No diagnosis, no approval

THE Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD) is reminding the public that it does not have the authority to independently determine or diagnose whether a person has a disability. The council says disabilities must first be named and certified by a medical professional or other appropriately licensed expert before an application for approval or registration with the council can be approved. The reminder comes against the backdrop of reports from individuals who believe they’ve been denied access to the JCPD’s registry because the council could not identify their disability and where it falls on its list of disabilities.

Adrienne Pinnock, manager for corporate communications and public relations at the JCPD, clarified that all disabilities must be named by a field expert and not a member of the council or the individual seeking to be registered. She explained that the registration process has two main elements, the medical eligibility form and the person information form, both of which must be completed and submitted by the relevant personnel. “Once those things are in place, your documentation is authentic, your identification information is authentic, and the disability is named, then that application translates into confirmation to the registry...but what is most important is that an impairment, permanent in its state, is verified by a licensed practitioner; that is what enables conversion to the registry.

The JCPD, in practice and in principle, does not have the authority to dictate or to say whether an individual has a disability or not,” said Pinnock. “It’s the licensed practitioner of the area that is the only person who has the skills and the authority to name and verify said disability, even for disabilities that are visible,” she told the Jamaica Observer. Pointing to the Disabilities Act, she said the definition of a disability speaks to “an individual having any long-term physical, mental or sensory impairment that may hinder his or her full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others”.

She said while the Act categorises certain impairments such as physical disabilities, medical conditions that may result in varying permanent disabilities and are named by a medial practitioner can be approved, for example, if a diabetic patient has his or her leg amputated. She further explained that intellectual disabilities a…