Intellectual Impairments

The picture above shows an example of cooperative learning, a classmate may help another classmate with disabilities negotiate the school day

A definition of the specific condition/disability

Significant limitation or impairment in the permanent capacity for performing cognitive tasks, functions, or problem solving, exhibited by more than one of the following: a slower rate of learning, disorganized patterns of learning, difficulty with adaptive behavior, and/or difficulty understanding abstract concepts.

(i.e. down syndrome, phenylketonuria, fragile x syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome)

A list of characteristics of the particular condition/disability

The most obvious characteristic of a student who has an intellectual impairment is their limited cognitive ability, which is their ability to process information. This limitation shows in their academic work and as a result, these children may lag by two to five grade, specifically in language-related subjects (reading, language arts). Many children with intellectual impairments have problems in central processing, or the classification of a stimulus through the use of memory, reasoning, and evaluation. Memory is another process that students with intellectual disorders have difficulty with. Because students with this disorder show poor performance in the decision-making they have trouble paying attention and have often have poor judgment. Children with intellectual impairments often have a poor linguistic system. Their language develops in the same fashion as a typical child, only more slowly. For example, a child at age 5 would match in linguistic skills a child of 10 with an intellectual disorder whose mental age was 5. People who suffer from intellectual impairments also have trouble acquiring emotional and social skills.

A review of how students with the condition/ disability commonly differ from typical human growth and developmental patterns

There are marked differences in how students with intellectual impairments grow and develop in comparison to the typical child. Students with intellectual impairments lack in their intellectual development, which then in turn causes them trouble when they try to process information and acquire and use language. Children with intellectual disorders also lack in their emotional development.

A summary of instructional strategies including accommodations, modifications, and assistive technologies that may assist a student with this condition/disability in making educational progress

Some instructional strategies teachers may use for students with intellectual impairments may include; positive behavior supports (PBS), scaffolding, and cooperative learning. Positive behavior supports should be used when the teacher is faced with some form of behavior disruption. In this situation the teacher should focus on human motivation and remain positive toward the child. Another strategy teachers may choose to use with students who have intellectual disorders is scaffolding. Scaffolding is when the teacher models the expected behavior and then guides the student through the early stages of understanding. As the student’s understanding increases, the teacher gradually withdraws aid. Cooperative learning is also typically used in classrooms that have students with intellectual disabilities. Cooperative learning is when the teacher gives a task to a small group of students, who are expected to complete the task by working cooperatively with one another. The teacher may assign different responsibilities to different members of the group.

A review of some of the major federal laws regarding special education

Public Law 88-164 authorized funds for training professionals to work with children with special needs and for research and demonstration for students with IDD (intellectual and developmental disabilities) and deafness. These efforts in 1963 were followed by many others, and from that beginning emerged thirty years of legislation to ensure that all children with disabilities have access to an appropriate education.

A descriptor of a community, state, or national organization or agency that provides assistance to individuals with the particular condition/disability and their families

A national organization that specializes in intellectual and developmental disabilities is the NADD (An Association for Persons with Developmental Disabilities and Mental Health Needs). This agency provides a huge amount of information on it’s website about a variety of impairments categorized under intellectual impairments. This website also provides the newest educational products, links to other helpful websites, resources and articles relating to specific intellectual disabilities.

Anastasiow, N., Coleman, MR., Gallagher, J., & Kirk, S. (2009). Educating Exceptional Children: Twelfth Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.