How to tell if a child is mentally retarded
Intellectual Disability in Children: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments
Written by Florence Byrd
In this Article
- What is intellectual disability?
- What are the signs of intellectual disability in children?
- What causes intellectual disability?
- Can intellectual disability be prevented?
- How is intellectual disability diagnosed?
- What services are available for people with intellectual disability?
- What can I do to help my intellectually disabled child?
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. The term "mental retardation" is no longer used, as it's offensive and has a negative tone.
What is intellectual disability?
Someone with intellectual disability has limitations in two areas. These areas are:
- Intellectual functioning. Also known as IQ, this refers to a person’s ability to learn, reason, make decisions, and solve problems.
- 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.
IQ (intelligence quotient) is measured by an IQ test. The average IQ is 100, with the majority of people scoring between 85 and 115. A person is considered intellectually disabled if they have an IQ of less than 70 to 75.
To measure a child’s adaptive behaviors, a specialist will observe the child’s skills and compare them to other children of the same age. Things that may be observed include how well the child can feed or dress themselves; how well the child is able to communicate with and understand others; and how the child interacts with family, friends, and other children of the same age.
Intellectual disability is thought to affect about 1% of the population. Of those affected, 85% have mild intellectual disability. This means they are just a little slower than average to learn new information or skills. With the right support, most will be able to live independently as adults.
What are the signs of intellectual disability in children?
There are many different signs of intellectual disability in children. Signs may appear during infancy, or they may not be noticeable until a child reaches school age. It often depends on the severity of the disability. Some of the most common signs of intellectual disability are:
- Rolling over, sitting up, crawling, or walking late
- Talking late or having trouble talking
- Slow to master things like potty training, dressing, and feeding themselves
- Difficulty remembering things
- Inability to connect actions with consequences
- Behavior problems such as explosive tantrums
- Difficulty with problem-solving or logical thinking
In children with severe or profound intellectual disabilities, there may be other health problems as well.
These problems may include seizures, mood disorders (anxiety, autism, etc.), motor skills impairment, vision problems, or hearing problems.
What causes intellectual disability?
Anytime something interferes with normal brain development, intellectual disability can result. However, a specific cause for intellectual disability can only be pinpointed about a third of the time.
The most common causes of intellectual disability are:
- Genetic conditions. These include things like Down syndrome and fragile X syndrome.
- Problems during pregnancy. Things that can interfere with fetal brain development include alcohol or drug use, malnutrition, certain infections, or preeclampsia.
- Problems during childbirth. Intellectual disability may result if a baby is deprived of oxygen during childbirth or is born extremely premature.
- Illness or injury.
Infections like meningitis, whooping cough, or the measles can lead to intellectual disability. Severe head injury, near-drowning, extreme malnutrition, infections in the brain, exposure to toxic substances such as lead, and severe neglect or abuse can also cause it. - None of the above. In two-thirds of all children who have intellectual disabilities, the cause is unknown.
Can intellectual disability be prevented?
Certain causes of intellectual disability are preventable. The most common of these is fetal alcohol syndrome. Pregnant women shouldn’t drink alcohol. Getting proper prenatal care, taking a prenatal vitamin, and getting vaccinated against certain infectious diseases can also lower the risk that your child will be born with intellectual disabilities.
In families with a history of genetic disorders, genetic testing may be recommended before conception.
Certain tests, such as ultrasound and amniocentesis, can also be performed during pregnancy to look for problems associated with intellectual disability.
Although these tests may identify problems before birth, they cannot correct them.
How is intellectual disability diagnosed?
Intellectual disability may be suspected for many different reasons. If a baby has physical abnormalities that suggest a genetic or metabolic disorder, a variety of tests may be done to confirm the diagnosis. These include blood tests, urine tests, imaging tests to look for structural problems in the brain, or electroencephalogram (EEG) to look for evidence of seizures.
In children with developmental delays, the doctor will perform tests to rule out other problems, including hearing problems and certain neurological disorders. If no other cause can be found for the delays, the child will be referred for formal testing.
Three things factor into the diagnosis of intellectual disability: interviews with the parents, observation of the child, and testing of intelligence and adaptive behaviors. A child is considered intellectually disabled if they have deficits in both IQ and adaptive behaviors.
If only one or the other is present, the child is not considered intellectually disabled.
