Kids with learning disabilities: Paediatricians seek guidelines

Updated on: Monday, November 21, 2011

Paediatricians and child development experts pitched the need for a specific legislation and guidelines which provide for identification, care, development and welfare of kids with learning disabilities.

They said most of such children can be brought into the mainstream of education and society, if proper, corrective and timely intervention is provided to the children, specially under the age of seven.

Though the Right to Education (RTE) provides for the rights of persons with disabilities, however, the person with Disability Act does not cover learning disability.

Thus, there is need for creating legislation for children with learning disability, they said.

Inaugurating a seminar, Director General of Health Services Dr R K Srivastava said that children with learning disabilities are visible at pre-primary and primary stages in schools in the form of drop-outs and under-achievers.

"There is invisible untouchability among the professionals which needs to be corrected. They may see a child and not follow him. They have to adopt a personal approach to a child which is passing through difficult time through his formative years," he said.

Aggarwal said Indian Association of Paediatricians recommended that there should be changes in the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 (PWD) so as to include children with learning disabilities.

The Disability Boards constituted by the Government must include Paediatricians, Psychiatrics, Special Educators and Psychologists, he said.

Kids with learning disabilities: Paediatricians seek guidelines

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