What is Intellectual Disability?
Intellectual disability is a term used when a person has certain limitations in mental functioning and in skills such as communicating, taking care of him or herself, and social skills. These limitations will cause a child to learn and develop more slowly than a typical child.
Children with intellectual disabilities (sometimes called cognitive disabilities or, previously, mental retardation) may take longer to learn to speak, walk and take care of their personal needs such as dressing or eating. They are likely to have trouble learning in school. They will learn, but it will take them longer. There may be some things they cannot learn.
Types of Intellectual Disability
Intellectual disability in reading
Two types of intellectual disability occur in reading. One type manifests when your child has difficulty understanding relationships between letters, sounds, and words. The other shows up in problems with reading comprehension where your child has issues grasping the meaning of words, sentences, and paragraphs. Signs of intellectual disability in reading:
- problems in letter and word recognition
- problems understanding words and ideas
- slow reading speed and low fluency
- poor vocabulary skills
Intellectual disability in math
The types of intellectual disability in math vary widely depending on your child. For instance, your child’s ability to succeed in math is affected by any co-occurring language disability, visual impairment, or problems with memory, organization, and sequencing. If your child struggles with memorizing and organizing numbers and math facts, he or she may have an intellectual disability in math. He or she may have great difficulty telling time and with abstract thought.
Intellectual disability in writing
This type of intellectual disability can involve either the physical activity of writing, the mental activity of comprehending and putting together information, or both. Children with this intellectual disability have problems forming letters, words, and written expression. Signs of intellectual disability in writing include:
- messy writing
- problems copying letters and words with accuracy
- problems with spelling
- issues with coherence and organization when writing
Intellectual disability with motor skills
Children with an intellectual disability that affects motor skills have problems with both gross and fine motor skills. They may seem uncoordinated for their age and have significant problems with movements that require hand to eye coordination.
Intellectual disability with language
This type of intellectual disability involves the ability to speak and to understand spoken words. Signs of this type of impairment include:
- problems retelling a story
- problems in speech fluency
- issues with understanding word meanings
- issues carrying out directions
- problems understanding parts of speech
Intellectual disabilities with auditory and visual processing
Some children have auditory or visual processing problems, causing learning to suffer. This intellectual disability manifests by causing the person to have difficulty in processing the things they hear and see. They may lack the ability to tell the difference between certain sounds. Others can’t distinguish the difference between certain shapes and images. Depending on the severity of impairment, this can profoundly affect learning.
Children with mild impairment may simply have slight challenges in one or two areas. Those with severe to profound impairment in many or all areas may need constant supervision and highly specialized educational services.
Signs and Symptoms of Intellectual Disability
Some common symptoms of intellectual disability include:
- reaching developmental milestones — such as sitting up, crawling, walking, or talking — later than other children
- difficulty speaking or reading
- difficulty understanding or following social rules or cues
- difficulty understanding the results or consequences of their actions
- difficulty solving problems, thinking logically, or thinking abstractly
- difficulty planning or following schedules or routines
- difficulty remembering things
- difficulty letting others know their needs
- difficulty understanding systems such as the need to pay for things, time, or how to use a phone
- difficulty with social skills
- a reduced ability to perform regular personal care, such as eating, getting dressed, or completing household tasks
- limited functioning in one or more daily activities
- reduced judgment and decision making skills
- difficulty learning from experience
- communicating using nonverbal means, such as expressions and gestures
- difficulty regulating emotions and behaviors
In most cases, the symptoms of intellectual disability start in early childhood or adolescence. In particular, difficulty with language and motor skills may occur by the age of 2 years.
People with mild intellectual disability may not show any obvious signs until they begin to have difficulty with schoolwork.
Causes of Intellectual Disability
The most common causes of intellectual disabilities are:
Genetic conditions: Sometimes an intellectual disability is caused by abnormal genes inherited from parents, errors when genes combine, or other reasons. Examples of genetic conditions are Down syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, and phenylketonuria (PKU).
Complications during pregnancy: An intellectual disability can result when the baby does not develop inside the mother properly. For example, there may be a problem with the way the baby’s cells divide. A woman who drinks alcohol or gets an infection like rubella during pregnancy may also have a baby with an intellectual disability.
Problems during birth: If there are complications during labor and birth, such as a baby not getting enough oxygen, he or she may have an intellectual disability.
Diseases or toxic exposure: Diseases like whooping cough, the measles, or meningitis can cause intellectual disabilities. They can also be caused by extreme malnutrition, not getting appropriate medical care, or by being exposed to poisons like lead or mercury.
We know that intellectual disability is not contagious: you can’t catch an intellectual disability from anyone else. We also know it’s not a type of mental illness, like depression. There are no cures for intellectual disability. However, children with intellectual disabilities can learn to do many things. They may just need take more time or learn differently than other children.
Treatment of Intellectual Disability
Various therapeutic services can improve a person’s adaptive behavioral skills. These therapies are helpful for many people with intellectual disabilities (ID, formerly mental retardation).
Occupational therapy
- Meaningful and purposeful activities;
- Self-care (e.g., grooming, dressing, feeding, bathing);
- Employment activities and skills;
- Leisure activities (e.g., knitting, playing games);
- Domestic activities (e.g., cooking, cleaning, laundry).
Speech therapy
- Improves communication skills;
- Improves receptive and expressive languages skills;
- Improves speech articulation;
- Improves vocabulary.
Physical therapy
- Enhances quality of life by maximizing mobility and self-locomotion;
- Provides adaptive solutions to mobility problems;
- Increases sensory integration
