MENTAL

RETARDATION
PERSON WITH MENTAL
RETARDATION
 HISTORY
Retarded comes from the Latin “retardere”, “to
make slow, delay or hinder” meant mental delayed.
This term was recorded in 1426.
Mentally retarded was used to replace terms like
“idiot, moron and imbecile”
Mental Retardation we’re invented in the middle of
the 20th century.
Mental Retardation also known as Intellectual
Disability.
Caliph Al-Walid- built one of the first care homes
and hospital for intellectually disable.
Thomas Willis (17th century)- provided
the first description of intellectual disability
as a disease.
Alfred Binet (1905)- produced the first
standardized test for measuring the
intelligence in children.
Moron/ Mental Retarded was an invented
word by a psychologist named Henry
Goddard. It classify people with mild
intellectual disabilities
 Goal
“Maximize their potential in every
area of life despite their mental
condition. They will trained in
social skills and self-control not
only in skills but in academic
areas”
 Mental Retardation
 “Mental retardation refers to significantly
sub-average general intellectual
functioning resulting in or associated with
concurrent impairments in adaptive
behavior & manifested during the
developmental period”
( American Association on Mental
Defiency,1983)
 Mental Retardation
IDEA defines Mental Retardation as:
 significantly sub average general
intellectual functioning, existing
concurrently with deficits in adaptive
behavior and manifested during the
developmental period, that adversely
affects a child’s educational performance
Mental retardation manifests
before age 18
 MR affects 1-3% of
population
 Substantial limitations in present
functioning
 Significantly sub-average
intellectual functioning
 Limitations in the adaptive skills
or behavior
 Related limitations in the
adaptive skills areas
 Classification of
Mental Retardation
• in the previous American Association on
Mental Retardation classification system, there
are four levels that are still widely used today
(based on IQ score):
CLASSIFICATION IQ SCORE
Mild MR 55 to 70
Moderate MR 40 to 54
Severe MR 25 to 39
Profound MR Below 25
Four Categories Of Mental
Retardation According To
The Intensity Of Needed
Supports
1. Intermittent Support
 are on “as needed” basis, that the
person needs help only at certain
period of time and not all the
time.
 2. Limited supports
 are required consistently, though not on a
daily basis. The support needed of a non-
intensive nature.
3. Extensive Supports
are needed on a regular basis, daily supports
are required in some environments.
4. Pervasive Supports
 are daily extensive supports, perhaps of a life-
sustaining nature required in multiple
environments.
 Causes of Mental
Retardation
There are more than 250 identified causes
of mental retardation. The AAMR classifies
the causes or etiological factors based on:
Time of onset
A.Prenatal or Biological (before birth)
B. Perinatal (during birth)
C. Postnatal and Environmental (after birth)
 PRENATAL OR
BIOLOGICAL
• During conception of pregnancy until birth are
chromosomal disorders such as:
Down syndrome
Klinefelter syndrome
Fragile X syndrome
 Prader-Willi syndrome
Phenylketonuria
William syndrome
CHROSOMAL CAUSE CHARACTERISTICS
DISORDERS
 DOWN  Chromosomal  Flat
SYNDROME abnormality  broad face
 Trisomy 21st  Small ears and nose
 Was named after Dr. – in which the  Upward slanting eyes
Langdon Down 21st set of  Small mouth with short
 The best known and chromosomes roof
well researched is a triplet  Protruding tongue
biological condition rather a pair  Hypertonia or floppy
associated with often results in muscles
mental retardation moderate  Shorter life span
 affects about 1 in level of MR.  Sexually underdeveloped
1,000 live births.  sterile
CHROSOMAL CAUSE CHARACTERISTICS
DISORDERS
 KLINEFELTER  Extra X  Male sex organs are
SYNDROME chromosome underdeveloped:
resulting to: XXY unusually small
 Male are  XXY is usually testicles
commonly affected caused by what is  Sterile
called  Has female secondary
nondisjunction. sex characteristics:
 Nondisjunction breast enlargement and
happens when a other feminine
pair of sex characteristics
chromosomes fails  Less-muscular bodies
to separate during  Wider hips, low
egg (or sperm) growth of facial hair
formation.
CHROSOMAL CAUSE CHARACTERISTICS
DISORDERS
 Fragile x  A triplet or  Males: Intellectual
syndrome repeat Disability, large ears, long
mutation on face, soft skin, large
 Most common MR testicles, flat feet, double-
the X
next to DS jointed fingers. They may
 Occurs in both
chromosome
also have: social anxiety,
gender but males interferes with
poor-eye contact, tactile
are mostly affected the production defensiveness, ritualistic
 Majority of males of FMR-1 forms of greeting
experience mild to protein which  Females: milder
moderate MR is essential for presentation of the
(childhood) and normal brain characteristics
moderate to severe functioning.
MR (adulthood)
CHROSOMAL CAUSE CHARACTERISTICS
DISORDERS
 WILLIAM  WS is caused by  Elfin or dwarf-like
SYNDROME the deletion of a features (e.g. small eye
portion of openings, broad
 Results in learning chromosome 7 forehead, short nose
problems, attention  Deletion of with a broad tip, full
deficit disorder, chromosomes cheeks, wide mouth with
anxiety, phobias but are due to full lips, and dental
they have outgoing random events problems)
personality that occur in  They lack reserve
 Occurs equally in eggs or sperm toward strangers
both male and from their  Weak in visual-spatial
female and in every parents skills
culture  Often hyperactive
CHROSOMAL CAUSE CHARACTERISTICS
DISORDERS
 PRADER-WILLI  PWS is caused  Infants: floppy- muscles,
SYNDROME by the deletion feeding difficulties,
of a portion of delayed development
Syndrome chromosome 15  Childhood: insatiable
disorder  May also occur appetite that may result
 Associated with if the person to chronic overeating
mild retardation (hyperplasia) or obesity
has a copy of  Behavior Problems are
and learning chromosome 15 common: impulsivity,
disability from the aggressiveness, OCD
maternal side and tantrums.
instead of each
of the parent
CHROSOMAL CAUSE CHARACTERISTICS
DISORDERS
Phenylketonuria  PKU is inherited  Symptoms may
if both the mother include: beh. And
and the father is a social problems,
 Inborn errors of
carrier of the seizures or jerking
metabolism
 Genetically inherited defective gene movements,
 A child is born without  Because of the hyperactivity, skin
an important enzyme to failure to rashes, microcephaly,
break down an amino breakdown the musty odor in the
acid called Phe, this causes
Phenylalanine (Phe) child’s breath, skin or
brain damage,
found in dairy and urine due to too much
that results in
protein rich foods Phe.
aggressiveness,
 They have fair skin and
hyperactivity, and
blue eyes
severe mental
retardation.
 Cranial Malformation
 Occurs in developmental disorders of brain formation
 Anencephaly- the major portions of the brain are
absent.
Microcephaly- the skull is small and conical, the
spine is curved and typically leads to stooped
portion and severe mental retardation
Hydrocephaly- blockage of cerebrospinal fluid in
the cranial cavity causes an enlarged head and undue
pressure on the brain.
 ANENCEPHALY
HYDROCEPHALY

