After helping you complete your application, the Social Security office will review it to see if you meet the basic requirements for disability benefits. They will look at whether you have worked long enough and recently enough, your age and, if you are applying for benefits as a family member, and your relationship to the worker.
The office then will send your application to the Disability Determination Services (DDS) office in your state. The DDS will decide whether you are disabled under the Social Security law.
The rules for determining disability are different from the disability rules in other government and private programs.