STUDENTS WITH

MENTAL RETARDATION
RIZA GEM ESTO
MOHALIN YOLANDA
BENSAR AYUNAN JR.
FERCELYN COLE
SHERLY SUMINGGAL

WMSU BSED ENGLISH III

WESTERN MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY

Ipil External Studies Unit
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WESTERN MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY
“There is no one who cannot find a place for himself in our kind of
world. Each one of us has some unique capacity for realization.
Every person is valuable in his or her own existence- for himself
alone.”
─ George H, Bender2
 Experts and authorities agree that mental
retardation is a complex condition.

● 1992 - American Association for Mental Retardation

stressed that the distinction between the terms TRAIT
and STATE is a central to the understanding of mental
retardation.

TRAIT - A quality that makes one person or thing different

from another.
STATE - Your physical or mental condition.
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MENTAL RETARDATION
- is not a TRAIT that exist separately from the
other characteristics of the individual.
-it is a CONDITION or STATE that affects the
manner by which a person is able to cope
successfully with the demands of daily living
at home, in school, in the community and
other environments.
 Different environments are built for normally
functioning persons who have acquired the skills,
competencies and maturity through the years of normal
development.
The person with retardation experiences difficulties
in coping with the various environments because he or she
lacks the mental, emotional and social skills and
competencies to function in environments meant for
normal people.
But he or she has no choice but to live, cope and
function in these environments. As a results, his or her
functioning is impaired in certain specific ways.
Mental Retardation is a developmental
disability.
Unlike people with the same chronological
age and average or high mental ability, the person
with mental retardation suffers from lags or delays
in his or her general development profile.
A developmental disability is attributed to a
mental or physical impairment or combination of
both factors that is likely to continue indefinitely.
 The American Association on Mental
Retardation (AMMR) had spent more than
five decades of study on what mental
retardation is. The AMMR 1992 definition is
the most accepted in many special education
programs all over the world.

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 AMMR 1992 definition
“Mental Retardation refers to 1substantial limitations in
present functioning. It is characterize by 2significantly sub-
average intellectual functioning, 3existing concurrently
with related limitations in two or more of the following
adaptive skills area: communication, self-care, home living,
social skills, community use, self-direction, health and
safety, functional academics, leisure and work. Mental
Retardation manifests before 18.” (Heward, 2003)
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1. Substantial limitations in present functioning.

Means that the person has difficulty in performing

everyday activities related to taking care of one's self
doing ordinary task at home and work related to the other
adaptive skills areas. The areas of difficulty include
academic work if the person goes to school.
2. Significantly sub-average intellectual functioning.
Means that the person has significantly below average
intelligence. Intellectual functioning is a broad summation of
cognitive abilities such as the capacity to learn, solve
problems, accumulate knowledge and adapt to new
situations. The person finds difficulty in learning the skills in
school that children at his/her age are able to learn. The
Intelligence Quotient score is approximately in the flexible
lower IQ range 0-20 and upper IQ range of 70-75 based on the
result of assessment using one or more individual intelligence
test.
 The current IQ score is 70 though it is acknowledged
that IQ scores are not exact measures therefore a small
number of individuals with mental retardation may attain
scores as high as 75.
Sub-average intellectual functioning indicates that
intelligence, or atleast intelligence test score are not static
or unchangeable. This current concept assumes that one's
intellectual functioning can change and a person
diagnosed to have mental retardation at one point in life
may no longer meet the criteria or may no longer be
mentally retarded at a later time.
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3. Limitations in the adaptive skills or behavior.
Shows in the quality of everyday performance in
coping with environment demands. Persons with mental
retardation fail to meet the standards of personal
independence and social responsibility expected of their
chronological age and cultural group. The quality of
general adaptation is mediated by the level of
intelligence. Adaptive skills are assessed by means of
standardized adaptive behavior scales.

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4. Related limitations in the adaptive skills areas.
Means that the person has difficulty in performing
the following tasks:

1. Communication on the ability to understand and

communicate information by speaking and writing
through symbols, sign language and non-symbolic
behavior like facial expressions, touch or gestures.

