To be eligible for SSDI benefits, your condition must make you unable to work for at least 12 months, and you must be unable to earn more than $1,180 a month (for 2018). You must also have a total of 40 work credits (20 of which must be earned in the decade before a disability arose).
The maximum amount of credits a person can earn in a year is four, one every three months. The minimum amount to earn for a work credit is $1,260. People who have worked for at least five of the last ten years with a record of paying into Social Security payroll taxes meet the technical qualifications for eligibility.