MENTAL RETARDATION

 Some children are clearly and consistently behind their peers in

academic, social, language and self-care skills that it is
obvious to anyone who interacts with them that they require
special education and related services.
 They experience pervasive and substantial limitations in all or
most areas of development and functioning.
 The largest segment consists of school-aged children with mild
retardation.
 How mental retardation is defines determines what special
educational services many thousands of children are eligible 9or
ineligible) to receive. Thus disagreements among professionals
over what constitutes mental retardation are much more than
academic exercise or philosophical debates.
 A subtle difference between two definitions can determine whether
the label “mental retardation” is associated with a particular
child and whether or not appropriate educational supports are
provided (Luckasson et al., 2002).
 The most frequently used approach to defining and classifying in
mental retardation, one based primarily on the assessment of
intellectual functioning.
 The most recent definition of mental retardation is based on the
level of supports needed for the individual function effectively.

AAMR (American association on Mental Retardation)

 AAMR, the leading professional organization concerned with the

study, treatment, and prevention of mental retardation, has
played a leading role in defining mental retardation.
 In 1973, AAMR published a definition that was incorporated into
IDEA and continues as the basis by most states.
o That definition was published in the organization’s 1983
manual on terminology and classification of mental
retardation:
o “Mental retardation refers to significantly sub-average
general intellectual functioning resulting in or associated
with deficits in adaptive behaviour and manifested during
the developmental period” (Grossman, 1983, p. 11)
IDEA

 In IDEA, mental retardation as defined as “significant subaverage

general intellectual functioning existing functioning existing
concurrently with deficits in adaptive behaviour behavior and
manifested during the developmental period that adversely
affects a child’s educational performance” (34 C.F.R., Sec. 3000.
7[b][5]).

3 CRITERIAS

1) “significant subaverage intellectual functioning”

a) Demonstrated before mental retardation is diagnosed
b) The word “significant” refers to a score of two or more
standard deviations below the means on a standardized
intelligence test (a score of approximately 70 or less)
2) An individual must be well below average in both intellectual
functioning and adaptive behavior.
a) Intellectual functioning is not the sole defining criterion.
3) The deficits in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior
must occur during the developmental period
a) To help distinguish mental retardation from other
disabilities.
i) E.g. impaired performance by an adult due to head indury.
b) “that adversely affects a child’s educational performance”
in the IDEA definition is automatically met when child
exhibits substantial limitations in intellectual functioning
and adaptive behavior.

CLASSIFICATION OF MENTAL RETARDATION

 Persons with mental retardation have been classified by the

degree of level of intellectual impairment, measured by an IQ
test.
 In the professional literature consists of four levels of mental
retardation according to the IQ score shown in the table.

level Intelligence Test Score

Mild retardation 50-55 to approximate 70
Moderate retardation 35-40 to 50-55
Severe retardation 20-25 to 35-40
Profound retardation Below 20-25
Souce: Based on the AAMR’s Classification of mental Retardation
(Grossman, 1983) and the Diagnosis and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders (DSM-IV) (American Psychiatric Association, 1994).

 The range of scores representing the high and low ends of each
level indicates an awareness of the inexactness of intelligence
testing and the importance of clinical judgement in its level of
severity.

DIFFERENT TERMS FOR VARIOUS DEGREES OF MENTAL RETARDATION

 Educable mentally retarded (EMR) or Trainable mentally retarded

(TMR) for mild and moderate condition.
 Children with severe and profound level were not included in the
two-level classification system because they were often denied a
public education and were likely to reside in a state-operated
institution.
o Although one still encounters the terms EMR and TMR today,
most special educators consider them to be archaic and
inappropriate because they suggest predetermined achievement
limits.
(Bierne-Smith, Patton, & Kim, 2006)