Terms
The terms on which I work with families, schools and organisations, in plain English. They take about four minutes to read.
Who you are dealing with
I am Rukmani Vishwanathan, an independent Child Learning & Development Specialist based in Chennai, India. I work alone. In these terms, "I" means me, and "you" means the parent, guardian, school or organisation engaging me.
What the work is, and what it isn't
I work on the how of learning: attention, working memory, self-regulation, sensory grounding, and the routines at home and in the classroom that help or hinder it. For families that means a parent consultation, one-to-one learning and development sessions, and personalised learning and engagement resources. For schools and organisations it means one-to-one teacher coaching, content and curriculum design, and learning resource creation.
I am not a clinician and I don't diagnose. Nothing I do is a medical, psychological or clinical assessment, diagnosis or treatment, and nothing I write should be read as one. If I think a child needs a clinician, I say so and refer on. I don't provide tuition or exam coaching, and I don't work with adults.
If you are worried about a child's immediate safety or health, please contact a doctor or the emergency services. I am not an emergency service and I can't respond outside my working hours.
The free call
The first conversation is a free 20-minute video call. Nothing is charged, no payment details are taken, and nothing is committed on either side. At the end of it I'll tell you honestly whether I think I can help. If I'm not the right person, I'll say so and, where I can, suggest who might be.
Booking and changes
Calls and sessions are booked through my booking page or agreed by email. If you need to move a session, tell me as early as you can and I'll offer another time. How much notice is needed, and what happens to a missed session, are set out in writing with your fee.
If I have to cancel, I'll give you as much notice as I can, and you won't be charged for that session.
Fees and payment
Fees are given once, in writing, after the free call: an email for a family, a one-page proposal for a school or organisation. There is no rate card. The written fee is the fee for the scope described. If the scope changes, the fee is agreed again in writing before the extra work starts.
- When payment is due: set out in writing with your fee, in the email or proposal you receive after the free call.
- How to pay: bank transfer or UPI, to the details on the invoice I send you. I don't publish bank details, and I don't ask for payment by WhatsApp message or by a link in a message. If you receive a request like that in my name, please check with me before paying.
- Refunds: how anything paid for but not yet delivered is refunded, if either of us ends the work, is set out in writing with your fee.
- Invoicing: organisations receive an invoice, with the invoicing details set out in the proposal.
What I ask of you
- That you are the child's parent or legal guardian, or are acting with their agreement, when you engage me about a child.
- That what you tell me is accurate as far as you know it, including anything a clinician has said.
- That a parent or guardian is present or nearby during online sessions with a child, and in the room for children under six.
- That calls and sessions are not recorded without my agreement. I won't record them without yours.
- For schools and organisations: a named contact, access to the teachers and classrooms the work needs, and the information the proposal asks for.
What you can expect from me
- Confidentiality, as set out in the privacy policy.
- Honesty about scope. If something is outside what I do, I'll say so and refer on rather than stretch.
- Work done by me personally, not delegated.
- Written things you can use: plans and materials in plain language, proposals on a single page.
What I can't promise is an outcome. Children are not predictable, and a plan only works if it is used. I'll tell you what I see and what I'd change, and we'll review together and change course if it isn't landing.
Plans, materials and who owns them
The learning profile, plan and resources I make for your child are yours to use with your child, at home and with their school. Please don't sell them or pass them off as your own. They are written for one specific child and would be wrong for another anyway.
Materials I produce for a school or organisation are for that organisation's own internal use, in the schools and programmes named in the proposal. Any wider use, for example across a network of schools or centres, is agreed in the proposal. The frameworks, methods and templates I bring to the work remain mine, so that I can keep using them with others.
The text and design of this website are mine unless stated otherwise. You're welcome to share links to it. Please don't copy the pages.
This website
What's written here is general information about how I work and how children learn. It isn't advice about your particular child, and reading it doesn't make you a client. Links to other sites are there because I think they're useful. I'm not responsible for what's on them.
Limits of responsibility
I take the work seriously and I do it carefully. Even so, and as far as the law allows: my total responsibility to you for anything arising from an engagement is limited to the fees you have paid me for that engagement; I'm not responsible for indirect losses, or for decisions you or a school make based on my written or spoken views; and I'm not responsible for the acts of any clinician or other professional I point you towards. Nothing in these terms limits any responsibility that can't be limited by law.
Testimonials and photographs
I publish nothing about you, your child or your school without your written permission, and no child is identifiable in any photograph on this site.
Ending an engagement
You can stop at any time. Tell me by email or message. I can end an engagement if I believe I'm no longer the right person to help, if the child needs something I can't provide, or if these terms aren't being kept. Either way, work that has been done is paid for, and anything unused is handled as described under fees.
Law and disputes
These terms are governed by the laws of India. If we disagree about something, we'll first try to sort it out by talking. If that doesn't work, the courts at Chennai, Tamil Nadu, have exclusive jurisdiction.
Changes
If I change these terms, the date at the top changes. Work already agreed in writing stays on the terms that applied when it was agreed.