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2. Self-Care or the ability to take care of one's
needs in hygiene, grooming, dressing, eating,
toileting.

3. Home Living or the ability to function in the

home, housekeeping, clothing care, property
maintenance, cooking, shopping, home safety, daily
scheduling of work.

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4. Community use or travel in the community,
shopping , obtaining services.

5. Social Skills in imitating and terminating

interactions, conversations responding to social cues,
recognizing feelings, regulating own behavior, assisting
others, fostering friendship.

6. Self-direction in making choices, following schedule,

completing required tasks seeking assistance and
resolving problems.
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7. Health and safety such as maintaining own health,
identify and preventing illness, first aid, sexuality, physical
fitness and basic safety.

8. Functional academics or learning the basic skills

taught in school.

9. Leisure such as recreational activities that are

appropriate to the age of the person.

10. Work or employment, appropriate to one's age.

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 Mental retardation manifest before age 18 to 20. This
means that the condition can start during pregnancy until
the age of 18-20. A person who suffers from brain injury at
age 23 or thereafter, even if the other criteria are met,
would not be considered to have mental retardation. The
reason that such individual is excluded from this category is
that mental retardation is a developmental disability.

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 It is important to understand that in the diagnosis
of mental retardation, the person must meet all three of
the above criteria. Thus, an IQ score below 70 or 75, in
and of itself, is not sufficient to classify a persons as with
mental retardation. The person's adaptive behavior must
also be impaired and the condition must have originated
during pregnancy until the age of 18-22.

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Mental retardation has been known by many
different names that are no longer used at
present. The old labels are:
• mentally defective
• mentally deficient
• feeble minded
• moron
• imbecile
• idiot
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 In the past, a person's IQ score was the only
determinant of mental retardation. Today, several
associations and agencies define mental retardation in
different ways. However, most all of them use the IQ
score as only one criterion and usually pair it with an
assessment of how well a person can manage daily tasks
which are appropriate for his or her age.

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 CLASSIFICATION OF
MENTAL RETARDATION

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 The criteria in the AAMR defintion are very
extensive, thus, a system of sub-categories or
levels of mental retardation was developed.
Traditionally, sub-categories have been based on
IQ ranges. In the previous AAMR classification
system, there are four levels that still widely used
today.

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 FOUR LEVELS OF MENTAL RETARDATION:
1. mild MR with IQ scores from 55 to 70
2. moderate MR with IQ scores from 40 to 54
3. severe MR with IQ scores from 25 to 39, and
4. profound MR with IQ scores below 25

Current books in special education use two classification:

1. the milder forms of mental retardation, and
2. the more severe forms of mental retardation that
cluster the moderate, severe and profound types.
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FOUR CATEGORIES OF MENTAL RETARDATION according
to the intensity of needed supports are:

1. INTERMITTENT SUPPORTS are on “as needed” basis,

that is, the person needs help only at certain period
of time and not all the time. Support will most likely
be required during periods of transition example,
moving from school to work.

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2. LIMITED SUPPORTS are required consistently,
though not only a daily basis. The support needed is
of a non-intensive nature.

3. EXTENSIVE SUPPORTS are needed on regular basis,

daily supports are required in some environments,
for example, daily home living.

4. PERVASIVE SUPPORTS are daily extensive supports,

perhaps of a life sustaining nature required in
multiple environments.
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 According to the AMMR 1973 definition, MR can
occur in 2% of a given population. Only about 15% of
these children have greater than mild disabilities.
Compared to his or her peers, the person passes through
the milestone of development much later and learning
rate and development of physical skills are slower. Due to
complication during pregnancy, birth and infancy,
concomitant conditions associated with mental
retardation may occur such as Down Syndrome, Physical
Handicaps, Speech Impairment, Visual Impairment,
Hearing Impairment, Hearing defects, Epilepsy and
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others.
CAUSE OF MENTAL
RETARDATION

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CAUSES or ETIOLOGICAL FACTORS based

on time onset:

I. Prenatal or Biological (occuring before birth)

II. Perinatal (occuring during birth)

III. Postnatal and Environmental (occuring

shortly after birth)

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Biological Causes
-two thirds of individuals with more severe
forms include moderate, severe and
profound.

