8/11/2019 Mental Retardation Report

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Mental Retardation

  Intellectual disability (ID), once called mental retardation, is characterized by below-average intelligence or

mental ability and a lack of skills necessary for day-to-day living. People with intellectual disabilities can and do

learn new skills, but they learn them more slowly. There are varying degrees of intellectual disability, from mild

to profound.

  Rosa’s Law changed the term to be used in future to “intellectual disability.” The definition itself, however, did

not change. Accordingly, “intellectual disability” is defined as…“…significantly sub average general intellectual

functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental

period, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

  Someone with intellectual disability has limitations in two areas. These areas are:

1. Intellectual functioning. Also known as IQ, this refers to a person’s ability to learn, reason, 

make decisions, and solve problems.

2. Adaptive behaviors. These are skills necessary for day-to-day life, such as being able to communicate

effectively, interact with others, and take care of oneself.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition,

  Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) defines mental retardation as follows:

1. Significantly sub average intellectual functioning - An intelligence quotient (IQ) of approximately 70 or below.2. Concurrent deficits or impairments in adaptive functioning in at least 2 of the following areas:

communication, self-care, home living, social/interpersonal skills, use of community resources, self-direction,

functional academic skills, work, leisure, health, and safety

3. Onset before age 18 years

What Causes an Intellectual Disability?

1. 

Genetic conditions. Sometimes an intellectual disability is caused by abnormal genes inherited from parents,

errors when genes combine, or other reasons.

2. 

Problems 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 as it grows.A woman who drinks alcohol or gets an infection like rubella during pregnancy may also have a baby with an

intellectual disability.

3.  Problems at birth. If a baby has problems during labor and birth, such as not getting enough oxygen, he or she

may have an intellectual disability.

4. 

Health problems. Diseases like whooping cough, the measles, or meningitis can cause intellectual disabilities.

They can also be caused by extreme malnutrition (not eating right), not getting enough medical care, or by being

exposed to poisons like lead or mercury.

Classification of mental retardation

  Mild

  Moderate

  Severe

  Profound

8/11/2019 Mental Retardation Report

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Characteristics of mental retardation/Intellectual disability:

1. Academic Achievement.  Due to sub average intellectual functioning, persons with mental retardation are likely to

be slower in reaching levels of academic achievement equal to their peers. This stands to reason. However, many

students are ultimately able to reach some level of literacy, it just takes much longer.

2. Speech and Language.  Due to diminished intellectual functioning and associated neurological conditions, many

children with mental retardation have delayed language and speech problems.

3. Impairments in memory, particularly short-term memory.  Research has shown that many persons withretardation have good long-term memory, but they have difficulty remembering in the short term, especially if the

facts or complexity of the learning situation are not readily apparent.

4. Difficulty with the generalization of skills. The inability to generalize is related to the inability to think abstractly.

Impact to learnings:

  Deficits in cognitive functioning and learning styles characteristic of individuals with mental retardation

include poor memory, slow learning rates, attention problems, difficulty generalizing what they have learned,

and lack of motivation.

1.  Memory.  Students with mental retardation have difficulty remembering information. As would be

expected, the more severe the cognitive impairment, the greater the deficits in memory.

2. 

Learning Rate. The rate at which individuals with mental retardation acquire new knowledge and skills is

well below that of typically developing children. A frequently used measure of learning rate is trials to

criterion—the number of practice or instructional trials needed before a student can respond correctly

without prompts or assistance. For example, while just 2 or 3 trials with feedback may be required for a

typically developing child to learn to discriminate between two geometric forms, a child with mental

retardation may need 20 to 30 or more trials to learn the same discrimination.

3.  Attention.  The ability to attend to critical features of a task is a characteristic of efficient learners. Students

with mental retardation often have trouble attending to relevant features of a learning task and instead may

focus on distracting irrelevant stimuli. In addition, individuals with mental retardation often have difficulty

sustaining attention to learning tasks (Zeaman & House, 1979). These attention problems compound and

contribute to a student’s difficulties in acquiring, remembering, and generalizing new knowledge and skills.

4.  Generalization of Learning.  Students with disabilities, especially those with mental retardation, often have

trouble using their new knowledge and skills in settings or situations that differ from the context in which

they first learned those skills.

5.  Motivation.  Some students with mental retardation exhibit an apparent lack of interest in learning or

problem-solving tasks (Switzky, 1997). Some individuals with mental retardation develop learned

helplessness, a condition in which a person who has experienced repeated failure comes to expect failure

regardless of his or her efforts.

http://www.education.com/reference/article/characteristics-children-mental-retardation/

prepared by: Catherine Dee