The Veteran's daughter is found to meet the criteria of a 'helpless child' due to her significant mental and physical disabilities, which have not improved since birth. The claim for recognition as a helpless child is granted.
The deciding factor: The evidence demonstrates that the Veteran’s daughter has suffered from significant mental and physical disabilities since birth, including seizures, asthma, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, esophagitis, ulcers, and epilepsy with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. The state court appointed her legal guardian until July 2050 when she turned 18, and SSA continued to find her disabled.
- Claimed conditions
- seizure disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, esophagitis, ulcers, chronic neurologic condition (including seizures, mental impairment, relative lack of speech, and epilepsy with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome), encephalopathy, developmental delays, attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity, epilepsy, lupus, hiccoughs
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 29, 2019
- Citation
- 19158483
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 19158483.
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.
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- Partly granted
The Board granted an earlier effective date of October 1, 2021, for service connection for migraine headaches and seizure disorder but denied the same for PTSD with TBI.
- Partly granted
The Board dismissed the appeal for service connection for a mental health condition and denied service connection for an eye condition. The claims for autoimmune limbic encephalitis with non-paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis (NPLE) with GAD65 antibodies and dystonia and dystonic tremor were remanded.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral macular hemorrhage, resolving all doubt in the Veteran's favor. The claims for other disabilities were remanded for further development.
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