• “SYNDROME” refers to a number of

symptoms or characteristics that occur
together and provide the defining features
of a given disease or condition.
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Environmental Causes
-psychological disadvantage, a combination of a poor social
and cultural environments early in the child's life.

• Developmental Retardation refers to mild mental

retardation thought to be caused primarily by
environmental influences such as : minimal
opportunities to developed early language, child abuse
and neglect, and chronic social or sensory deprivation.

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Following factors are found to contribute to
Environmentally Cause Mental Retardation:
1. Limited parenting practices that produces low rates
of vocabulary growth in early childhood.
2. Instructional practices in highschool and adolescence
that produce low rates of academic engagement
during school years.
3. Lower rates of academic achievements and early
school dropouts.
4. Parenthood and continuance of the progression into
the next generation.
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CAUSES or ETIOLOGICAL FACTORS based on time onset:

I. PRENATAL CAUSES (before birth)

-originated during conception or
pregnancy until before birth are
chromosomal disordes such as:
 Down syndrome
 Klinefelter syndrome
 Fragile X syndrome
 Prader-Willi syndrome
 Phenylketonuria
 William syndrome

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 Down syndrome
- best known & well research biological
condition associated with MR.
- named after Dr. Langdon Down.
- estimated to account 5-6% of all cases.
-caused by chromosomal abnormality
common is trisomy 21.
-affects about 1 in 1,000 live births.
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TRISOMY 21
-which 21st set of chromosomes is a triplet rather than
a pair.
-often results in moderate level of mental retardation,
some individuals function in the mild or severe ranges.
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 The probability of having a baby with
DS increases to approximately 1 in 30 for
women at age of 45. Older women are at
“high risk” for babies with DS and other
developmental disabilities.

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Physical features: short stature;
flat, broad face, with small ears
& nose; upward slanting eyes,
small mouth with short roof,
portruding tongue that cause
articulation problems;
hypertonia or floppy musles;
heart defects are common;
susceptibility to ear and
respiratory infections; older
persons are high risk for
Alzheirmer's disease.

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 Klinefelter syndrome
-males receive an extra X chromosome; males with
XXY sex chromosomes instead of normal XY.
-sterility, underdevelopment of male sex organs,
acquisition of female secondary sex characteristics
are common.
*often have problems with: social skills, auditory
perception, language, sometimes mild levels of
cognitive retardation.
-associated with learning disabilities than mental
retardation.
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Klinefelter syndrome 39
 Fragile X syndrome
- triplet or repeat mutation on the X
chromosome interferes with the production of
FMR-1 protein.
-most common clinical type of MR after DS.

• FMR-1 protein -essential for normal brain

functioning.
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• Majority of males experience mild-moderate MR in
childhood and moderate-severe deficit in adulthood.
• condition affects approximately 1 in 4,000 males.
• Females may carry & transmit the mutation to their
children but tend to have fewer disabilities than
affected males.
*Characterized by: social anxiety, avoiding eye contact,
tactile defensiveness, turning the body away during face-
to-face interactions & stylized, ritualistic forms of
greeting. Preservative speech includes repetition of
words and phrases.
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 William syndrome
- caused by deletion of a portion of the
7th chromosome.
-Cognitive functioning ranges from
normal-mild and moderate levels of MR.