MICROCEPHALY
 Mental Retardation may also occur due to
environmental influences such as:
– Maternal Malnutrition
– Irradiation during pregnancy
– Juvenile diabetes mellitus
– Fetal alcohol syndrome or FAS

FAS is one of the leading causes of MR. This

is due to the mother’s excessive alcohol use
during pregnancy
 PERINATAL (during
birth)
mental retardation may occur by:
Intrauterine Disorders such as:
maternal anemia
premature delivery
abnormal presentation
umbilical cord accidents
.Birth trauma may result from anoxia or cutting off of
\oxygen supply to the brain.
 PERINATAL (during
birth)
mental retardation may occur by:
Neonatal Disorders such as
intracranial hemorrhage
neonatal seizures
 respiratory disorders
meningitis
encephalitis
 head trauma at birth.
 Postnatal and
environmental
mental retardation may occur due to:
head injuries
infections
 Demyelinating disorders
Degenerative disorders
Seizure disorders
Malnutrition
 Environmental deprivation
 Shaken baby syndrome
which is a type of child abuse when a
crying infant is violently shaken by a
frustrated caregiver, can result to head
injury.
 Cultural-familial retardation
refers to the existence of lowered
intelligence of unknown origin associated
with a history of mental retardation in one
or more family members.
 DEFICITS IN COGNITIVE
FUNCTIONING
Sub-Average Intellectual Skills - persons
with mental retardation is below average
mental ability as measured by standardized
tests.
Low Academic Achievement - Due to sub-
average intellectual functioning.
 Person with mental retardation are likely
to be slower in reaching levels of academic
achievement equal to their peers.
Difficulty in Attending to Tasks -
Children with mental retardation tends to
be distracted by irrelevant stimuli and they
have difficulty in sustaining their attention
to learning tasks.
 DEFICITS MEMORY
Difficulty with the generalization of skills -
The inability to generalized is related to the
inability to think abstractly.
Low Motivation- Some students show lack
of interest in learning their lessons. Some of
them develop learned helplessness where
they expect to continue to fail in doing
certain task because they have not been able
to do the tasks in the past.
 DEFICITS IN ADAPTIVE
BEHAVIOR
• Self-care and daily living skills- They are
often taught basic self-care skills deliberately
which normal individuals learn by absorption
and imitation.
Direct instruction, simplified routine, prompts
and task analysis are used to teach self-care
skills in hygiene and grooming, daily living
skills in eating, toileting, communication and
the other areas of adaptive behaviour.
 Social Development
Limited cognitive processing
skills
 Poor language development
and;
Unusual or inappropriate
behaviours can seriously impede
interaction with others.
• Behavioural excesses and challenging
behaviour- Students with mental
retardation are more prone to
inappropriate behaviour.
• Psychological Characteristics- As in
the case of speech and language
problems, mentally retarded persons
have slower psychological development
and are likely to have some forms of
associated physical problems.
Positive Characteristics- Person with
mental retardation have their unique
characteristics. They can be fun too and
they can get along well with others.
 Model Of Assessment
(Richey and Wheeler, 2000)
Traditional Assessment- the parents fill in
a pre-referral form about the family
history and the developmental history of
the child.
Team-based Assessment Approaches
described as multidisciplinary,
interdisciplinary and trans disciplinary in
nature.
1. Multidisciplinary assessment, individual
team members independently assess the
child and report results without
consulting or integrating their findings
with one another's.
2. Interdisciplinary assessment, the
members conduct an independent
assessment and evaluation individually the
findings are integrated together with the
recommendations.
 Transdisciplinary assessment - allows
other team members as facilitators during the
assessment process.
 Activity-based Assessment - an
assessment for young children with
developmental delays or disabilities is better
than the other models because of parental
involvement as well as the development of
meaningful, child centered, positive
behavioural supports and activity based
interventions.
- VINELAND ADATIVE BEHAVIOR
SKILLS