After a diagnosis of intellectual disability is made, a team of professionals will assess the child’s particular strengths and weaknesses. This helps them determine how much and what kind of support the child will need to succeed at home, in school, and in the community.
What services are available for people with intellectual disability?
For babies and toddlers, early intervention programs are available. A team of professionals works with parents to write an Individualized Family Service Plan, or IFSP. This document outlines the child’s specific needs and what services will help the child thrive. Early intervention may include speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, family counseling, training with special assistive devices, or nutrition services.
School-age children with intellectual disabilities (including preschoolers) are eligible for special education for free through the public school system.
This is mandated by the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Parents and educators work together to create an Individualized Education Program, or IEP, which outlines the child’s needs and the services the child will receive at school. The point of special education is to make adaptations, accommodations, and modifications that allow a child with an intellectual disability to succeed in the classroom.
What can I do to help my intellectually disabled child?
Steps to help your intellectually disabled child include:
- Learn everything you can about intellectual disabilities. The more you know, the better advocate you can be for your child.
- Encourage your child’s independence. Let your child try new things and encourage your child to do things by themselves. Provide guidance when it’s needed and give positive feedback when your child does something well or masters something new.
- Get your child involved in group activities. Taking an art class or participating in Scouts will help your child build social skills.
- Stay involved. By keeping in touch with your child’s teachers, you’ll be able to follow their progress and reinforce what your child is learning at school through practice at home.
- Get to know other parents of intellectually disabled children. They can be a great source of advice and emotional support.
Intellectual Disability in Children: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments
Written by Florence Byrd
In this Article
- What is intellectual disability?
- What are the signs of intellectual disability in children?
- What causes intellectual disability?
- Can intellectual disability be prevented?
- How is intellectual disability diagnosed?
- What services are available for people with intellectual disability?
- What can I do to help my intellectually disabled child?
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. The term "mental retardation" is no longer used, as it's offensive and has a negative tone.
What is intellectual disability?
Someone with intellectual disability has limitations in two areas. These areas are:
- Intellectual functioning. Also known as IQ, this refers to a person’s ability to learn, reason, make decisions, and solve problems.
- 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.
IQ (intelligence quotient) is measured by an IQ test. The average IQ is 100, with the majority of people scoring between 85 and 115. A person is considered intellectually disabled if they have an IQ of less than 70 to 75.
To measure a child’s adaptive behaviors, a specialist will observe the child’s skills and compare them to other children of the same age.
Things that may be observed include how well the child can feed or dress themselves; how well the child is able to communicate with and understand others; and how the child interacts with family, friends, and other children of the same age.
Intellectual disability is thought to affect about 1% of the population. Of those affected, 85% have mild intellectual disability. This means they are just a little slower than average to learn new information or skills. With the right support, most will be able to live independently as adults.
What are the signs of intellectual disability in children?
There are many different signs of intellectual disability in children. Signs may appear during infancy, or they may not be noticeable until a child reaches school age. It often depends on the severity of the disability. Some of the most common signs of intellectual disability are:
- Rolling over, sitting up, crawling, or walking late
- Talking late or having trouble talking
- Slow to master things like potty training, dressing, and feeding themselves
- Difficulty remembering things
- Inability to connect actions with consequences
- Behavior problems such as explosive tantrums
- Difficulty with problem-solving or logical thinking
In children with severe or profound intellectual disabilities, there may be other health problems as well.
These problems may include seizures, mood disorders (anxiety, autism, etc.), motor skills impairment, vision problems, or hearing problems.
What causes intellectual disability?
Anytime something interferes with normal brain development, intellectual disability can result. However, a specific cause for intellectual disability can only be pinpointed about a third of the time.
The most common causes of intellectual disability are:
- Genetic conditions. These include things like Down syndrome and fragile X syndrome.
- Problems during pregnancy. Things that can interfere with fetal brain development include alcohol or drug use, malnutrition, certain infections, or preeclampsia.
- Problems during childbirth. Intellectual disability may result if a baby is deprived of oxygen during childbirth or is born extremely premature.
- Illness or injury.
Infections like meningitis, whooping cough, or the measles can lead to intellectual disability. Severe head injury, near-drowning, extreme malnutrition, infections in the brain, exposure to toxic substances such as lead, and severe neglect or abuse can also cause it. - None of the above. In two-thirds of all children who have intellectual disabilities, the cause is unknown.
Can intellectual disability be prevented?
