Diagnosing Intellectual Disabilities

According to the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (2017), an intellectual disability is classified as a deficit in “intellectual functioning” and “adaptive behaviors.” For a disability to be qualified as an intellectual disability it must have originated before the age of 18. Some diagnoses that fit under intellectual disability include autism, Down Syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome, and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. “Developmental disability” is the umbrella term, encompassing many other disabilities, including those that fall under the category of intellectual disability. Developmental disabilities typically impact an individual in a physical way, such as cerebral palsy or epilepsy.

Many people may say one is a retard without knowing the truth behind the actual word. Intellectual Disability, also known as Mental Retardation, is a very serious psychological disorder that few are faced with for life. Intellectual Disability is characterized by a below-average level of intelligence (a mental ability) that lacks skills necessary for daily living. An IQ is the standard way to measure the level of intelligence one may have. Roughly 95% of humans have the IQ between 70 and 130. (Meyers and DeWall, 2014). The other five percent are either absolute genius or intellectually disabled. Being intellectually disabled can be caused in many ways

An intellectual disability, like the one had by Roland Johnson and about one percent to three percent of people, is defined as “a disability that is present at birth or occurs in the developmental period (before the age of 18) and is characterized by significant sub-average intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with related limitations in 2 or more areas of adaptive functioning” (Daul). Roland Johnson, though his life was hard, did not let his “limitations” limit him.

Interviewing the parent of a child diagnosed with learning disability can be intimidating. It is difficult to gauge how much a parent wants to reveal about their child. Also, it is not unusual to discover that one parent is at a different place of acceptance than the other parent. Each family member’s journey is different; for example, it is not rare for a father to work out the emotional difficulty of a special needs diagnosis differently than a mother.

Sadness, openness, concern, desperation, happiness, admiration—these are the feelings I experienced while reading the stories of different families and their perspectives as parents of children with disabilities. Each reading offered a different aspects through the eyes of mothers, fathers, and, most importantly, the person with the disability. Through the experiences of each individual, I was able to gather more insight into the feelings of my own family members and friends that have dealt with the same inner struggles, and in turn, realize my own short comings with understanding and the importance of person first language.

Hauser-Cram P, Warfield ME, Shonkoff JP, Krauss MW, Sayer A, Upshur CC. Children with disabilities: A longitudinal study of child development and parent well-being. Monogr Soc Res Child Dev. 2001;66:i–viii.

The first step in any research is to accurately define the population of interest. Intellectual Disability (ID) has been called by many different terms: mental retardation, learning disability, mental handicap, and developmentally delayed. Generally, these terms are accepted as interchangeable (Schalock, Luckasson & Shogren, 2007). However, over time some of the characteristics required to receive a diagnosis of ID has changed. In the recent past, the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Metal Disorders Text Revised (DSM IV TR) identified three criteria necessary to be diagnosed with ID. This included: impairments of intellectual functioning (IQ<70) are not necessarily excluded from the diagnosis. By deemphasized the importance of low IQ the as a defining feature of ID the diagnosis expanded its definition to include individual assessed with borderline intelligence and above (fact sheet reference).

Intellectual disability, once referred to as mental retardation, is a disability that refers to a person’s limitation in intelligence (Foreman and Arthur-Kelly,2014). The most common causes of intellectual disabilities are genetic

In a 1983, intellectual disabilities were defined as below average function intellectually, the inability to adapt behavior and the individual’s ability to learn is negatively impacted. When using this definition, intellectual abilities are determined by a standard IQ score which would be below 70. This score along with the individual’s ability to adapt in social and academic situations were the two determining factors used.

Derogatory terms such as retard are damaging to the egos of mentally handicapped individuals. In the environment in which I live, I hear the word on a daily basis but in a different context. The use of the retard is usually referring to something that is thought to be “stupid”, not to take advantage of a mentally handicapped person. Although this still may happen, the use of the word in a derogatory context is not usual. Nevertheless, the term retard is still hurtful and we should still refrain from using the word at all times, including publications. In past times, the word was ok to use because that was the best way of describing people with disabilities. Now we have a better word and that is developmentally disabled.

The concept of the learning disability is relatively new, having been constructed identified within the past fifty to sixty years (Sleeter, 2010). Surprisingly, the construct of the learning disability hinges upon creation of an ideological standard of normal; the implicit assumption that we as educators know what constitutes right or normal attitudes or behavior, and that anything which falls outside of normal is a potential disability (Sleeter, 2010). These are unproven assumptions, rather than empirical, data-driven fact, and form the backbone for current definition, assessment, and interventional methods (Sleeter, 2010).

Parenting is a feat all on it's own, but do most people ever stop to acknowledge the true difficulties underlying the day to day challenges of parenting a disabled child? For most of us, becoming a parent means making selfless sacrifices in order to make time and to simply grow up. Some aren't as lucky to get off that easily. Raising a child with a disability varies in difficulty, but regardless of the case, each parent is required to go above and beyond the average role. More education, more patience, and more attention are just a few of the "extra curricular" duties that go along with raising a disabled child. Unfortunately, the seemingly never ending list of additional responsibilities isn't necessarily the only obstacle for these parents. Certain medical conditions aren't covered by insurance companies due to lack of awareness or simply the state's disinterest in funding a non-profitable cause, leaving these families to fend for themselves.

Intellectual Disability. Intellectual disability is a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors. Time out and modeling have the highest level of usability with a weighted mean of 2.69, followed by activity reinforcers with a weighted mean of 2.63. Time out has been effective in reducing behaviors such as tantrums, inappropriate social behaviors, yelling, aggression, time spent out-of-seat and inappropriate verbalizations which are common to children with intellectual disability (Alberto, Delfin and Andrews, 2002).

In the context of education, the criteria for some intellectual disabilities, such as autism, vary from state to state. Federal guidelines do not require states to use the DSM-V to identify these disorders. Furthermore, understanding of the processes of identifying and coding intellectual disability is lacking

IQ tests alone are not sufficient for prognosis and intervention planning for children with an intellectual disability (Colmar et al., 2006). In all cases, the IQ score should be used only for initial identification, and should be taken as an approximate estimate of the child’s level of cognitive functioning (2006). This is a problem because cognition is only one aspect of the child’s skills, behaviour, and development, and IQ tests are over-simplifying this measurement (2006). There are various factors that can influence IQ scores, thus imposing limitations to such an assessment. Intelligence tests continue to be built largely on Binet’s original premises, such that children are evaluated in relation to an age-linked concept of normality (2006). Standardized, norm-referenced measures, particularly IQ tests, are still often seen as necessary when it comes to eligibility for resources and, despite the ideals of the inclusive movement, in educational contexts formal assessment is often used to ensure funding to support the exclusion of children with intellectual disabilities (Colmar et al., 2006 & Ferry, 2013). Further, given that the components of the disability being assessed are impaired intellectual functioning, with associated difficulties in key areas such as comprehension, communication, and motor