WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE?

Intelligence refers to general mental capability. Usually it involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experiences which are observed by the person who is under review. Although not perfect, intelligence is represented by Intelligent Quotient (IQ) scores obtained from standardized tests given by a trained professional. In regard to the intellectual criterion for the diagnosis of mental retardation, mental retardation is generally thought to be present if an individual has an IQ test score of approximately 70 or below. An obtained IQ score must always be considered in light of its standard error of measurement, appropriateness and consistency with administration guidelines. Since the standard error of measurement for most IQ tests is approximately 5, the ceiling may go up to 75. This represents a score approximately 2 standard deviations below the mean, considering the standard error of measurement. It is important to remember, however, that an IQ score is only one aspect in determining if a person has mental retardation. Significant limitations in adaptive behavior skills and evidence that the disability was present before age 18 are two additional elements that are critical in determining if a person has mental retardation.

WHAT IS ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR?

Adaptive behavior is the collection of conceptual, social, and practical skills that people have learned so they can function in their everyday lives. Significant limitations in adaptive behavior impact a person’s daily life and affect the ability to respond to a particular situation or to the environment.

Limitations in adaptive behavior can be determined by using standardized tests that are named on the general population including people with disabilities and people without disabilities. On these standardized measures, significant limitations in adaptive behavior are operationally defined as performance that is at least 2 standard deviations below the mean of either

(a) one of the following three types of adaptive behavior conceptual, social or practical or

(b) an overall score on a standardized measure of conceptual, social, and practical skills.

Some specific examples of Adaptive Behavior Skills

Conceptual Skills

Receptive and expressive language

Reading and Writing

Money concepts

Self-directions

Social Skills

Interpersonal

Responsibility

Self-esteem

Gullibility (likelihood of being ticked or manipulated)

Naiveté          

Follows rules

Obey laws

Avoids victimization

Practical Skills

Personal activities of daily living such as eating, dressing, mobility and toileting.

Instrumental activities of daily living such as preparing meals, taking medication, using the telephone, managing money, using transportation and doing

Housekeeping activities.

Occupational skills.

Maintaining a safe environment.

WHAT ARE THE AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS?

The autism spectrum disorders are more common in the pediatric population than are some better known disorders such as diabetes, spinal bifida, or Down syndrome. Prevalence studies have been done in several states and also in the Untied Kingdom, Europe and Asia. A recent study of a U.S. metropolitan area estimated that 3.4 of every 1,000 children 3-10 years old autism. These wide range of prevalence points to need for earlier and more accurate screening for the symptoms of ASD.

The earlier the disorder is diagnosed the sooner the child can be helped through treatment interventions, pediatricians, family physician, day-care providers, teachers, and parents may initially dismiss signs of ASD, optimistically thinking the child is just a little slow and will catch up. Although early intervention has a dramatic impact on reducing symptoms and increasing a child’s ability to grow and learn new skills, it is estimated that only 50 percent of children are diagnosed before kindergarten.

All children with ASD demonstrate deficits in 1) social interaction, 2) verbal and nonverbal communication, and 3) repetitive behaviors or interests. In addition, they will often have unusual responses to sensory experiences, such as certain sounds or the way objects look.

Each of these symptoms runs the gamut from mild to severe. They will present in each individual child differently. For instance, a child may have little trouble learning to read but exhibit extremely poor social interaction. Each child will display communication, social, and behavioral patterns that are individual but fit into the overall diagnosis of ASD.

Children with ASD do not follow the typical patterns of child development. In some children, hints of future problems may be apparent from birth. In most cases, the problems in communication and social skills become more noticeable as the child lags further behind other unusual behaviors become apparent. Some other children start off well enough. Oftentimes between 12 and 36 months old, the differences in the way they react to people and other unusual behaviors become apparent. Some parents report the change as being sudden, and their children start to rejects people, act strangely and lose language and social skills they had previously acquired. In other cases, there is a plateau, or leveling, of progress so that the difference between the child with autism and other children the same age becomes more noticeable.

