual acuity (2.02), indicating that you have vision loss in your central field of vision, and your “better eye” is no better than 20/200
• Contraction of the visual field in the better eye (2.03), indicating that your field of vision is shrinking and that you have a rather narrow field of vision
• Loss of visual efficiency, or visual impairment (2.04), indicating blurry vision or total blindness, and the vision in your better eye is not better than 20/200 while wearing corrective lenses

A full description of these criteria is available in the SSA Bluebook.

Qualifying For Disability

In order to qualify, you’ll be required to show that your vision loss and/or blindness prevents you from working at any job. The SSA looks at a report called RFC, or “residual functioning capacity” to determine your current level of functioning and how it affects your ability to return to work. It looks at your inability to do things like drive. In other words, how much work are you capable of doing in your current condition?

The SSA also reviews your age, education level, and vocational skill set, and will qualify or disqualify based on their findings. If the SSA believes you are qualified based on the RFC, it will be based on your inability to do any kind of job. You will also receive a medical-vocational allowance.

Re-Employment

If you are considering returning to work, SSA allows a 9-month re-evaluation and trial period every 60 months (5 years.) These nine months do not have to be consecutive, but you should avoid using them all up at once if you don’t have to.

The “trial period” is to see if you are able to re-adapt and work, either in the same profession or in another one. You’re required to report your earnings, expenses, and work-related activities to the SSA.

You’ll still receive benefits if you don’t go over your monthly benefit amount (currently $2,040.) Your benefits will still be available (as long as you don’t earn more), and you won’t have to reapply. However, you’ll be required to report everything to the SSA so that your expenses can be calculated against your earnings.

Should your condition worsen and keep you from continuing working, you can apply for expedited reinstatement within 5 years.

Before beginning the re-employment process, speak with an experienced disability attorney who can guide you through the process.

Get Help For Vision Related Disability From Herren Law

Applying for disability benefits from the SSA brings increasing challenges to prove your case. With the help of an experienced disability attorney, you can make sure you have the evidence you need, your application is properly executed, and stand a better chance at getting the benefits you need.

Call The Herren Law Firm today at 713-682-8194 (or use our online contact form) to schedule your free consultation. There’s no obligation, and we’ll take your case on a contingency fee basis, with no up-front charges. You don’t owe a fee until we win your case.