Adult dyslexia tests to be developed within 3 years: NIMHANS tells Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on April 15 disposed of a plea seeking the development of proper testing methods for diagnosing dyslexia in adults after being informed by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) that such tools would be developed within three years [N Sai Balaji vs. Union of India & Ors.]. .A Bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Manmohan recorded the assurance given by NIMHANS and said that the petitioner would be at liberty to revive the proceedings if no progress is made in developing adult dyslexia assessment tools within the stipulated period..The petitioner, a Ph.D. scholar suffering from Dyslexia, had approached the Court seeking multiple directions relating to identification, assessment and certification of specific learning disabilities.The Court noted that several of the reliefs originally sought in the petition had become infructuous after the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment issued revised guidelines on March 12, 2024. However, the surviving grievance was that the steps prescribed under the new guidelines for determining dyslexia were limited to children and were not designed to deal with adults.Taking note of this, the Court had earlier directed NIMHANS to inform it about the research and advancements made so far in developing testing methods to diagnose dyslexia in adults..Pursuant to that direction, NIMHANS filed an affidavit enclosing a concept note on the development of national norms for assessing reading, writing, arithmetic and related cognitive processes. The institute acknowledged that the tests presently prescribed were limited to assessing specific learning disabilities among children. At the same time, it informed the Court that research aimed at developing suitable testing tools for adults was underway and that the required tests were expected to be developed and published within approximately three years..The Bench noted that despite the lack of adult-specific testing tools, the petitioner’s progress - having successfully obtained a Ph.D. degree - suggested his disability had not hampered his academic progress.Consequently, the Court deemed it appropriate to close the proceedings based on the institutional commitment from NIMHANS. It however, left a window for future intervention. "In case there is no development in that regard in the next 3 years, it shall be open for the petitioner to seek for revival of these proceedings." it noted. .The petitioner was represented by advocates Govind Manoharan and A Karthik.The Centre and other respondents were represented by Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati along with advocates Arun Kanwa, BLN Shivani, Adarsh Kumar Pandey, Jagdish Chandra, Raman Yadav, N Visakamurthy, Poornima Singh, Shreya Jain, Vaijayanthi Girish, Girish Ananthamurthy and Amrish Kumar..[Read Order].N Sai Balaji vs. Union of India & Ors.