ASD is defined by a certain set of behaviors that can range from the very mild to the severe. The following possible indicators of ASD were identified on the Public Health Training Network Web cast, Autism among US.

WHAT ARE SUPPORTS?

The concept of supports originated about 15 years ago and it has revolutionized the way habilitation and education services are provided to persons with mental retardation. Rather than mold individuals in to pre-existing diagnostic categories and force them into existing models of service, the supports approach evaluates the specific needs of the individual and then suggests strategies, services and supports that will optimize individual functioning. The supports approach also recognizes that individual needs and circumstances will change over time. Supports were an innovative aspect of the 1992 AAMR manual and they remain critical in the 2002 system. In 2002, they have been dramatically expanded and improved to reflect significant progress over the last decade.

Supports are defined as the resources and individual strategies necessary to promote the development, education, interests and personal well being of a person with mental retardation. Supports can be provided by a parent, friend, teacher, psychologist, doctor or by any appropriate person or agency.

Why are supports important?

Providing individualized supports can improve personal functioning, promote self-determination and societal inclusion, and improve personal well-being of a person with mental retardation. Focusing on supports as the way to improve education, employment, recreation and living environments is an important part of person-centered approaches to providing supports to people with mental retardation.

How do you determine what supports are needed?

AAMR recommends that an individual’s need for supports be analyzed in at least nine key areas such as human development, teaching and education, home living, community living, employment, health and safety, behavior, social and protection and advocacy.

What are some specific examples of supports areas and support activities?

Human Development Activities

• Providing physical development opportunities that include eye-hand coordination, fine motor skills and gross motor activities
• Providing cognitive development opportunities such as using words and images to represent the world and reasoning logically about concrete events
• Providing social and emotional developmental activities to foster trust, autonomy and initiative

Teaching and Education Activities

• Interacting with trainers and teachers and fellow trainee and students
• Participating in making decisions on training and educational activities
• Learning and using problem-solving strategies
• Using technology for learning
• Learning and using functional academics (reading signs, counting change, etc.)
• Learning and using self-determination skills

Home Living Activities

• Using the restroom/toilet
• Laundering and taking care of clothes
• Preparing and eating food
• Housekeeping and cleaning
• Dressing
• Bathing and taking care of personal hygiene and grooming needs
• Operating home appliances and technology
• Participating in leisure activities with the home

Community Living Activities

• Using transportation
• Participating in recreation and leisure activities
• Going to visit friends and family
• Shopping and purchasing goods
• Interacting with community members
• Using public buildings and settings

Employment Activities

• Learning and using specific job skills
• Interacting with co-workers
• Interacting with supervisors
• Completing work related tasks with speed and quality
• Changing job assignments
• Accessing and obtaining crisis intervention and assistance

Health and Safety Activities

• Accessing and obtaining therapy services
• Taking medication
• Avoiding health and safety hazards
• Communicating with health care providers
• Accessing emergency services
• Maintaining a nutritious diet
• Maintaining physical health
• Maintaining mental health/emotional well-being

Behavioral Activities

• Learning specific skills or behaviors
• Learning and making appropriate decisions
• Accessing and obtaining mental health treatments
• Accessing and obtaining substance abuse treatments
• Incorporating personal preferences into daily activities
• Maintaining socially appropriate behavior in public
• Controlling anger and aggression

Social Activities

• Socializing within the family
• Participating in recreation and leisure activities
• Making appropriate sexual decisions
• Socializing outside the family
• Making and keeping friends
• Communicating with others about personal needs
• Engaging in loving and intimate relationships
• Offering assistance and assisting others

Protection and Advocacy

• Advocating for self and others
• Managing money and personal finances
• Protecting self from exploitation
• Exercising legal rights and responsibilities
• Belonging to and participating in self-advocacy/support organizations
• Obtaining legal services

RARE AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS

Rett syndrome is relatively rare, affecting almost exclusively females, one out of 10,000 to 15,000. After a period of normal development, sometime between 6 and 18 months, autism-like symptoms begin to appear. The little girl’s mental and social development regresses—she no longer responds to her parents and pulls away from any social contact. If she has been talking, she stops: she cannot control her feet: she wrings her hands. Some of the problems associated with Rett syndrome can be treated. Physical, occupational and speech therapy can help with problems of coordination, movement and speech.

