How to apply:

1. Visit your family physician or a medical specialist within 3 months prior to submitting the application. This way, the doctor will have an appropriate overview of your child's health. Before submitting the application, inform the doctor so that they can compile and enter the necessary medical history into the Health Information System in time.
2. Fill in the examination application; the form is available at the customer service of the Social Insurance Board of your place of residence or on the website of the Social Insurance Board – on the website of the Social Insurance Board.
3. You can take the filled-in application to the Social Insurance Board, send it by mail, or email a digitally signed copy. The necessary contact information can be found on the website of the Social Insurance Board.

After submitting the application:

1. Be patient, the examination of a degree of severity of disability usually takes up to 1.5 months. Your household does not lose any money even if the examination takes a long time, as the allowance is also paid retroactively.
2. The Social Insurance Board communicates with the doctor provided in the application and they will send the documents assessing the child’s state of health back to the Social Insurance Board. You can get information about the course and result of the procedure from the Social Insurance Board.
3. The degree of severity of disability is determined based on documents – examination application and description of the state of health. Neither you nor your child will meet the people who carry out the examination! It is important to consider and write down in the application the additional costs your child has that their peers do not have with relation to supporting their development, their health and care.
4. The Social Insurance Board makes a decision on the basis of the degree of severity of disability, and also notifies the doctor who prepared the description of the state of health.
5. The Social Insurance Board shall formalise the decision on the degree of severity of disability in writing within 15 working days as of the date of making the decision.

What does the determined degree of severity of disability entail?
If your child is determined to have a profound, severe or moderate disability, you are entitled to apply for various benefits, services and aids for disabled persons. You can also request an allowance and disabled person’s card for your disabled child on the application to determine disability. When the degree of severity of disability is determined for a child, the disabled child allowance is also assigned retroactively from the date the examination application was submitted. Once a disability decision has been made, you can apply for social rehabilitation service for your child, if needed. All disabled children can apply for rehabilitation services, but only those children for whom the Social Insurance Board identifies the need for rehabilitation services can receive the service.

Disabled person's card
If disability has been determined for a child, they receive a disabled person’s card. You do not have to apply for the card separately; indicating that you would like the card on the application for determining disability is enough. A disabled person’s card proves the child’s right to certain benefits. The card is valid together with an identity document, which for schoolchildren can be a student card.

What happens when you are not happy with the decision?
If you feel like the examination decision was not correct, you are entitled to submit an appeal within 30 days as from receiving the decision to the appeal committee of the Social Insurance Board. Your appeal must give reasons as to why you do not agree to the decision. You can find more detailed instructions for preparing an appeal on the website of the Social Insurance Board.

Social Insurance Board's Fundamental Practices for Determining Disability in Children (2021) (in Estonian)