People with intellectual disabilities have less cognitive resources or cognitive resources less developed than expected, taking into account their chronological age. This increases the difficulty of learning, in addition to requiring a greater effort to communicate in some contexts and with certain messages. This type of disability is usually identified before the age of 18 and affects 1% of the world population.
It is pointed out that intellectual disability is not a mental illness, but a developmental disorder. All people with this type of disability are like us: they have their own dreams, interests, tastes and preferences. In this regard, it is important not to stigmatize the condition and, therefore, what could be better than to know a little more about it?
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Intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior
The intellectual disability can be of different degrees and each one of them implies specific difficulties. It manifests with problems of reasoning, planning, problem solving, abstract thinking and learning, all due to a slow and incomplete acquisition of cognitive skills.
Their adaptive capacities can also be very limited, both in the conceptual, social and practical fields. Therefore, their ability to express themselves verbally or their reading and writing are poorly developed, as well as their sense of responsibility and self-esteem.
In front of daily activities, such as hygiene, personal care or food preparation, they may have a variable level of autonomy depending on the degree of delay. In instrumental or mechanical activities there is also this variability.
Impact on health and social interactions
This failure may be accompanied by certain changes related to physical and mental health. On the other hand, all this can affect the rest of the dimensions.
Some syndromes that are associated with intellectual disability are: Rett syndrome, Dravet, Prader-Willi syndrome, downward, Asperger syndrome, and the fragile X chromosome. It also has a higher prevalence in case of diseases such as obesity, diabetes, HIV or STDs, and dementia.
Communication, interaction or social participation are also affected. Intellectual and adaptive limitations make it impossible for that person to participate in the life of their community in a normal way. This undermines all areas: home, work, study and leisure time.
The role of intelligence quotient
The intelligence quotient, by itself, is not a sufficient criterion to make a diagnosis of intellectual disability. Besides defining quantitatively the intelligence, it is necessary to make a deeper evaluation of the intellectual functioning of the person.
IQ is understood as the relationship between the mental age and the chronological age of the person. The first one refers to the age that corresponds to him according to his intellectual development. That is, how much he performs intellectually compared to the average level of his reference group. The chronological age is biological.
It is considered that there is some mental retardation if the IQ is less than 70. At the other extreme, the gifts are diagnosed when the index is above 130. It is precisely the QI used to classify the degree of this disability.
Types of intellectual disability
According to the DSM-IV, it is classified as mild, moderate, severe and profound.
(QI 50-55 to 70)
85% of people with disabilities have a mild disability.
- Conceptual domain: low impact on abstract thinking, functional capacity, cognitive flexibility and short-term memory.
- Social scope: immature social interactions, which increases the risk that the person is unfit to be manipulated.
- Practical domain: it is necessary to have supervision, guidance and assistance in carrying out tasks of your daily life. This help is very important, mainly in stressful situations.
*They often do not differ from other children without this disability until they are older.
Moderate (QI 35-40 to 50-55)
10% of people with disabilities have a moderate disability.
- Conceptual domain: require continuous assistance to complete daily activities. Even, sometimes it is necessary that others take some of their responsibilities. They are people who, with moderate supervision, are capable of acquiring skills for their own personal care. They can perform jobs that do not require qualification or semi-qualification, but always with supervision.
- Social sphere: when communicating verbally, their language is less rich and complex than that of people without disabilities. This means that they can not interpret some social keys correctly and that they have problems to create new relationships.
- Practical domain: with the continuous support and instrumentation, you can develop certain skills and abilities.
Severe (QI 20-25 to 35-40)
3% - 4% of people with disabilities have a serious disability.
- Conceptual domain: very limited, especially with the numerical concepts. Support is important, constant and in many areas.
- Social sphere: his oral language is very elementary, his sentences are grammatically simple and his vocabulary is very limited. Their communications are very basic, they are limited to here and now.
- Domain of application: the supervision must be constant in all the tasks that must be done in daily life.
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Deep (QI 20 - 25)
Although they are a minority (1% - 2%), most of these people have an identified neurological disease that explains their failure.
- Conceptual domain: only physical and symbolic processes are taken into account. With instructions, they can acquire certain visuospatial skills, such as pointing. The associated motor and sensory difficulties often prevent the functional use of objects.
- Social environment: the poor understanding of verbal and gestural communication. His way of expressing himself is very basic, simple and mostly non-verbal.
- Practical domain: the patient is totally dependent in all areas. Only if there are no motor or sensory impairments will he be able to participate in certain basic activities.
The role of institutions is essential if we want to create an easier and more accessible environment for people with intellectual disabilities. If not, other environmental limitations will be added to the limitations that these people already present. In any case, what we must not forget is that never before is failure the person. Someone with feelings, like all of us, someone with dreams, as well as all of us, and someone with many things to offer to others.