The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection as a helpless child, finding that the appellant was not permanently incapable of self-support by reason of physical or mental defect after his 18th birthday.
The deciding factor: The evidence showed that while the appellant had difficulty maintaining employment due to his mental health disorder and criminal history, he also demonstrated improvement with medication and awareness of the need for treatment. The clinical findings provided more probative weight than his subjective reports.
- Claimed conditions
- mental or physical defect
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 20, 2022
- Citation
- 22053375
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 22053375.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the appellant's claim for recognition as a helpless child due to lack of evidence showing she was permanently incapable of self-support by reason of mental or physical defect before her 18th birthday.
- Granted
The Veteran's daughter, S.P., was permanently incapable of self-support prior to attaining the age of 18 years due to mental and physical defects. The Board granted her recognition as a helpless child for VA purposes.
- Denied
The Board denied the appellant's claim for recognition of her son, A.E., as a helpless child due to insufficient evidence showing that he was permanently incapable of self-support by reason of mental or physical defect at age 18.
- Denied
The Veteran's stepson, D.M., was denied recognition as a helpless child due to the lack of evidence showing he was permanently incapable of self-support prior to his eighteenth birthday.
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