Scientists sponsored by the national institute of child health and human development have discovered that a mutation in the sequence of a single gene can cause Rett syndrome. This discovery may help doctors slow or stop the progress of the syndrome. It may also lead to methods of screening for Rett syndrome, thus enabling doctors to start treating these children much sooner, and improving the quality of life these children experience.

What are the autism spectrum disorders?

The autism spectrum disorders are more common in the pediatric population than are some better known disorders such as diabetes, spinal befida, or Down syndrome. Prevalence studies have been done in several states and also in the Untied Kingdom, Europe and Asia. A recent study of a U.S. metropolitan area estimated that 3.4 of every 1,000 children 3-10 years old autism. This wide range of prevalence points to need for earlier and more accurate screening for the symptoms of ASD.

The earlier the disorder is diagnosed the sooner the child can be helped through treatment interventions, pediatricians, family physician, day-care providers, teachers, and parents may initially dismiss signs of ASD, optimistically thinking the child is just a little slow and will catch up. Although early intervention has a dramatic impact on reducing symptoms and increasing a child’s ability to grow and learn new skills, it is estimated that only 50 percent of children are diagnosed before kindergarten.

All children with ASD demonstrate deficits in 1) social interaction, 2) verbal and nonverbal communication, and 3) repetitive behaviors or interests. In addition, they will often have unusual responses to sensory experiences, such as certain sounds or the way objects look.

Each of these symptoms runs the gamut from mild to severe. They will present in each individual child differently. For instance, a child may have little trouble learning to read but exhibit extremely poor social interaction. Each child will display communication, social, and behavioral patterns that are individual but fit into the overall diagnosis of ASD.

Children with ASD do not follow the typical patterns of child development. In some children, hints of future problems may be apparent from birth. In most cases, the problems in communication and social skills become more noticeable as the child lags further behind other unusual behaviors become apparent. Some other children start off well enough. Oftentimes between 12 and 36 months old, the differences in the way they react to people and other unusual behaviors become apparent. Some parents report the change as being sudden, and their children start to rejects people, act strangely and lose language and social skills they had previously acquired. In other cases, there is a plateau, or leveling, of progress so that the difference between the child with autism and other children the same age becomes more noticeable.

ASD is defined by a certain set of behaviors that can range from the very mild to the severe. The following possible indicators of ASD were identified on the Public Health Training Network Web cast, Autism among US.

MULTIPLE VULNERABILITIES

Many, if not most, of the people with mental retardation convicted of capital murder are doubly and triply disadvantaged. In general, America’s prison population is made up disproportionately of poor people, minorities, the mentally ill, and those who were abused as children. Not surprisingly, the mentally retarded people who become enmeshed in the criminal justice system usually share one or more of these characteristics: many of them come from poor families, suffered from severe abuse as children, and/or face mental illness in addition to their retardation.

A history of severe childhood abuse is particularly common among defendants with mental retardation convicted of capital murder. While the relationship between abuse and adult behavior is complex, "Strong evidence exists that a person who was abused as a child is at risk of suffering long-term effects that may contribute to his violent behavior as an adult," particularly if the abuse was severe physical abuse that caused serious injury to the child. The long-term negative effects of childhood abuse may be even greater for people whose cognitive abilities are impaired and whose ability to navigate in the world is already seriously compromised by mental retardation.