Certain causes of intellectual disability are preventable. The most common of these is fetal alcohol syndrome. Pregnant women shouldn’t drink alcohol. Getting proper prenatal care, taking a prenatal vitamin, and getting vaccinated against certain infectious diseases can also lower the risk that your child will be born with intellectual disabilities.
In families with a history of genetic disorders, genetic testing may be recommended before conception.
Certain tests, such as ultrasound and amniocentesis, can also be performed during pregnancy to look for problems associated with intellectual disability.
Although these tests may identify problems before birth, they cannot correct them.
How is intellectual disability diagnosed?
Intellectual disability may be suspected for many different reasons. If a baby has physical abnormalities that suggest a genetic or metabolic disorder, a variety of tests may be done to confirm the diagnosis. These include blood tests, urine tests, imaging tests to look for structural problems in the brain, or electroencephalogram (EEG) to look for evidence of seizures.
In children with developmental delays, the doctor will perform tests to rule out other problems, including hearing problems and certain neurological disorders. If no other cause can be found for the delays, the child will be referred for formal testing.
Three things factor into the diagnosis of intellectual disability: interviews with the parents, observation of the child, and testing of intelligence and adaptive behaviors. A child is considered intellectually disabled if they have deficits in both IQ and adaptive behaviors.
If only one or the other is present, the child is not considered intellectually disabled.
After a diagnosis of intellectual disability is made, a team of professionals will assess the child’s particular strengths and weaknesses. This helps them determine how much and what kind of support the child will need to succeed at home, in school, and in the community.
What services are available for people with intellectual disability?
For babies and toddlers, early intervention programs are available. A team of professionals works with parents to write an Individualized Family Service Plan, or IFSP. This document outlines the child’s specific needs and what services will help the child thrive. Early intervention may include speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, family counseling, training with special assistive devices, or nutrition services.
School-age children with intellectual disabilities (including preschoolers) are eligible for special education for free through the public school system.
This is mandated by the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Parents and educators work together to create an Individualized Education Program, or IEP, which outlines the child’s needs and the services the child will receive at school. The point of special education is to make adaptations, accommodations, and modifications that allow a child with an intellectual disability to succeed in the classroom.
What can I do to help my intellectually disabled child?
Steps to help your intellectually disabled child include:
- Learn everything you can about intellectual disabilities. The more you know, the better advocate you can be for your child.
- Encourage your child’s independence. Let your child try new things and encourage your child to do things by themselves. Provide guidance when it’s needed and give positive feedback when your child does something well or masters something new.
- Get your child involved in group activities. Taking an art class or participating in Scouts will help your child build social skills.
- Stay involved. By keeping in touch with your child’s teachers, you’ll be able to follow their progress and reinforce what your child is learning at school through practice at home.
- Get to know other parents of intellectually disabled children. They can be a great source of advice and emotional support.
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- Mental retardation in children.
Mental retardation in children refers to the underdevelopment of all processes of mental development, which manifests itself in a low level of intelligence, when the child is not able to learn about the world around him, learn, acquire knowledge in accordance with his biological age.
According to congenital or acquired factors, such children can develop up to a certain limit of their capabilities. In the medical reference book, the disease is called "oligophrenia". The sooner the parents of a child diagnosed with mental retardation accept his individual characteristics, the sooner they can begin corrective and supportive measures.
Inhibited perception of individual objects not only requires more time, but also does not allow for a proper relationship between them. Graphic objects, letters, numbers, similar-sounding words in children with this diagnosis, in addition to slow and limited perception, are confused and mixed. The child cannot perceive important information, snatching out only fragments. He cannot give an analysis or description of a picture or an object. Having paid attention to a certain subject, the child does not move on to the study of the next, therefore, he needs to be encouraged to act.
The main difference from healthy children lies in the difficulty of reproducing the received information due to impaired mental activity and a speech defect.
Mastering reading and writing is a rather difficult process. Children with this disease are inattentive, unable to complete what they started. Underdevelopment is also displayed on the emotional sphere, when emotions are absent or limited, and various experiences do not appear. Violated volitional processes, children are not active. Later they begin to hold their heads, crawl, walk, show interest in objects and distinguish them, babble, recognize relatives or strangers.
