Body system 102.00 in the SSA Blue Book covers vision, hearing, and speech disorders for children (Part B). SSA uses these listings at step 3 of its five-step disability evaluation. If your medical evidence meets one of the listings on this page, your claim is approved without the disability examiner moving on to past-work and labor-market analysis at steps 4 and 5.
Most claimants who do not meet a listing in this body system can still be approved at later steps based on their residual functional capacity, age, education, and past work. The medical evidence you build for a listing-match argument is the same evidence those later steps rely on, so the listing criteria are useful to read even when a claim looks like a step-5 approval candidate.
Body system code
102.00
Part B (children)
Active listings
5
Specific impairments
Audience
Children under 18
SSA disability evaluation
Step in evaluation
3 of 5
Listing match approves the claim
Active listings under 102.00
Every listing below has current SSA-published criteria. Codes that SSA reserved for future use or has withdrawn since 1985 are not included. Click a listing where a plain-English breakdown is available, or follow the regulation link for SSA's exact text.
| Code | Listing | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| 102.02 | Loss of central visual acuity | ssa.gov |
| 102.03 | Contraction of the visual field in the better eye, with | ssa.gov |
| 102.04 | Loss ofvisual efficiency, or visual impairment, in the better eye | ssa.gov |
| 102.10 | Hearing loss not treated with cochlear implantation | ssa.gov |
| 102.11 | Hearing loss treated with cochlear implantation | ssa.gov |
Source: SSA Blue Book, body system 102.00. Last synced 2026-05-04.
How SSA describes this body system
Excerpted from SSA's regulatory introduction at the top of the body-system page. Full text and all subsection cross-references live on ssa.gov.
Special Senses and Speech A. How do we evaluate visual disorders? 1. What are visual disorders? Visual disorders are abnormalities of the eye, the optic nerve, the optic tracts, or the brain that may cause a loss of visual acuity or visual fields. A loss of visual acuity limits your ability to distinguish detail, read, do fine work, or perform other age-appropriate activities. A loss of visual fields limits your ability to perceive visual stimuli in the peripheral extent of vision. 2. How do we define statutory blindness? Statutory blindness is blindness as defined in sections 216(i)(1) and 1614(a)(2) of the Social Security Act (Act). a. The Act defines blindness as central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with the use of a correcting lens. We use your best-corrected central visual acuity for distance in the better eye when we determine if this definition is met. (For visual acuity testing requirements, see 102.00A5 .) b. The Act also provides that an eye that has a visual field limitation such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees is considered as having a central visual acuity of 20/200 or less. (For visual field testing requirements, see 102.00A6 .) c. You have statutory blindness only if your visual disorder meets the criteria of 102.02A , 102.02B , or 102.03A . You do not have statutory blindness if your ...
Read the full text on the SSA Blue Book 102.00 page.
What happens during a claim under 102.00
The disability examiner assigned to your claim looks for medical records that match the lettered criteria of one of the listings above. The examiner does not diagnose you and does not weigh symptoms in isolation. They line up the listing's required findings against your records and decide whether the records contain enough to satisfy the listing as written.
If your records meet a listing, the claim is approved at step 3. If not, the examiner moves on to evaluating your residual functional capacity (RFC) at steps 4 and 5. RFC is a description of what work activity you can still do despite your impairments. The listings inform the RFC because the same medical evidence the listings ask for is the evidence the examiner uses to write the RFC. The disability overview walks through the full five-step evaluation in plain English.
Work activity, SGA, and the SSDI gate
A claim under any Blue Book listing is denied at step 1 if you are working at or above the substantial gainful activity threshold. SGA is the monthly earnings test SSA applies before any medical evaluation. Earning above SGA in countable work activity means SSA never reaches the listings on this page. Earning below SGA, or being out of work entirely, lets the medical evaluation proceed.
Once you are approved and receiving SSDI, the trial work period and extended period of eligibility apply differently than at the initial-application stage. Both are explained on the SGA amount page with year-by-year thresholds since 1975.
Adult listings for the same body system
SSA publishes a parallel body system at 2.00 for the adult (18 and over) side of the same conditions. Many listings cross over with tighter functional thresholds for the children's version. The Special senses and speech page covers the 7 active listings on that side.