Luis Mata was executed in Arizona in 1996, convicted of rape and murder. Mata suffered organic brain damage from multiple medical traumas and had an I.Q. tested variously between 63 and 70. Mata's alcoholic father beat all of his sixteen children, but he picked primarily on Luis, subjecting him to constant physical abuse--kicking him, punching him, and beating him with electrical cords. When Luis Mata was six, he fall off a truck, badly fracturing his skull, but his family was too poor to obtain medical treatment for him. This and other medical traumas may have contribute to his neurological deficits.

Freddie Lee Hall, with an I.Q. of 60, is on death row in Florida, convicted of killing a young pregnant woman, Hall was one of seventeen children in an impoverished family. As a child, he was "tortured by his mother, sometimes stuffed in a sack and swung over a fire, or tied to the rafters and beaten." His mother even encouraged neighbors to beat her son, and she buried him in the ground as a "cure" for his asthma.

Robert Anthony Carter, who had mental retardation, was convicted of a murder committed when he was seventeen and was executed in 1998. One of sic children, Carter was abused by both his mother and stepfather, who whipped and beat him with belts and cords. Carter's siblings would be forced to hold him down while his mother beat him. At other times, his mother would wait until Carter was asleep and then begin to whip him. He also suffered from several serious head injuries as a child - including one in which he was hit so hard with a baseball bat on the head that the bat broke.

Many capital defendants with mental retardation also suffer from mental illness. Although the two conditions are often confused, they are different disorders. Mental illness almost always includes disturbance of some sort in emotional life; intellectual functioning may be intact, except where thinking breaks with reality (as in hallucinations). A person who is mentally ill, e.g. who is bipolar or suffers from schizophrenia, can have a very high I.Q., while mentally retarded person always has a low I.Q.  A person who is mentally ill, e.g. who is bipolar or suffers from schizophrenia, can have a very high I.Q., while a mentally retarded person always has a low I.Q. A person who is mentally ill may improve or be cured with therapy or medication, but mental retardation is a permanent state. Finally, mental illness may develop during any stage of life, while mental retardation is manifest by the age of eighteen. The percentage of mentally retarded people who are also mentally ill is not known with any certainty; estimates vary from 10 percent to 40 percent. Persons who suffer from both mental illness and mental retardation are particularly disadvantaged in dealing with the criminal justice system because each condition can compound the effects of the other.

Nollie Lee Martin had an I.Q. of 59 and was further mentally impaired as a result of several serious head injuries he had received in childhood. As a child he was physically and sexually abused and came from a family with a history of schizophrenia. His mental history included psychosis, suicidal depression, paranoid delusions, and self-mutilation. After being convicted in 1978 of kidnapping, robbery, and murder in Florida, Martin spent more than thirteen years on death row mostly incoherent and rocking back and forth on the floor of his cell. He required constant medication for his mental illness and hallucinations. He beat his head and fists against the cell wall and would mutilate himself. He was executed in 1992.

Emile Duhamel was convicted of the aggravated sexual assault and murder of a nine-year-old girl in 1984. He had an I.Q. of 56 and organic brain disease and suffered as well from paranoid schizophrenia and dementia. After a decade of legal proceedings over his competency for execution, Duhamel died in his Texas death row cell in 1998.

For the most part, statutes prohibiting the execution of persons with mental retardation adopt a version of this AAMR definition Seven States and the federal government do not specify an I.Q. level in their definition, making this an issue for the court to determine based on expert testimony. Two state statutes say that an I.Q. of 70 or below "shall be presumptive evidence of mental retardation," thus leaving open the possibility that a person whose I.Q. is above 70 may also, through expert testimony, estabilish his or her mental retardation.

