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?
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.
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 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.
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.
Moderate (QI 35-40 to 50-55)
10% of people with disabilities have a moderate disability.
Severe (QI 20-25 to 35-40)
3% - 4% of people with disabilities have a serious disability.
Deep (QI 20 - 25)
Although they are a minority (1% - 2%), most of these people have an identified neurological disease that explains their failure.
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.