- ASSESSMENT EVALUATION AND

PROGRAMMING SYSTEM FOR
INFANTS AND CHILDREN (AEPS)
AND THE INFANT- PRESCHOOL
ASSESSMENT CALE (IPAS)
Cognitive/Developmental Assessment
Tools
for measuring the mental ability of children
with mental retardation are:
The Differential Ability Scales (DAS),
Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of
Intelligence-Revised (WPPSIR),
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children –III
(WISC-III)
Standford Binet: Fourth Edition
Adaptive Behaviour Assessment Tools -
focuses on how well individuals can
function and maintain themselves
independently and how well they meet the
personal and social demands imposed on
them by their cultures.

- AAMR ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR SCALE-SCHOOL

and the SCALES OF INDEPENT BEHAVIOR
REVISED (SIB-R)
 EDUCATIONAL
APPROACHES
The Curriculum - Students with mental
retardation need a functional curriculum
that will train them on the life skills which
are essentially the adaptive behavior
skills.
MONTESSORI METHOD
Aims to develop the child’s sense of self mastery.
( Dr. Maria Montessori)
 EDUCATIONAL
PROGRAMS
Early Intervention Program - early
intervention helps the children's to work
towards meeting developmental milestone .
The staff members of early intervention
program have formal training in early
childhood education and special education.
 MODELS OF EARLY
INTERVENTION

– Home-based Instruction Program

– Head Start Program
– Community-based Rehabilitation (CBR)
Services
– -Urban Basic Services Program
Different kinds of Intervention
Program

Motivational Interviewing
Brief intervention
Indicated intervention
Selective intervention
Universal intervention
 TYPES OF INTERVENTION
Early intervention helps young kids work toward meeting
developmental milestones.

Early intervention focuses on skills in these five areas:

Physical skills (reaching, crawling, walking, drawing,

building)
Cognitive skills (thinking, learning, solving problems)
 Communication skills (talking, listening, understanding
others)
Self-help or adaptive skills (eating, dressing)
 Social or emotional skills (playing, interacting with
others)
•
 METHODS OF
INSTRUCTION
Applied Behavioral Analysis
(ABA)
Task Analysis
Active Student Response (ASR)
Systematic Feedback
 STUDENTS WITH MENTAL
RETARDATION IN
INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
The Individual Education Plan(IEP) is prepared by the
teachers and parents to identify and indicate the goals for
the school year and the objectives and activities during the
four quarters or grading periods for successful inclusive
education
Mainstreaming activities for children with the more
severe forms of mental retardation are more selective.
They participate in social activities, sports and co-
curricular activities like special Olympics, camping,
scouting and interest clubs.
 Therapist for Mental Retardation

Speech and language therapy

Physical or occupational therapy
Psychological services
Home visits Medical, nursing, or
nutrition services
Hearing (audiology) or vision services
Social work services
Transportation Assistive technology
 SPECIALISTS FOR MENTAL
RETARDATION
 Psychiatrist
Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist
Psycho pharmacologist
Pediatric Psycho pharmacologist
Psychologists
Neuropsychologist
School Psychologists
Psychotherapist
Pediatrician
Neurologists
Pediatric Neurologists
Psychoanalyst