In 2016, MDF’s Warmline received many phone calls from MDF community members who struggled to complete the application process for federal and state disability benefits, and who needed guidance on how to navigate the complex application process.

To help meet the needs of MDF families who are applying for U.S. disability benefits, MDF is releasing our newest community resource, "Applying for Social Security Disability Benefits", a new toolkit created to help individuals and families understand the process of applying for Social Security Administration (SSA) disability benefits.

The new toolkit was designed to assist individuals affected by myotonic dystrophy in navigating the application process for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. The Social Security Administration (SSA) oversees both the SSDI and SSI benefit programs, and is the largest of several federal agencies that provide assistance to people with disabilities.

"Many members of the myotonic dystrophy community have indicated that they found the disability claims process to be confusing and tedious, so we prepared the toolkit to make the process much easier for the MDF community to navigate," said Paul Formaker, Program Director at MDF.

The "Applying for Social Security Disability Benefits", is available online, and print versions of the resource are also available by request via email or phone 415-800-7777.