Intellectual Disability Week: "Karapatan at Pantay-pantay na Pagkakataon Para sa Lahat" ("Rights and Equal Opportunity for All)
Pursuant to the celebration of the Philippine Education Department. I would like to share most information about Intellectual Disability.
The Department of Education (DepEd), in collaboration with other government and non-government organizations, is observing the 2017 National Intellectual Disability Week from February 14 to 20 with the theme ‘Karapatan at Pantay-Pantay na Pagkakataon Para sa sa Lahat’.
As we all dont know there are 1-3 % of the global population has Intellectual Disability. Thus, I want to raise awareness for everyone for the benefit of those who has a family member suffered from the said disability. They need understanding and acceptance as part of the society. We can do this only if we have a dept knowledge in this disability.
What is Intellectual Disabilty?
This is a condition where most likely kids are lack in everyday life skills and poor learning development where adaptive skills are affected. It is diagnosed at the very young age or even before reaching 18 years of old. It is then described by experts in the term "Mental Retardation" which is now unused.
Common Characteristic
There are many signs of Intellectual Disability. For example, individuals with an intellectual disability may:
- Have troubled speaking
- Find it hard to remember things
- Do not understand how things worked
- Have troubled understanding social rules
- Have troubled seeing the consequences of thier actions
- Have troubled solving problems
- Have troubled thinking logically
Experts divide the types of cognitive impairment into four categories: mild intellectual disability, moderate intellectual disability, severe intellectual disability, and profound intellectual disability.
Mild intellectual disability
The range of IQ is between 50 to 70, slower than typical in all developmental areas
Moderate intellectual disability
The range of IQ between 35 to 49 and noticeable developmental delays (i.e. speech, motor skills)
Severe intellectual disability
The range of IQ is between 20 to 34 and considerable delays in development
Profound intellectual disability
The range of IQ is less than 20 and the significant developmental delays in all areas are obvious.
Common Causes?
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.
Useful strategies for teaching students with intellectual disabilities include, but are not limited to, the following techniques:
- Teach one concept or activity component at a time
- Teach one step at a time to help support memorization and sequencing
- Teach students in small groups, or one-on-one, if possible
- Always provide multiple opportunities to practice skills in a number of different settings
- Use physical and verbal prompting to guide correct responses, and provide specific verbal praise to reinforce these responses
There are no cure 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.Let us consider each other's differences so that peace and unity can be achieved. Get yourself started to change for the benefit of the community.
References:
Special Olympic
Project IDEA
Healthy Place
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