District Mental Health Program - Specific Learning Disability Certification [SLD disability certification] RPWD Act, 2016

Specific Learning Disability Certification [SLD disability certification] RPWD Act, 2016 Specific learning disability (SLD) is characterized by one or more significant impairments in acquisition of reading, spelling, or arithmetical skills, which are not the direct result of other disorders (such as mental retardation, gross neurological deficits, uncorrected visual or auditory problems, or emotional disturbances) or inadequate schooling. SLD assessments The child has to be brought at (minimum) least three times to the Child Guidance clinic Clinic for various assessments as per appointments given. These cannot be combined into a single session as this gets very taxing for the child and error/false reporting can occur. The dates of appointments for these testing are given by the Secretary in the child guidance Clinic and the entire procedure to be followed will be clearly explained by her to each parent. Appointment for assessment may be available after many months (there is a waiting period from 7 to 10 months) to get SLD assessment first appointment. It depends upon the waiting list numbers. Total duration to get the SLD disability certification is somewhere in the range of 9 to 15 months. The first appointment is given for child’s detailed clinical and neurological examination. (which takes about 30 minutes to be completed). The second appointment is for testing the child’s intellectual capacity (IQ testing). (which takes about 60-90 minutes to be completed). The third appointment is for the educational testing of the child. (which takes about 60-90 minutes to be completed). In general the accompanying parent would have to take a half-day off from work / other family responsibilities for each of the three appointments Generally it takes about three weeks from the date of appointment of SLD assessment; beginning from the time of the first assessment done in the Child Guidance clinic (namely, the child’s detailed clinical and neurological examination). The certificate will be issued to the parent(s) after a meeting with the Counselor in the Child Guidance Clinic who will explain the child’s diagnosis and how to help the child achieve his/her maximum potential. None of these examinations are painful or inconvenient to the child. The child need not be starving for any of these ‘tests’. Vision testing to be done by an Ophthalmologist (Eye Specialist). Hearing testing (Audiometry) to be done from an ENT Specialist and Eye test from Ophthalmologist may be required. Both the vision and hearing testing reports should be recent (done in the past 3 months) to be considered valid In recent years, awareness about SLD has increased manifolds due to media. Now there are standardized tests to assess the disability and it`s severity. The demand for SLD certificate has increased out of proportion; parents and teachers both want to avail advantages of the SLD certificates, irrespective of the child`s level of disability. The use of the certificate for deserving students is righteous. But in our country abuse of a facility is growing like a menace. Registering on swavlambancard.gov.in to get unique disability card Steps to follow: Fill the form provided on the website (swavlambancard.gov.in) Unique Disability ID, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India Upload all details with relevant pics/images reqd. Ensure that each image is less than 2MB. On submission of info, you get a receipt indicating name of authorised hospital. Visit the hospital with all original documents. On review of these documents, a medical /clinical test is done by the authorised medical practitioners in the hospital…. and they confim verification on the above website. Within 30 days, the e-copy of the UDID card is visible on the website …against your specific login. Take print of this e-copy…. IT is offical document and can be used for all relevant disability benefits /concessions. After 60–90 days, the plastic Disability card can be collected from the same hospital authorities.