4.2 Google RatedWe are Pekas Smith: Arizona Disability Attorneys, serving clients statewide as SSDI lawyers helping people secure and maintain disability benefits for blindness, vision loss, or low vision.
You may be entitled to disability payments based on your vision. Pekas Smith Disability lawyers specializing in blindness can provide knowledgeable guidance to help you navigate the complexities of the disability application process. Applying on your own may be difficult, but our lawyers can guide you through the process, increasing your chance of success.
Call or message us now for a free consultation to discuss your situation and explore how we can help you today.
SSDI for Blindness: Eligibility and Benefits
Qualifying for SSDI Benefits
Blindness or low vision can qualify for SSDI payments if your condition significantly impairs your ability to work. Eligibility is assessed based on central vision acuity, visual field limitations, or other visual impairments.
Key Details About Disability Benefits for Blindness
In general, you can qualify for disability if you have an impairment that prevents you from working and qualifying for work credits. The impairment must last or be expected to last for at least 12 months or result in death.
If the impairment is blindness, it is treated differently from other disabilities for SSDI. Special rules apply to disabilities based on blindness, which is statutorily defined. However, total blindness isn’t required; low vision or partial blindness may also qualify for benefits.
- The standard for what counts as substantial gainful activity is higher for blind workers than other workers, making it easier for you to qualify for benefits.
- If you are able to work while blind, your lower earnings may be excluded from a calculation of benefits in a disability freeze.
- The amount of income you can earn and still qualify for benefits is higher if you are blind.
- SSDI for blindness does not depend on your assets. It is based on your medical condition, ability to work, and work history.
Our blindness disability lawyer in AZ can represent you to ensure you receive the benefits you are entitled to.
How to Apply
To apply for benefits, you must submit medical evidence proving your impairment. You must show that you have qualifying blindness or a combination of vision loss and other impairments that prevent you from working. You must show that the condition has lasted or is expected to last 12 months or more or result in death. In addition, you must have qualifying work credits.
Defining Blindness
Social Security Act Definition of Blindness
The Social Security Act considers you to be legally blind for the purposes of eligibility for disability insurance benefits if you are determined to be statutorily blind. Statutory blindness is defined as central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with the use of a corrective lens. Alternatively, an eye with a limited visual field of 20 degrees or less is also considered to be blind.
Social Security evaluates disability for blindness underSSD Blue Book Section 2.00—Special Senses and Speech, which includes either a loss of central visual acuity and visual field diameter.
You may qualify for disability by meeting either of these definitions or by medically equaling other standards of visual impairment. If you qualify by equaling other standards, you are not considered statutorily blind. A Pekas Smith blindness disability lawyer in AZ can help you better understand specific standards and qualifications.
Providing Evidence of Blindness
In order to present a strong case for SSDI benefits for statutory blindness, you will need to provide medical evidence to support your claim. This includes documentation (medical records and evaluations) from an ophthalmologist or optometrist detailing your visual impairment, such as visual acuity test results, visual field test results, and any other relevant diagnostic tests. Disability Determination Services evaluates claims with this evidence.
Additionally, you may need to provide information about how your blindness affects your ability to work, such as limitations on performing certain tasks or activities due to your visual impairment.
It is important to be thorough and detailed when submitting evidence for SSDI benefits for blindness, as this will help to strengthen your case and improve your chances of receiving the financial support you need. Working with an expert blindness SSDI lawyer can also be beneficial in navigating the application process and ensuring that you provide the necessary evidence to support your claim for SSDI benefits.
In the case of statutory blindness, you don’t need to present evidence of the cause of blindness.
However, for other visual disorders, you must present an eye examination confirming best-corrected central visual acuity to vision fields, and you must document the cause of the loss. If a standard eye examination doesn’t explain the cause of vision loss, you must present additional information. A qualified blindness disability lawyer in AZ can help you gather evidence and present your case.