The intellectual capacity of children was historically the benchmark for assessing the extent of retardation. In 1910, the American Association on Mental Deficiency identifies the three "levels of impairment" characterizing the "feebleminded”: there were "idiots", people "whose development is arrested at the level of a 2 year old";imbeciles," people whose development is equivalent to that of a 2 to 7 year old at maturity"; and morons," people "whose mental development is equivalent to that of a 7 to 12 year old at maturity." Fred J. Biasini, et al., The  terminology entered common discourse as epithets reflecting the country's shameful history of prejudice and mistreatment of people with mental retardation. The punitive, exclusionary, and racist historical manipulation of the concept of "mental retardation" are addressed in Robert Perske, Deadly Innocence?

With the upper ceiling on mental retardation reduced from an I.Q. of 85 to an I.Q. of 70, far fewer Americans are today diagnosed as "mentally retarded" than before. Although the lower I.Q. ceiling for mental retardation was agreed upon in part to avoid applying stigmatizing labels to so many people whose intelligence was below average, the changed I.Q. ceiling ironically had the effect of cutting from social services such as special education many people who would have otherwise benefited from the extra support. Scholars have emphasized that because of the possibilities of testing error, a person with an I.Q. of up to 75 should be considered "retarded" if the diagnoses is necessary to ensure access to special education or other assistance.

Mental Retardation in America: A Historical Reader_III

(Part-III)

A problem in reading the various chapters of this book, which is also true of working with mental retardation in the real world, is the wide range of persons who are classified as mentally retarded. This is illustrated at one extreme by the vignettes of formerly institutionalized young men inducted into the armed services during World War II, who, in many instances, served effectively. In that time of great social need, it was these soldiers’ abilities, not their disabilities that counted. At the other extreme, in my work I encounter youngsters whose mental retardation is insignificant as compared with their severe disorders of behaviors. Finally, it is the behavioral disorder and not intellectual retardation that is decisive and destructive to family life. This suggests a fundamental flaw in the concept of mental retardation: “mental” life constitutes not only intellectual ability (as measured by IQ tests), but also attributes that are emotional and moral (for lack of a better word) as well. The overvaluation of IQ seems to be leading to decisions regarding capital punishment. The underestimation of emotional and behavioral dyscontrol and the systematic abolition of residential placement for children still give rise to situations as burdensome and cruel for families as any described in this book.

Mental Retardation in America tells a story with a broad sweep—how a society has dealt with mental retardation through profound social and scientific changes. At this end, we are in many respects back where we started, with retarded children cared for within their families. The plot is powerful, the questions profound, and the answers that have been given over the years show the usual flaws and faults of most human endeavors.

Mental Retardation in America: A Historical Reader_II

(Part-II)

The second equally influential study was The Kalliakak Family; A Study in the Heredity of Feeble Mindedness by Henry Goddard, 1912. Inspired by the new Mendelism, the study traced back six generations of the family of a young institutionalized woman and found an appalling amount of defectiveness. Yet there was also information about “a good family of the same name.” it emerged, of course, that the forebear met “a feeble-minded girl by whom he became the father of a feeble-minded son.”  Subsequently the father “married a respectable girl of good family, “by whom he produced children with “a marked tendency toward professional careers,” who had “married into the best families. . . . Signers of the declaration of independence ….etc.” Goddard invented the pseudonym kallikak by combining a Greek root meaning “beauty” (kallos) with one meaning “bad” (kakos). The lesson was clear and dramatic: the study linked medical and moral deviance and fused the new Mendelian laws with the old biblical injunction that “the sins of the fathers shall be visited on the sons”

These ideas fueled the eugenics movement and the campaign for sterilization of the mentally retarded, which, according to the editors, was “the nadir of the American experience with mental retardation.” The Supreme Court upheld eugenic sterilization in 1927, with Oliver Wendell Holmes’s pronouncement that “three generations of imbeciles is enough.” After World War II and the revelation of Nazi experience with eugenics, support for sterilization faded. The sterilization issue inspired writers—especially Steinbeck and Faulkner—to explore the lives of mentally, retarded characters in works that are sensitively reviewed in this book.

