The Veteran's son, T.J., is recognized as a helpless child due to his permanent incapacity for self-support prior to reaching the age of 18, which was established by evidence showing significant developmental and cognitive impairments.
The deciding factor: T.J. demonstrated significant social and cognitive impairments from an early age that rendered him incapable of sustaining employment or independent living.
- Claimed conditions
- Autism, Mental Retardation
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19130128
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,446 · Granted: 21% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 19130128.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's adult child, L., was added to his VA compensation award as a dependent on the basis of permanent incapacity for self-support prior to attaining the age of 18. The Board denied an earlier effective date due to lack of claim within one year of L.'s eighteenth birthday.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for permanent incapacity for self-support for his child, S.C., dated on October 8, 2015, is granted with an effective date of October 8, 2015.
- Granted
The Veteran's son, O.M., is recognized as a helpless child due to his permanent incapacity for self-support prior to reaching the age of 18, primarily attributed to autism and Asperger's Syndrome.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for recognition of his son, R.W. III, as an adult dependent due to permanent incapacity for self-support prior to age 18 based on evidence showing he was permanently incapable of self-support by reason of mental or physical defects prior to reaching the age of 18.
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