What is Intellectual Disability ?

What is Intellectual Disability?

Intellectual disability is also called "intellectual developmental disorder", and it means that delay in development centered on intelligence is seen from infancy.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare "Basic Survey on Children with Intellectual Disabilities (persons)", the definition is "A state in which some kind of special assistance is required because the disorder of intellectual function appears by the age of 18 and it interferes with daily life. It is located in. ” Intellectual disability is not included if intellectual function declines after the age of 18 due to injury, illness, or aging.

Definition of  Intellectual Disability

So far, there is no universally defined law for intellectual disability. The World Health Organization (WHO) has only provided a guideline. In the whole world, there is only a guideline for supporting people with intellectual disabilities at schools, medical institutions, etc., as well as a guideline for supporting society. This is because intellectual disability is a term that means "a state in which intellectual ability is delayed", and the cause and the way in which disabilities are expressed vary widely and it is difficult to define them. .

Generally, the following three points are said to be common indicators of intellectual disability.

1) There is a clear delay in intellectual ability. A delay in the ability to understand, remember, and judge what is needed when learning and living in society.

2) It is difficult to adapt the behavior to the rules of society and groups. This is called adaptive ability, and it also includes the case where one's behavior cannot be adjusted to the surroundings and situations.

3) That the disorder occurs during development.

The intelligence index is generally used to judge this intellectual disability. The IQ is the so-called IQ (Intelligence Quotient). The IQ value is obtained by deriving the mental age from the results of the measurement test and comparing it with the actual age.