Qualifying with Partial Vision Loss
Vision loss qualifies for disability if the person’s vision can’t be corrected to 20/200 in the better eye. Alternatively, a vision field lower than 20 degrees that is expected to last one year or more qualifies as low vision for disability.
Note: Even if you don’t qualify based on blindness or low eyesight alone, you may qualify if a combination of impairments keeps you from working.
Types of Visual Impairment
Blindness is severe or complete vision impairment. Types of eye problems that may qualify for disability are:
- Cataracts: Cloudiness, fogginess, or loss of transparency on the eye lens
- Glaucoma: Damage to the optic nerve and retinal nerve, causing slow loss of vision
- Diabetic retinopathy: Damage to the retina because of type 1 or type 2 diabetes
- Lazy eye: Where the brain doesn’t fully process information from one eye
- Congenital blindness: Blindness from birth
- Retinitis pigmentosa: Genetic disease that may impair peripheral vision
- Retinal damage and diseases: Including retinal detachment and macular hole
- Choroideremia: May cause progressive vision loss, mostly affecting males
If you are undergoing treatment for vision-related conditions, you must demonstrate that blindness persists despite treatment, including medication and corrective lenses.
Disability Lawyers for the Blind and Low Vision
A blindness disability lawyer in AZ can assist you with the following:
- Evaluating your impairment and how to qualify for benefits based on blindness
- Gathering medical evidence to make your application complete
- Knowing the special disability rules based on blindness and how they affect your situation
- Understanding how work may impact your benefits
- Legal guidance and answering your questions
- Completing your application
- Avoiding mistakes that can delay or deny your claim
- Responding to requests for more information
- Taking steps to make the application process efficient
- Representing you at a hearing and appeals, if necessary
We are an experienced team of professionals who can fully represent you in seeking blindness SSDI benefits. Contact us now for your free consultation and to start your case.
SSDI Benefits for the Blind – Get Legal Help
Pekas Smith: Arizona Disability Attorneys are legal advocates for SSDI benefits for the blind.
Contact our SSDI lawyers for the blind or low vision today at 602.962.2818 or useour online form
Frequently Asked Questions About SSDI for Blindness
Do you qualify for disability if you are blind in one eye?
Usually, blindness evaluations are based on the better eye. This makes it difficult to qualify for disability if you are blind in one eye. However, you may qualify based on a combination of impairments. Disability Determination Services will ultimately decide on your claim based on the supporting evidence provided.
How much income can a blind person get and still qualify for SSDI?
In 2025, a blind person can earn up to $2,700 per month and still receive SSDI benefits. For other people, the earnings limit is only $1,620 per month. These limits usually change each year.
Are there special considerations for veterans?
Veterans with blindness may access additional health care benefits and community resources, and a qualified attorney can ensure these align with SSDI benefits.
Can a disability insurance attorney help with appeals?
Yes. A blindness disability lawyer in AZ can represent you before an Administrative Law Judge or in lawsuits, including at the United States District Court level, ensuring proper handling of medical records, nursing evaluations, and legal strategy.
What is the difference between benefits available for blindness through SSDI and SSI?
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) provides payments based on your work history and payroll tax contributions, while Supplemental Security Income (SSI) offers support for low-income individuals. Both programs can include health care benefits like Medicare or Medicaid as part of the insurance policy for qualified recipients.
Can I receive SSDI and unemployment benefits simultaneously?
It is very unlikely that you would be able to receive unemployment benefits and SSDI simultaneously. Typically, SSDI is for those unable to work due to blindness, while unemployment benefits require being ready, willing, and able to work. Further discussion on this matter is best reserved for the disability attorneys at Pekas Smith.
Does needing glasses disqualify me from SSDI?
Glasses do not impact eligibility unless they correct your vision, allowing you to perform work. The Social Security Administration evaluates visual impairments based on acuity and field angles, looking at your best vision with correction, including the use of glasses and/or contacts.
What legal costs are involved?
Attorney fees for a blindness disability lawyer in AZ are regulated and often deducted from back pay. Speak with a disability insurance attorney at Pekas Smith for specific details.
