### The Honorable Henry L. Jones, Jr., United States Magistrate 1 

### Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas, to whom this case was submit ted by consent of the parties pursuant to 28 U.S.C
. § 636(c)(1) (1994). ___________ No. 95-3709

___________ Lisa Burnett, for Priscilla * Rogers, * * Appellant, * * Appeal from the United States v. * District Court for the * Eastern District of Arkansas. Shirley S. Chater, Commissioner * of the Social Security * [UNPUBLISHED] Administration, * * Appellee. *

___________ Submitted: April 11, 1996 Filed: July 9, 1996

___________ Before RICHARD S. ARNOLD, Chief Judge, BOWMAN an d WOLLMAN, Circuit Judges.

___________ PER CURIAM. Lisa Burnett filed a claim for social security benefits for her minor daughter, Priscilla Rogers, alleging that Rogers was disabled because of a left-eye impairment. The claim initially was denied by the Commissioner
. Burnett sought recons ideration of the decision, and an administrative law judge (ALJ) twice denied the claim. The appeals council affirmed the ALJ' s second decision to deny the claim. Burnett sought judicial review, and th e District Court affirmed the decision to deny benefits in its grant of 1

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summa ry judgment in favor of the Commissioner. We affirm the Distric t Court.
The Socia l Security Administration has adopted regulations that set out the process for evaluating a child's claim for disability benefits
. First, the child must not be engaged in substantial gainful activity. 20 C.F.R. § 416.924(c) (1995). Second, the child must have a sever e impairment. Id. § 416.924(d). Third, the impairment or combination o f impairments must either (1) meet or equal the severity of an impairmen t listed in 20 C.F.R. § 404 subpt. P app. 1, or (2) be of comparable severit y to an impairment or combination of impairments that would disable an adult
. Id. § 416.924(e),(f). The regulations define an impairment of comparable sev erity as one that so limits a child's "ability to functio n independently, appropriately, and effectively in an age-appropriate manner that [ the] impairment(s) and the limitations resulting from it ar e comparable to those which would disable an adult." Id. § 416.924(a). In this case, the ALJ found that Rogers is not engaged in subst antial gainful activity and that she suffers from severe impairments, specificall y dysthymia (depression or irritability) and oppositional disorder (recurren t pattern of hostile acts toward authority figures). The ALJ, however , speci fically stated that she did not have a severe impairment from he r vision problem. The ALJ also found that the impairments do not meet o r equa l the severity of a listed impairment nor are they of comparabl e severity t o impairments that would disable an adult. In this appeal , Burnett challenges only the ALJ's finding that Rogers's impairments are no t of comparable severity to impairments that would disable an adult.

A decisio n to deny social security benefits is reviewed under a defer ential standard. We will affirm the decision if the findings ar e supported by substantial evidence on the record as a whole. Reynolds v. Chater , 82 F.3d 254, 257 (8th Cir. 1996).

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"Substantial evidence is `such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind migh t acce pt as adequate to support a conclusion.'" Id. (quoting Smith v
. Shalala , 31 F.3d 715, 717 (8th Cir. 1994)). Having re viewed the record, we conclude that the ALJ's findings are supported by substant ial evidence. There is no doubt that Rogers has had a diffic ult life for someone so young, but the finding that she is no t disabled must be sustained. First, we note that the ALJ did not find that her vision impairment , the basis of her claim for disability benefits, is a severe impairment. Second, evidence in the re cord demonstrates that she fu nctions independently in an age-appropriate manner even though sh e suffers from other severe impairments. While her school work has suffered , Rog ers testified that she is frequently absent because she finds schoo l boring. In these circumstances, we have no basis for setting aside th e ALJ's finding that Ro gers's impairments are not of comparable severity to impai rments that would disable an adult. The judgment of the Distric t Court therefore is affirmed.
A true copy.

Attest:
CLERK, U. S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT.