Balin Law Takes Child’s Disability Case to Federal Court

Wanglee came to Balin Law looking for options to help her six-year-old son who has speech problems and an IEP in school. Her son suffers from sensory dysfunction and a speech-language expressive disorder, which are neurological motor speech disorders. He has a very limited vocabulary as a result.

Wanglee and her son have been dealing with these sensory delays since he was born, but there was a noticeable drop off in his speech development in 2012. These disorders frustrate her son because they make it difficult to interact with kids his own age and he is too young to understand the nature of his health issues. 

Filing for disability benefits to help her son

Wanglee first applied for disability benefits for her son back in 2011. It was denied at the initial level of review with the Social Security Administration (SSA). She appealed and then it was denied at the reconsideration level of review with SSA. Balin Law got involved and Attorney Mira Chopra attended a hearing in front of an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) who denied the case a third time in a March 2014 decision.

Balin Law then appealed to the SSA’s Appeals Council, which is the highest level of administrative review. The Appeals Council denied the case a fourth time in September 2015.

We told Wanglee we would not give up on her or her son. 

We filed in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio in November 2015. After reading Balin Law’s opening brief, the attorneys for the SSA agreed to voluntarily remand the matter back to the ALJ for a new hearing. In March 2017, the Appeals Council told us they had an independent doctor review the case and were willing to find her child disabled without the need for a new hearing. That is extremely rare and happens in less than 2% of appellate cases. This meant Wanglee and her son finally had a favorable decision after all of the denials.

Winning disability benefits

Even though it was a long ride, we are so thrilled to have helped Wanglee and her son. “Working with Balin Law was great. I really have no complaints,” said Wanglee. “I would definitely recommend Balin Law. They really do the work required to win and don’t give up on their clients.” -Wanglee, Balin Law Client