After World War II, and with the ensuing general prosperity, the activism of parents on the behalf of their physically and mentally handicapped children arose; such activism was inspired by a new belief in human rights after the Nazi atrocities and by the “intense middle-class familialism” of the postwar years. This attitude led to a desire that retarded children be a part of their families and receive the same degree of care and concern—and ultimately the same services, including education—as “normal children.” Deinstitutionalization followed, and in 1975 Congress enacted a guarantee of free public education to children with disabilities by passing the Education for All handicapped Children Act. The special role of President John F. Kennedy, his sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and the rest of the Kennedy family in supporting services—including the Special Olympics, an important example of the “ideology of normalization”—and advocating for the mentally retarded persons should be noted. Further steps were taken to bring persons with mental retardation under the equal protection of the laws as American citizens; these measures included the ruling that people should be served in the least restrictive environment and the decisions that established the community as the site of services for people with mental retardation and disallowed that condition as the sole justification for institutionalization. 

Mental Retardation in America: A Historical Reader_I

(Part-I)

This is highly readable and well-edited historical anthology, a wide-ranging collection that deals with mental retardation over two centuries. The focus is on the views and actions of society. The book deserves perusal by anyone interested in mental retardation.

            The editor consider the history of retardation in the context of general history of the recognition of “Mongolism” by John Landon Down, the racial detour that accompanied that recognition, and eventual delineation of trisomy 21 as the cause; the other is a treatise on the pathology of mental retardation by Dr. William Fish, of the Albany Medical College, which he wrote in 1879. The treatise is welcome fare for a physician reader. Discussed are consanguine marriages, abnormalities of the “minute structure of the brain,” microcephaly, epilepsy, and cretinism in Switzerland (…the precise element or elements producing it have not as yet been determined”), hydrocephaly, trauma and paralysis. Equally clear is Dr. Fish’s prescription, “The necessity for training schools and asylums for the reception of the idiotic and imbecile is now unquestioned….[Its is] the duty of society to provide for these feeble ones… An idiot child in the family of a laboring man is a burden weighing heavily upon him and may indirectly by the means of rendering the whole family dependent on the state for support.”

This rather straightforward approach contrasts with the complexity of the history of mental retardation in American society, which is reflective of the larger course of events in American society. The full sweep of that history is outlined from retarded persons functioning as integral parts of their families in the Colonial and early rural United Stats to the almshouses of the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries, where the poor, infirm, insane and idiotic were conflated in conditions of indescribable depravity. Later came the specialization of institution for epileptics and the retarded. The pressures of urbanization and industrialization the needs of immigrant families and the application of scientific concepts to the definition of retardation, e.g., the advent of intelligence tests and the familiar categorization of the retarded as idiots, imbeciles and morons) led to the heyday of institutionalization. Between 1870 and 1880, there was a fivefold increase in the number of feeble-minded people.

Social forces and scientific interest led to intense focus on and very convoluted thinking about the retarded. The 19^th century view of degeneracy (roughly synonymous with bad heredity) led theorists to conceive of social problems such as insanity, poverty, intemperance and criminality as well as idiocy as interchangeable. This view was expounded in “The Jukes” A Study Crime, pauperism Disease and heredity by Richard Dugdale, 1875, a study of a rural clan that over seven generations produced 1200 bastards, beggars, murderers, prostitutes, thieves and syphilitics. 

MENTAL RETARDATION AND CRIME

The vast majority of people with mental retardation never break the law. Nevertheless, mentally retarded people may be disproportionately represented in America’s persons. Although people with mental retardation constitute somewhere between 2.5 and 3 percent of U.S. population, experts estimate they may constitute between 2 and 10 percent of the prison population. The disproportionate number of persons with mental retardation in the incarcerated population most likely reflects the fact that people with this impairment who break the law are more likely to be caught, more likely to confess and be convicted, and less likely to be paroled. It may also be that some of the people with mental retardation who are serving the prison sentences are innocent, but they confessed to crimes they did not commit because of their characteristic suggestibility and desire to please authority figures. See Section IV below.

