Intellectual disability: definition and types

People with intellectual disabilities have fewer cognitive resources or less developed cognitive resources than would be expected, taking into account their chronological age. This would increase the cost of learning, in addition to having to make 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’s population.

But it is important to highlight that Intellectual disability is not a mental illness, but a developmental disorder. All people with this type of disability are essentially like us: they have their own dreams, interests, tastes and preferences. In this sense, it is important not to stigmatize the disease and for that, what better than knowing a little more about it!

Intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior

Intellectual disability can be of different degrees and each of them implies difficulties. It manifests itself with problems with reasoning, planning, problem solving, abstract thinking and learning. All this due to a slow and incomplete acquisition of cognitive skills.

Their adaptive capacities may also be very limited, both conceptually, socially and practically. Therefore, their ability to express themselves linguistically or their reading and writing skills are poorly developed, as well as their sense of responsibility or self-esteem.

When it comes to everyday activities, such as grooming, personal care or preparing food, they may have a variable level of autonomy depending on the degree of disability. This variability also exists in instrumental or mechanical activities.

Affectation of your health and social interactions

This disability It may be accompanied by certain alterations related to physical and mental health. In turn, all of this can affect the rest of the dimensions.

Some syndromes that can cause intellectual disability are: Rett, Dravet, Prader-Willi, Down, Asperger’s, Fragile X or Martín and Bell syndromes. Likewise, it has a higher prevalence in diseases such as obesity, diabetes, HIV and STDs or dementia.

Their communication, interaction or social participation are also affected. His intellectual and adaptive limitations make it impossible for this person to participate in the life of his community in a normal way. This It harms all areas: home, school, work and leisure time.

The role of IQ

IQ alone is not a sufficient criterion to make a diagnosis of intellectual disability. In addition to defining intelligence quantitatively, it is necessary to do a more in-depth evaluation of the person’s intellectual functioning.

The IC is understood as the relationship that exists between mental age and chronological age of the person. The first refers to the age that corresponds to him according to his intellectual development. That is, how much you perform intellectually compared to the average level of your reference group. Chronological age is biological age.

It is considered that There is some intellectual disability if the IQ is less than 70. The other extreme, giftedness, is diagnosed when this index is above 130. It is precisely the IQ that is used to classify the degree of this disability.

Possible causes

Among the main causes of intellectual disability are:

Genetic conditions. Presence of abnormal genes inherited from parents, errors when genes are combined, etc.Problems during pregnancy. When the baby does not achieve optimal development in the womb, it can trigger disability. It also includes the consumption of substances such as alcohol or contracting a disease such as rubella.Problems at birth. Lack of oxygen during birth is one of the most common cases.Health problems. Diseases such as meningitis can cause disability. As well as extreme malnutrition.

Types of intellectual disabilities

According to the DSM-IV it is classified as mild, moderate, severe and profound.

Mild (IQ 50-55 to 70)

85% of people with disabilities have a mild disability.

Conceptual domain: low impairment of abstract thinking, functional skills, cognitive flexibility and short-term memory.Social domain: immature social interactions, which increases the risk that the person with a disability will be manipulated.Practical domain: It is necessary that they have supervision, guidance and assistance when carrying out tasks in their daily lives. This help is very important, especially in stressful situations. They often do not differ from other children without this disability until they are older.

Moderate (IQ 35-40 to 50-55)

10% of people with disabilities have a moderate disability.

Conceptual domain: require ongoing assistance to finish daily activities. Sometimes it is even necessary for other people to assume some of their responsibilities. They are people who, with moderate supervision, are capable of acquiring skills for their own personal care. They can carry out unskilled or semi-skilled work, but always with supervision.Social domain: When it comes to communicating verbally, their language is less rich and complex than that of people without disabilities. This means that they cannot correctly interpret some social cues and have problems creating new relationships.Practical domain: With continued support and instruction they can develop certain skills and abilities.

Severe (IQ 20-25 to 35-40)

3-4% of people with disabilities have severe disabilities.

Conceptual domain: very limited, especially with numerical concepts. Support must be important, constant and in many areas.Social domain: Their oral language is very elementary, their sentences are grammatically simple and their vocabulary is very limited. His communications are very simple, they are limited to the here and now.Practical domain: Supervision must be constant for all the tasks you have to perform in daily life.

Deep (IQ 20-25)

Although they are a minority (1%-2%), most of these people have a neurological disease identified and explains his or her disability.

Conceptual domain: Its deficit is manifest. They only consider the physical world and non-symbolic processes. 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 domain: poor understanding of verbal and gestural communication. Their way of expressing themselves 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 seems 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 never forget is that before disability comes the person, comes the person. Someone with feelings, just like us, someone with dreams, just like us, and someone with many things to contribute to others, just like us.

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