The Instructions for Social Services Involving Special Education Services
Many medical officers typically perform cost assessments. Instead, the authorities require medical officers to qualitatively assess whether applicants who require special education services might be medically inadmissible. This would usually be the case when the applicants have health conditions that the medical officers might reasonably expect would place an excessive demand on various health and social services.
Such qualitative assessments would typically need to take into account diagnostic and behavioural indicators compared to the baseline education needs of other students. Medical officers would need to incorporate various quantitative indicators as well (if available). Situations could arise where medical officers determine that certain health conditions involve excessive demand. In this scenario, they would need to follow the guidelines on procedural fairness that follow.
It is worth highlighting that applicants requiring special education services could include school-aged children diagnosed with:
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Autism or autism spectrum disorder
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Deafness
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Legal blindness
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An intellectual disability or,
- A significant behaviour or psychiatric disorder that could make the placement of the afflicted in a regular classroom setting a danger to them or to others