As with people of normal intelligence, many factors can prompt people with mental retardation to commit crimes, including unique personal experiences, poverty, environmental influences and individual characteristics. Attributes common to mental retardation may, in particular cases, also contribute to criminal behavior. The very vulnerabilities that cause problems for people with mental retardation in the most routine daily interactions can, at times, lead to tragic violence.

Many people with mental retardation are picked upon, victimized and humiliated because of their disability. The desire for approval and acceptance and the need for protection can lead a person with mental retardation to do whatever others tell him. People with mental retardation can fall prey when people with greater intelligence decide to take advantage of them, and they become the unwitting tools of others. Many of the cases in which people with mental retardation have committed murder involved other participants—who did not have mental retardation—and/or occurred in the context of crimes, often robberies, that were planned or instigated by other people. As one expert in mental retardation has noted, “Most people with mental retardation don’t act alone. They are usually dependent. They are never the ringleader or the leader of gang.”

“Joe, a mentally retarded man, admired tough-talking local drug dealers and sought to befriend them. One day his drug dealer “friends” gave Joe a gun and instructed him to go into a store and take money from the clerk. They told him, however, “Don’t shoot the guy unless you have to. “Joe hid for while, and then entered the store, but he forgot his instructions. “He panicked and couldn’t remember the plan. He shot the guy and forgot to rob the store.”

Billy Dwayne White, a teenager with mental retardation, allied himself with older men in the neighborhood, one of whom testified: “When Billy started hanging around us he was real scared and timed. We told him that he would have to change. We taught him how to steal. We would get him to do things that were wrong by telling him that he was a coward if he didn’t and that he could only be in our gang if he showed us that he had courage…we could persuade him to do these things because he was easily misled.

People with mental retardation may also engage in criminal behavior because of their characteristically poor impulse control, difficulty with long-term thinking, and difficulty handling stressful and emotionally fraught situations. They may not be able to predict the consequences of their acts or resist a strong emotional response. The homicides committed by the people with mental retardation acting alone are almost without exception unplanned, spur of the moment acts of violence in the context of panic, fear, or anger, often committed when another crime, such as a robbery, went wrong. For example, William Smith, I.Q. 65, tried to take money from “old Dan,” a friendly elderly storekeeper he had known all his life. When Dan resisted, smith panicked and lashed out, killing him.

Low intellectual skills and limited planning capacities mean that people who have mental retardation are more likely than people of normal intelligence to get caught if they commit crimes. As a result, they make goof “fall guys” for more sophisticated criminals. A suspect with mental retardation is also less likely to know how to avoid incriminating himself, hire a lawyer and negotiate a plea.

MANIFESTATIONS BEFORE THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN

Mental retardation is present from childhood. It can be caused by any condition which impairs development of the brain before, during, or after birth. The causes are numerous: hereditary factors; genetic abnormalities (e.g. Down’s syndrome); poor prenatal care; infections during pregnancy; abnormal delivery; illness during infancy; toxic substances )e.g. consumption of alcohol by the pregnant mother; exposure of the child to lead, mercury or other environmental toxins); physical abuse; and malnutrition, among others. Regardless of the cause, part of the definition of mental retardation is that it manifests itself during an individual’s developmental period, usually deemed to be birth through age eighteen. Many psychiatrists argue that the age before which signs of retardation must become manifest should be raised from eighteen to twenty-two, to reflect the difficulties in obtaining accurate age records for many people with this disability and the differing rates at which people develop.

An ordinary adult cannot suddenly “become” mentally retarded. An adult may, for reasons related to accident or illness, suffer a catastrophic loss in intellectual functioning and adaptive skills, but this would not make him or her “mentally retarded.” Since by definition mental retardation starts during childhood. One implications of this is that mental retardation is virtually impossible for an adult to fake: when evaluating whether an adult is mentally retarded, testers look not only at I.Q. test results, but also at school reports, childhood test records, and other evidence that would show whether his or her intellectual and adaptive problems developed during childhood.

