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If you’re blind or have low vision
If you’re blind, Social Security has special rules
that allow you to receive benets when you are
unable to work.
We pay benets to people who are blind under 2
programs: the Social Security Disability Insurance
(SSDI) program and the Supplemental Security
Income (SSI) program. Although the medical
rules we use to decide whether you are blind
are the same for both programs, other rules are
different. We explain the different rules for each
program below.
You can get disability benets if
you’re blind
You may be eligible for SSDI benets or SSI
payments if you’re blind. We consider you to be
blind if your vision can’t be corrected to better
than 20/200 in your better eye. We also consider
you blind if your visual eld is 20 degrees or less
in your better eye for a period that lasted or is
expected to last at least 12 months. The duration
requirement does not apply for SSI payments.
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You can get disability benets even if
you’re not blind
If your vision doesn’t meet our denition of
blindness, you may still be eligible for disability
benets. This is true if your vision problems
alone, or combined with other health problems,
prevent you from working. For SSDI benets,
you must also have worked long enough in a
job where you paid Social Security taxes. For
SSI payments based on disability and blindness,
prior work is not required, but your income and
resources must be under certain dollar limits.
How you become eligible for Social
Security Disability Insurance benets
When you work and pay Social Security taxes,
you earn credits that count toward future SSDI
benets.
If you’re blind, you can earn credits anytime
during the years that you work. Credits for your
work after you become blind can be used to help
you become eligible for benets if you don’t have
enough credits at the time you become blind.
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If you don’t have enough credits to get SSDI
benets based on your earnings, you may be
able to get benets based on the earnings of a
parent or your spouse.
For more information about our disability benets,
read Disability Benets (Publication No. 05-
10029). This booklet also is available in Braille
and other formats.
Disability freeze
There is a special rule that may help you
eventually get higher retirement or disability
benets. We call this rule a “disability freeze.”
You can use this rule if you are blind but aren’t
getting disability benets now because you are
still working. If your earnings are lower because
of your blindness, we can exclude those years
when we calculate your Social Security retirement
or disability benet in the future. Because Social
Security benets are based on your average
lifetime earnings, your benet will be higher if we
don’t count those years. Contact us if you want to
le for this rule.
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You can get SSI payments
The SSI program is a needs-based program.
Your income and resources must be less than
certain dollar limits. The income limits vary
from one state to another. You need not have
worked under Social Security to qualify for SSI.
Ask your local Social Security ofce about the
income and resource limits in your state and read
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) (Publication
No. 05-11000). This booklet is also available in
Braille and other formats.
You can work while receiving benets
Work incentives make it easier for people
receiving disability benets to work.
People getting SSDI benets can continue to
receive their benets when they work, as long as
their earnings are not more than an amount set
by law.
If you’re receiving SSDI benets and you’re blind,
you can earn as much as $2,590 per month in
2024. This is higher than the earnings limit of
$1,550 per month that applies to workers with
disabilities who aren’t blind. The earnings limits
usually change each year.
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Additionally, if you’re blind and self-employed,
we don’t evaluate the time you spend working
in your business as we do for people who aren’t
blind. This means you can be working for your
business, but still receive disability benets. This
applies as long as your net prot averages $2,590
or less per month in 2024.
Work gured dierently
beginning at age 55
If you are age 55 or older and blind, we use
determination rules about work for you that are
different from the rules we use for people who
aren’t blind. Beginning at age 55, if your earnings
exceed $2,590 a month in 2024, benets are
suspended, but not terminated. This applies if the
work you’re doing requires a lower level of skill
and ability than what you did before you reached
55. We’ll pay you disability benets for any month
your earnings fall below this limit.
Different work incentives apply to people getting
SSI.
For more information about work incentives
for people who receive either SSDI or SSI,
read Working While Disabled — How We
Can Help (Publication No. 05-10095). This
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booklet is also available in Braille and other
formats. Additional information is available at
www.ssa.gov/redbook.
Special services for people who are
blind or have low vision
Some services and products are designed
specically for people who are blind or have low
vision.
Social Security notices
You can choose to receive notices from us in 1 of
the following ways:
• Standard print notice by rst-class mail.
• Standard print notice by certied mail.
• Standard print notice by rst-class mail and a
follow-up telephone call.
• Braille notice and a standard print notice by
rst-class mail.
• Microsoft Word le on a data compact disc
(CD) and a standard print notice by
rst-class mail.
• Audio CD and a standard print notice by rst-
class mail.
• Large print (18-point size) notice and a
standard print notice by rst-class mail.
