Listing 2.09
Loss of speech
This listing covers total loss of usable speech from any cause.
Read the full plain-language explanation
SSA looks at whether you can produce speech that others can hear, understand, and sustain — by any means, including mechanical or electronic devices that help with voice or articulation. If a device lets you speak understandably, you do not meet this listing.
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What Listing 2.09 asks for
What SSA looks for — see the 1 items
We will check your records against each of these. Every item comes straight from SSA's own listing.
- You cannot produce speech that can be heard, understood, or kept up — even with helpful devices like an electrolarynx.
- The cause of the speech loss does not matter.
- This is the only requirement.
Read the original wording
You cannot produce speech that can be heard, understood, or kept up — even with helpful devices like an electrolarynx. The cause of the speech loss does not matter. This is the only requirement.
(Listing 2.09, criterion A)
How long it must last:
The impairment must have lasted or be expected to last at least 12 months (general duration requirement; no listing-specific duration stated).