Is ADHD a Disability? ADA and SSDI Benefit Qualifications - NerdWallet (2024)

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) if it meets the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) definition of a disability. However, the SSA does not publish specific criteria for disability benefits for ADHD. Instead you must prove your condition meets the general qualification requirements.

The SSA doesn’t provide a mathematical way to measure someone's physical and mental abilities in light of an ADHD diagnosis. Instead, it says you must experience a “marked limitation” — falling between a "moderate limitation" and an "extreme limitation."

Physical limitations

The SSA looks at whether the condition consistently affects your ability to start, maintain and finish physical tasks on your own at work. The SSA defines physical activities as ones that require motor abilities, such as standing up from a chair, using your arms to grip or lift objects, keeping your balance when standing or walking and even bodily functions such as swallowing.

Mental limitations

The SSA evaluates how limited you are in working independently, appropriately for your workspace and effectively given your job responsibilities. It also considers how well you can sustain that level of work.

The four areas of mental functioning the SSA evaluates for SSDI include:

Continued symptoms

Ongoing treatment

The SSA also requires proof that you have tried to treat your ADHD without major success or that you rely on additional support. You will need to show that you gave treatment a chance to work.

Examples of workplace accommodations for ADHD may include:

When it comes to ADHD, “there is a spectrum of symptoms,” says Howard Pratt, the medical director of psychiatric services at Community Health of South Florida.

Not everyone experiences ADHD in the same way, and that’s part of what makes the condition difficult to diagnose.

“There are no biological tests for it,” says Zoe Martinez, lead psychiatrist at Done, a telehealth company specializing in ADHD treatment. “It really is a clinical diagnosis.”

Because a physician can’t run a straightforward test to confirm someone has ADHD, they have to consider what symptoms a patient presents and how they affect their life. A psychiatrist will need to rely on additional sources to confirm a diagnosis, Pratt says. They might review records such as job evaluations or report cards to better understand how the person has struggled with certain tasks.

“The key is really ruling out other things,” Pratt says. “As far as the diagnosis, it is very difficult.”

Inattention is a permanent hallmark of ADHD. “People don’t outgrow that,” Martinez says. Adults with ADHD are also likely to struggle focusing on tasks, completing activities and ignoring distractions.

These symptoms can make a job feel overwhelming. Martinez says an increase in work responsibilities commonly worsen her patients’ symptoms. Managing others, juggling more tasks and going to more meetings makes it difficult for them to function in their jobs.

To supervisors, this can seem “like they’re not paying attention or that they don’t care,” Martinez says. “And that’s not true. It’s just that the tasks become too challenging.”

Children will have the same symptoms but are likely to exhibit more impulsive behavior such as finding it difficult to take turns or wait for others to finish a task, according to Martinez. These symptoms can cause issues in school in the same way they can affect adults in the workplace.