What turns 18: the services cliff, and what's supposed to replace it

Turning 18 is a quiet cliff edge in how much support is actually available. Free inclusive education under the RPWD Act ends. School-based therapy stops unless a family funds it privately. An Individualized Education Plan, and the transition planning that's supposed to accompany it, mostly doesn't exist as a real mechanism in Indian schools. And a parent's legal authority to give medical consent on their child's behalf ends automatically, whether or not anyone planned for that moment.

What's meant to replace all of this: a 5% higher education reservation, the 4% employment quota, and National Trust programmes like Vikaas (day care) and Samarth (respite care). In practice, these programmes are chronically underfunded and unevenly available, and most families find the handoff far less structured than the policy on paper suggests.

The single most useful thing to do ahead of this date, not after it: start the Limited Guardianship application before your child turns 18, not once a hospital or bank is already refusing to act on your word. The process runs through a District Court or a Local Level Committee under the National Trust Act, and it takes real time — starting early is what actually prevents the gap from being felt.