Early diagnosis can help the person with mental retardation obtain access to appropriate special education, training, clinical programs, and social services during important developmental years – as well as through life. With help from family, social workers, teachers, and friends, many mentally retarded people succeed in simple jobs, maintain their own households, marry, and give birth to children of normal intelligence. But, although support and services can improve the life functioning and opportunities for a person with retardation, they cannot cure the condition. There is no “Cure’ or mental retardation.

Frequently Asked Questions about Mental Retardation

Where can I find detailed information about the 2002 AAMR definition of mental retardation?

The released 10^th edition of Mental Retardation: Definition, Classification, and systems of supports discusses the 2002 AAMR definition and classification system in great detail. It presents the latest thinking about the mental retardation and includes important tools and strategies to determine if an individual has mental retardation along with detailed information about developing a personal plan of individualized supports. It is an available from AAMR through the Website.

What is the official AAMR definition of mental retardation?

Mental retardation Is a disability characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills. This disability originates before the age of 18.

A complete and accurate understanding of mental retardation involves realizing that mental retardation refers to a particular state of functioning that begins in childhood, has many dimensions, and is affected positively by individualized supports. As a model of functioning, it includes the contexts and environment within which the person functions and interacts and requires a multidimensional and ecological approach that reflects the interaction of the individual with the environment, and the outcomes of that interaction with regards to independence, relationship, societal contributions, participation in school and community, and personal well being.

What factors must be considered when determining if a person has mental retardation and developing an individualized support plan?

When using the AAMR definition, classification and systems of supports professionals

And other team members must:

1. Evaluate limitations in present functioning within the context of the individual’s age peers and culture;                                                                                                                       
2. Take into account the individual’s cultural and linguistic difference as well as communication, sensory, motor, and behavioral factors;                                                        
3. Recognize that within an individual limitations often coexist with strengths;                                                                                                                             
4. Describes limitations so that an individualized plan of needed supports can be developed; and                                                                                                                 
5. Provide appropriate personalized supports to improve the functioning of a person with mental retardation.

Has AAMR always had the same definition of mental retardation?

No. AAMR has updated the definition of mental retardation ten times since 1908. Changes in definition have occurred when there is new information, or there are changes in clinical practice or breakthroughs in scientific research. The 10^th edition of Mental Retardation: Definition, Classification and systems of supports contains a comprehensive update to the landmark 1992 system and provides important new information, tools and strategies for the field and for anyone concerned about people with Mental Retardation.

What is a disability?

A disability refers to personal limitations that represent a substantial disadvantage when attempting to function in society. A disability should be considered within the context of the environment, personal factors, and the need for individualized supports.

What are the causes of Mental Retardation?

The causes of mental retardation can be divided into biomedical, social behavioral and educational risk factors that interact during the life of an individual and /or across generations from parent to child. Biomedical factors are related to biologic process, such as genetic disorders or nutrition. Social factors are related to social and family interaction, such as child stimulation and adult responsiveness. Behavioral factors are related to harmful behaviors, such as mental substance abuse. And educational factors are related to harmful behaviors, such as family and educational supports that promote mental development and increases in adaptive skills. Also, factors present during one generation can influence the outcomes of the next generation. By understanding inter-generational causes appropriate supports can be used to prevent and reverse the effects of risk factors.

What is the AAMR Mission?

Founded in 1876, AAMR is the world’s oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization of professionals concerned about mental retardation. With headquarters in Washington, DC, AAMR has a constituency of more than 50,000 people and an active core membership of 7,500 in United States and in 55 other countries. The mission of AAMR is to promote progressive policies, sound research, effective practices, and universal rights for people with intellectual disabilities.