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You have several options for choosing how you
want to receive notices from us:
• Visit our website at www.ssa.gov/people/blind
and follow the steps provided.
• Call us toll-free at 1-800-772-1213. If you are
deaf or hard of hearing, please call our TTY
number at 1-800-325-0778.
• Write or visit your local Social Security ofce.
If you have already requested notices in 1 of the 7
formats, but need us to provide a particular Social
Security document in another preferred format,
please let us know.
If you’d like to receive notices in another way,
please call us at 1-800-772-1213, or visit your
local Social Security ofce so we can begin
processing your request. If we’re unable to
approve your request, we’ll send you the reason
in writing and tell you how to appeal the decision.
If you have a question about a Social
Security notice, you may call us toll-free at
1-800-772-1213 to ask for the notice to be read or
explained to you.
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Publications available in
alternative formats
We make all our publications available in multiple
formats, including Braille, audio compact discs,
or enlarged print on request. Also, most of our
publications are available in audio format on our
website, www.ssa.gov/pubs.
To request copies of these publications in
alternative formats, you can:
• Go to our website
www.ssa.gov/pubs/braillerequest.htm,
to order online.
• Call us toll-free at 1-800-772-1213. If you are
deaf or hard of hearing, please call our TTY
number, 1-800-325-0778.
• Mail, call, or fax your request to the
Braille Services Branch at the Social
Security Administration:
— Mailing address:
Social Security Administration
Ofce of Printing and Alternative
Media Services
6401 Security Boulevard
Room 1305 Annex Building
Baltimore, MD 21235
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— Phone numbers:
410-965-6414
TTY number: 1-800-325-0778
Fax number: 410-965-6413
Please have the following information available
when you contact us:
• Title and publication number for the pamphlet
or fact sheet you want. Find copies of our
publications online at www.ssa.gov/pubs.
• Your preferred format (Braille, audio compact
disc, or enlarged print).
• Name, mailing address, and telephone number
for the person to whom we should send the
requested publication.
Contacting Us
There are several ways to contact us, such as
online, by phone, and in person. We’re here to
answer your questions and to serve you. For
nearly 90 years, we have helped secure today
and tomorrow by providing benets and nancial
protection for millions of people throughout their
life’s journey.
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Visit our website
The most convenient way to conduct business
with us is online at www.ssa.gov. You can
accomplish a lot.
• Apply for Extra Help with Medicare prescription
drug plan costs.
• Apply for most types of benets.
• Start or complete your request for an original or
replacement Social Security card.
• Find copies of our publications.
• Get answers to frequently asked questions.
When you create a personal my Social Security
account, you can do even more.
• Review your Social Security Statement.
• Verify your earnings.
• Get estimates of future benets.
• Print a benet verication letter.
• Change your direct deposit information (Social
Security beneciaries only).
• Get a replacement SSA-1099/1042S.
Access to your personal my Social Security
account may be limited for users outside the
United States.
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Call us
If you cannot use our online services, we can help
you by phone when you call our National toll-free
800 Number. We provide free interpreter services
upon request.
You can call us at 1-800-772-1213 — or at our
TTY number, 1-800-325-0778, if you’re deaf or
hard of hearing — between 8:00 a.m. – 7:00
p.m., Monday through Friday. For quicker access
to a representative, try calling early in the day
(between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. local time) or
later in the day. We are less busy later in the
week (Wednesday to Friday) and later in the
month. We also offer many automated telephone
services, available 24 hours a day, so you may
not need to speak with a representative.
If you have documents we need to see, they
must be original or copies that are certied by the
issuing agency.
Visit us
If you are unable to conduct your business either
online or using the phone, you can visit one of our
ofces. Ofces are busiest Mondays, the morning
after a federal holiday, and the 1st week of the
month. If you come to an ofce, we may not be
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able to serve you that day. We may schedule
an appointment or phone call for a different day.
You can use our check-in kiosk that provides the
following accessible features:
• Standardized cabinetry (meeting specic height
and width requirements).
• Audio headphone jack sockets.
• Accessible keypads.
• Built-in thermal printers and ticket dispensers.
• Enhanced 508-compatible check-in software.
• Touchscreen monitors with integrated privacy
lters.
• Instructions in braille outlining the process to
report any accessibility problems.
• Integrated braille instructions for how to use
the kiosk.
Notes:
Notes:
Social Security Administration | Publication No. 05-10052
May 2024 (Recycle prior editions)
If You’re Blind or Have Low Vision — How We Can Help
Produced and published at U.S. taxpayer expense
