Indian RPWD-2016: How a person having intellectual disability but not autism is categorised? or an autistic person with not intellectual disability
<p><a href="http://disabilityaffairs.gov.in/content/page/acts.php" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Indian RPWD-2016</a> removes the term <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5419007/#:%7E:text=The%20nomenclature%20mental%20retardation%20is,social%20and%20practical%20skills%20including" rel="nofollow noreferrer">&quot;Mental retardation&quot;</a>, and introduces the term Intellectual disability.</p>
<p>However, this act classifies the term intellectual disability into</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Specific learning disability (Dyslexia, Dysgraphia etc).</p>
</li>
<li><p>Autism spectrum disorder.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>Now this is, extremely confusing because not all intellectually disabled are autistics, nor all autistics are intellectually disabled. Although the 2 conditions have blurred boundary; they are not the same thing (<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6683759/#:%7E:text=Whereas%20ID%20is%20associated%20with,communication%20deficits%20are%20particularly%20impairing." rel="nofollow noreferrer">Audre Thurm et al</a>, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27558812/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Pedersen et al.</a> ).</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_disability" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Intellectual disability</a> is characterised by lack of intellectual capabilities especially low IQ.</p>
</li>
<li><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Autism</a> and its <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_spectrum" rel="nofollow noreferrer">spectrum</a> is mostly an impairment of social understanding and having restricted interests. Many autistics are highly intelligent, but have trouble social interaction and day to day executive function.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Not all autistics are intellectually disabled.</p>
<p>Not all intellectually disabled are autistic (not Specific learning disorder too).</p>
<p>So my question is in which form or terminology the Indian government is certifying and categorising these 2 categories?</p>
<p>I have crawled the web but didn't found answer.</p>

<p>The <a href="https://legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/A2016-49_1.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Act</a> contains in the schedule the definitions it uses:</p>
<blockquote>
<ol start="2">
<li>Intellectual disability, a condition characterised by significant limitation both in intellectual
functioning (rasoning, learning, problem solving) and in adaptive behaviour which covers a range of
every day, social and practical skills, including—</li>
</ol>
<p>(a) “specific learning disabilities” means a heterogeneous group of conditions wherein there is a
deficit in processing language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself as a difficulty to
comprehend, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations and includes such
conditions as perceptual disabilities, dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia and developmental
aphasia;</p>
<p>(b) “autism spectrum disorder” means a neuro-developmental condition typically appearing in the
first three years of life that significantly affects a person's ability to communicate, understand
relationships and relate to others, and is frequently associated with unusal or stereotypical rituals or
behaviours.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You cannot apply academic or every-day understanding to legal classifications if the law provides otherwise, even if the definition or term used seems unclear or contradictory.</p>
<p>Additionally, the specified schedule is used for the particular purpose of classifying and evaluating specified disabilities. It means that people with the specified conditions can be evaluated for their disabilities.</p>
<p>You can find the guidelines <a href="http://disabilityaffairs.gov.in/content/page/guidelines.php" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>. The guideline for evaluation of autism explicitly mentions that it &quot;may or may
not be accompanied by intellectual impairment&quot;.</p>

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