About Intellectual Disability

     According to the definition given by American Association on Mental Deficiency, intellectual disability refers to the functions of intelligence being significantly more deficient than normality during the period of development (from conception to eighteen years old) and accompanied with defects of adaptation. When one is with intellectual disability, his/ her abilities to learn, deal, understand, and adapt are significantly poorer than same age peers.

     Intellectual disability is not temporary. Instead, it is a long-term unusual development. Individuals with intellectual disability have difficulties to adapt to the environments and absorb learning experiences initiatively in cases of communication, self-caring, living, social ability, involvement in community, self-introduction, health, safety, functional learning ability, leisure activity, and working.

      Also, there is a big difference among individuals with intellectual disability. The scale of intellectual disability is divided into mild, moderate, severe, and extremely severe. Even among individuals classified into the same type of intellectual disability have different levels of severity.

     Symptoms of intellectual disability include deficient intelligence, Down syndrome, Autism, cerebral palsy, emotional disturbance, multiple disorders, and abnormal behaviors. The above mentioned reasons affect an individual’s intelligence and ability to adapt society.

     In short, each cause of intellectual disability and degree are different. In order to improve the current situations, systematic individual learning plans and pragmatic teaching are essential. Hence, various service designs mapping onto individual needs are necessary.