- Mild mental retardation . Outwardly, such people may not differ at all from healthy people. They usually experience learning difficulties due to a reduced ability to concentrate. At the same time, their memory is quite good. The vast majority of them also achieve complete independence in personal care and in practical and domestic skills, even if development is much slower than normal. The main difficulties are usually observed in the field of school performance. However, for those with mild mental retardation, education designed to develop their skills and develop compensatory abilities can be of great help.
In most favorable cases of mild mental retardation, employment is possible, requiring abilities not so much for abstract thinking as for practical activity. Experience shows that in children who have experienced the trauma of losing their biological parents, who are brought up in orphanages, who have been subjected to violence, abuse, it is often difficult to distinguish between symptoms of mental retardation and socio-pedagogical neglect. When living conditions change to more favorable ones, these children, as a rule, give good dynamics in development and their diagnosis can be withdrawn or revised. - Moderate mental retardation . People with this diagnosis are able to experience affection, distinguish between praise and punishment, they can be taught basic self-care skills, and sometimes reading, writing, and the simplest account. Educational programs can give them opportunities to develop their limited potential and acquire some basic skills. In adulthood, persons with moderate mental retardation are usually capable of simple practical work with careful construction of tasks and the provision of qualified support.
Completely independent living is rarely achieved. However, such people are generally fully mobile and physically active, and most of them show signs of social development, which is the ability to establish contacts, communicate with other people and participate in basic social activities. - Severe mental retardation. People with this diagnosis can partially master speech and learn basic skills for serving themselves. Vocabulary is very poor, sometimes it does not exceed ten or twenty words, thinking is very concrete, chaotic and unsystematic. Almost all children in this category have major motor impairments.
- Profound mental retardation. In people with deep brain damage, the structures of internal organs are very often disturbed. Their speech does not develop - it is completely impaired. From early childhood, their developmental lag is noticeable, the kids begin to sit up and hold their heads late. With a severe form of mental retardation, children are inactive.
With such a diagnosis, medical care for the child, social nanny services come first.
Primary manifestations of mental deficiency in children usually include symptoms and signs such as mental retardation, infantile behavior, and insufficient self-care skills. This gap becomes very noticeable by the preschool age. However, with mild mental retardation, such symptoms may not appear until school age. Much earlier, mental retardation is diagnosed in the presence of a moderate and severe degree of this disorder, as well as when mental retardation is combined with developmental defects and physical defects. Among preschool children, a clear sign is the presence of a reduced level of IQ, combined with a limited manifestation of adaptive behavioral skills. Although the individual characteristics of this disorder may vary, more often in children with intellectual deficiencies, gradual progress is noted rather than a complete cessation of development.
It is important to remember that the sooner you start rehabilitation, the better.
It is also important to detect the disease early. However, the problem is that it is very difficult to diagnose mental retardation in the early stages of a child's development. As a rule, parents' suspicions arise from the age of two, when the child does not speak or speaks poorly. And only closer to three or four years is the diagnosis of “mental retardation” diagnosed, since the problem becomes apparent.
Parents should note:
- how well and confidently the child holds the head;
- when he learned to sit on his own;
- how a child crawls;
- as he pronounces the first sounds, babbles.
The main medical advice for and parents of children with mental retardation is as follows:
- Seek medical attention in time and find out the cause and degree of progression of mental disability.
- Regularly conduct training and development sessions with such a child. Correction of behavioral deviations can be carried out with a special child psychologist.
- Try not to isolate the child from peers and adults, despite all concerns.
- Social adaptation of children with mental retardation should be the basis of education and upbringing. Only the achievement of independence in everyday life, the basics of speech and writing, as well as the mastery of simple professions, will allow in adulthood to be a full-fledged member of society and not require outside help.
- Don't set too high expectations for these children. Often, character traits and an increased sense of inferiority and experience of failure negate all the results achieved. On the other hand, there is no need to indulge the laziness of the child or stop at the supposedly acceptable result achieved. This often manifests itself when learning to communicate - parents understand the child's desires by sounds or distorted words, but this is not enough for social adaptation and communication with other people.
How to recognize the risk of mental disorders in the development of the child
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9000 IvoilovaIn Russia every third child belongs to the risk group for health reasons. And the largest group is children with mental disabilities. According to UNESCO and WHO, for every 100 schoolchildren there are up to five people with intellectual disabilities, for every 800 newborns there is one baby with Down syndrome.
