Physical Education · Ch 4 — Physical Education & Sports for CWSN (Children With Special Needs)
Intellectual Disability
Intellectual Disability
Intellectual disability is a condition of significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning that also affects adaptive behaviour. Different domains of adaptive behaviour — the skills that determine how well a person copes with everyday tasks — may be affected. The three domains are:
- Conceptual — language, reading, writing, maths, reasoning, knowledge and memory.
- Social — empathy, social judgement, interpersonal communication, and making and keeping friendships.
- Practical — self-management, personal care, job responsibilities, money management, recreation, and organising school and work tasks.
Put simply, a person with intellectual disability has limitations in two areas at once: intellectual functioning (the ability to learn, reason, make decisions and solve problems) and adaptive behaviour (the skills needed for day-to-day life, such as communicating effectively, interacting with others and taking care of oneself).
Classification by IQ
On the basis of IQ, intellectual disability is classified as mild, moderate, severe or profound. The table below summarises the common attributes of each level:
| Category | IQ | Common attributes |
|---|---|---|
| Mild | 50–55 to 70–75 | The largest group (about 85% of persons with intellectual disability). They typically develop communication and social skills from ages 0–5, have minimal impairment in sensorimotor areas, and are often not easily distinguishable from children without intellectual disability until a later age. |
| Moderate | 35–40 to 50–55 | About 10% of cases. They acquire communication skills in early childhood, benefit from vocational training and, with supervision, can attend to personal care; they struggle to progress beyond a second-grade level in academic tasks, and may find social norms harder in adolescence. |
| Severe | 20–25 to 35–40 | About 3–4% of cases. Little or no communicative speech in early childhood, but during school years they may learn to talk and acquire basic self-care skills; they benefit, to a limited extent, from instruction in basics such as the alphabet, and in adulthood can do simple tasks under close supervision. |
| Profound | below 20–25 | About 1–2% of cases. Considerable impairment of sensorimotor functioning in early childhood; optimal development needs a highly structured environment with constant individualised support. Motor, self-care and communication skills may improve with proper training, and simple tasks may be learned under close supervision. |
Some conditions associated with intellectual disability
A. Down Syndrome
Also known as trisomy 21, Down syndrome is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical-growth delays, mild-to-moderate intellectual disability and characteristic facial features. The average IQ of a young adult with Down syndrome is about 50 (roughly the mental ability of an 8- or 9-year-old), though this varies widely. Characteristic signs at birth can include flat facial features, a small head and ears, a short neck, a bulging tongue, upward-slanting eyes, atypically shaped ears and poor muscle tone. Developmental delay is often mild to moderate, and may show as impulsive behaviour, poor judgement, a short attention span or slow learning.