Mental retardation is defined as significantly subnormal intellectual functioning for a child’s developmental stage, with problems in self care, home living, communication and social interaction.
It is defined statistically as cognitive performance that is 2SD below the mean of the general population as measures on a standard intelligence testing.
Levels Of Mental Retardation
Mild: Have a Stanford-Binet IQ score of 67 -52 and a WISC-III IQ score of 70 – 55 and are educable.
Moderate: Have a Stanford-Binet IQ score of 51 -36 and a WISC-III IQ score of 54 – 40 and are trainable.
Severe: Have a Stanford-Binet IQ score of 35 -20 and a WISC-III IQ score of 39 – 25 .
Profound: Have a Stanford-Binet IQ score of <20 and a WISC-III IQ score of <24.
Caution must be exercised in interpretation , however because these categories do not reflect the actual functioning level of the tested individual. Children who perform in the severe or profound ranges of MR also are capable of responding to some educational intervention.
Etiology
The etiology of the CNS insult resulting in MR may involve genetic disorders, teratogenic influences, perinatal insults, acquired childhood diseases and environmental and social factors. Mild MR correlates with socioeconomic status although profound MR does not.
Diagnosis and Management
The first step in the diagnosis and management of a child with MR involves consultation and evaluation from several different disciplines in order to identify the child’s function strength and weakness for the purpose of medical and habilitative therapies.
Frequently used laboratory tests include chromosomal analysis and MRI of the brain.
Sometimes the family needs to be reassured about the factors that has cause MR in their child and needs to remove the guilt they feel for the disability.
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