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How can parents understand that their child is different? Why did something go wrong in the development of the baby at some point? Where and how to teach a student with a diagnosis of "mental retardation"? Is it true that even the common flu can lead to such a diagnosis? Tamara Isaeva, Associate Professor of the Department of Oligophrenopedagogy and Special Psychology of Moscow State Pedagogical University, answers the questions of "RG".
Tamara Nikolaevna, are intellectual disabilities in a child an inborn thing?
Tamara Isaeva: It happens in different ways.
Violations may appear at different times. This may be an intrauterine lesion or a lesion that appeared later, during the maturation of brain structures. For example, a child was born healthy, but suffered encephalitis or menningoencephalitis: the inflammation affected the higher parts of the brain, the youngest, and an irreversible process occurs.
Another situation: the child was born healthy, but has a hereditary predisposition. A variety of factors can lead to the appearance of mental retardation: for example, the common flu. Sometimes mothers say: everything was fine, suddenly - a sharp rise in temperature and a sharp rollback in development. This is most likely the hereditary factor. We usually talk about mental retardation when exposed to adverse factors under the age of 3 years.
What signs should alert the parents of a baby?
Tamara Isaeva: Here are five signs that will allow parents to understand whether their child is at risk of developing certain developmental disorders.
1. The baby does not look for contact with his mother with his eyes, does not respond to his name, he does not have a response to the voice.
2. Child does not sit at six months (with support), did not start walking at one year.
3. A child from 1 to 1.5 years old is not interested in the objective world, toys, does not try to imitate.
4. The child does not have a pointing gesture (he does not point his finger at the toy he wants to receive, at the bottle of juice or water).
5. By the age of three, the child does not begin to say "I".
And what if the child does not speak by the age of 3-4?
Tamara Isaeva: The first thing parents usually notice is that the child does not speak.
I had a case: a child is 7 years old, and he does not eat on his own and does not get dressed. What is more important: talking or dressing yourself? Mom only cares about the speech, "I'll dress him myself." But when we block the skills of dressing and undressing, then we, consequently, block the development of speech, especially its communicative side.
Speech develops and becomes not by itself, but in conjunction with many skills. As a child learns to dress and develop, very subtle differentiated hand movements develop. And this is the development of the articulatory apparatus and speech. Therefore, here it is necessary to think about what comes first and what comes after. That child had mental retardation.
Tamara Isayeva: Here are the textbooks used to teach children with developmental disabilities. Photo: Irina Ivoilova / RG
By the way, in the West they do not make such a diagnosis at all, these children study in ordinary classes. As a rule, their pace suffers, they are slower compared to other students. But if they create favorable conditions, the result will be no worse. Often this is not taken into account, including when passing the exam. For some reason, it is believed that all children work at the same pace. This is wrong.
Where to teach a child with intellectual disabilities - in an inclusive school, a correctional school, or are there children who are not taught at all?
Tamara Isaeva: There are no uneducated children.
Education is, first of all, the development of a person. If a child does not know fractions or the multiplication table, this does not mean that he does not develop. But everyone has their own capabilities, abilities, and on this basis, it is necessary to train such children. In the process of learning, everyone shows abilities. For children with intellectual disabilities, the educational environment is very important. They have very few internal resources, it all depends on how competently, seriously, patiently the defectologist works, who follows the path of restoring disturbed ontogenesis. This effect favorably affects the formation of neural connections in the cerebral cortex.
I can rely on my own pedagogical experience, when my students, after graduation, did not know how to speak, read and did not master writing, like you and me, but at the same time they were socially adapted. And for such people, the most important thing is to be happy in the simplest life.
Photo: Irina Ivoilova/RG
It turns out that not every child can be taught to read and write?
Tamara Isaeva: Someone writes and reads the same as we do, but there is also the so-called alternative writing, global reading methods.
We use the analytic-synthetic method in mastering writing and reading. And there are children who read in whole words. Of course, they have a small vocabulary, but they have it. There is reading at the level of pictograms, symbols. After all, we meet, for example, instructions for new technology, where there is not a word in Russian, but there are pictograms, and we understand everything. So are these children.
Special school students used to have to graduate at 18, no matter what they had learned so far. Now in schools they can be up to 23 years old. What's next?
Tamara Isaeva: If we take a mild degree of mental retardation, then there is infrastructure for such people, the opportunity to find a job. But if the children are heavier, then everything is much sadder. So far, there is only one way for them - to psycho-neurological boarding schools. I once worked for eight years in such a boarding school and I know that many of the patients could live in society.
