"It is easy to develop the intellect, but it is difficult to develop the heart"

What is intellectual disability?

Sometimes, due to incomplete development of the brain, intellectual/cognitive functions are not fully developed in some people and they experience difficulty in learning even simple everyday activities.
This condition is called ‘intellectual disability’ also called ‘mental retardation’. Children with intellectual disabilities have delayed milestones. This means they may sit, crawl, or walk later than other children. Delays in language development are also common. They would find it harder to learn, understand and communicate than other people. They find difficulty in academic learning.
There may be various causes of it most of which are not known. It may happen before or during birth or develop in early infancy due to serious illness affecting the brain. It is a lifelong condition and has significant impact on the life of the person.

There are variations in the levels of intellectual disability and most people have mild to moderate levels. Few need more care and protection because of the severity of their condition. Technically persons with 70 or less IQ scores on psychological tests are termed as having intellectual disability.

What can we do for people who are intellectually challenged?

The greatest injustice to a person with intellectual disability is underestimation of what he or she is capable of achieving. Labels like 'disabled' can only deter a person. The persistent and patient effort in training enables them to be self reliant in many areas.
To ensure that challenged people develop their potential to the fullest extent, it is necessary to provide educational and vocational training to them. Proper education and training enables them to be productive and self reliant to the maximum extent possible. The earlier a challenged person receives intervention the better results it has for him and his family.

Vocational and educational training goes a long way in enabling them to live a quality life. We  need to believe in the abilities of each challenged person, provide encouragement, boost their self confidence and we will be pleasantly surprised by what all they can achieve. Majority of them are lovely people with immense capacity for love and happiness, free from biases and prejudices.

Human mind is a wonderful creation in the entire universe and a superb learning system. As we unravel its learning mechanisms, we would be able to enhance its capacity for learning. However we know enough till now to support the learning needs of persons with intellectual disability. We need to get rid of our myths and take a fresh look at the person and not his/her disability.

Mental Retardation is not only offensive and derogatory term but it is also an inaccurate term because it refers to the incomplete development of the entire mind and not the intellectual functions only. Mind is much more than intellectual functions. Mind also includes emotionality, temperamental variations, inner drives, psychological and emotional needs, desires and aspirations which make us truly human. The term mental retardation robs a person of his/her humanness and we begin to see only the disability and not a human being.

Article by Ms. Megha >>