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*Characteristics: elfin or dwarf-like facial features; physical features
& manner of expression shows cheerfulness & happiness; 'overly
friendly', lack of reserved toward strangers, uneven profiles of skills
with strengths in vocabulary & storytelling skills, weaknesses in
visual-spatial skills, often hyperactive, may have difficulty staying on
task and low tolerance for frustration or teasing. 44
 Prader-Will syndrome
-syndrome disorder caused by the deletion of a
portion of chromosome 15.
• infants have hypertonia or floppy muscles
• followed by development of insatiable
appetite
• affects 1 in 10-25,000 live births
• associated with mild MR & learning
disabilities
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*Behavior problems: impulsivity, aggressiveness,
temper-tantrums,obssesive-compulsive behavior,
injurious behavior such as skin picking, delayed
motor skills, short stature, small hands & feet and
underdeveloped genitalia.
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 Phenyketonuria (PKU)
-one of the inborn errors of metabolism.
-inherited condition which child is born without
important enzyme needed to breakdown amino
acid called phenylalanine.
-failure to breakdown AA causes brain damage that
often results in aggressiveness, hyperactivity &
severe MR.
-children receive treatment early enough have early
normal intellectual development.
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Developmental disorders of brain formation include
cranial malformation:

• ANENCEPHALY
- major portions of the brain are absent.
- a major neural tube defect that occurs
in the brain or the spinal cord.

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ANENCEPHALY
Developmental disorders of brain formation include
cranial malformation:

• MICROCEPHALY
- the skull is small and conical, the
spine curved and typically leads to
stooped portion & severe MR.

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MICROCEPHALY
Developmental disorders of brain formation include
cranial malformation:

• HYDROCEPHALY
- blockage of cerebrospinal fluid in the
cranial cavity causes an enlarged head &
undue pressure on the brain.

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Environmental Influences:

•Maternal malnutrition
•Irradiation during pregnancy
•Juvenile diabetes mellitus
•Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

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• Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)
-one leading causes of MR
-excessive alcohol use during pregnancy has toxic or
poisonous effects on the fetus including physical defects
and developmental delays.
Children who have some but not all of the
diagnostic criteria for FAS & a history of the mother's
prenatal alcohol exposure are diagnosed with Fetal
alcohol effect or FAE.

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• Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAE)
-condition associated with hyperactivity and
learning problems.
-incidence is higher than DS & cerebral palsy.
*Characteristics: cognitive impairment, sleep
disturbances, motor dysfunction, hyper-irritability,
aggression.
Risk is highest during 1st 3months of pregnancy,
pregnant women should avoid drinking alcohol
anytime.

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II. PERINATAL CAUSES (during birth)
1. Intrauterine disorders such as: *maternal anemia,
premature delivery, abnormal presentation, umbilical
cord accidents & multiple gestation in case of twins,
triplets, quadruplets, and other types of multiple births.
Birth trauma may result from anoxia or cutting off of
oxygen supply to the brain.
-MR still may occur because of these conditions.
 Fetal monitoring & subsequent increase in cesarean births
have reduced likelihood of perinatal causation.
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2. Neonatal disorders such as *intracranial
hemorrhage, neonatal seizures, respiratory
disorders, meningitis, encephalitis, head
trauma at birth.

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I. POSTNATAL CAUSES (occurring shortly after birth)

• Head injuries
• Infections
• Demyelinating disorder
• Degenerative disorder
• Seizure disorder
• Malnutrition
• Environmental deprivation
• Hypoconnection Syndrome
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• Baby shaken syndrome
-is a type of child abuse when crying infant is
violently shaken by a frustrated caregiver can result
to head injury.
*infants head are disproportionately large, their neck
muscles cannot support the stress of this shaking
causing head to flop back & forth.
*often results in internal bleeding & brain damage or
even death.
*other diagnoses are given as traumatic brain injury.

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• Cultural-familial retardation
-specific & known causes in some cases of mild
MR.
-refers to the existence of lowered intelligence
of unknown origin associated with a history of
MR in 1 or more family members.

*Condition results from lack of adequate

stimulation during infancy & early childhood.
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 Diseases of the mother during pregnancy may
also result in retardation. Infections caused by:
• Sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis,
genorrhea, AIDS, taxoplasmosis (blood
poisoning) & rubella.
*can have negative effects on developing fetus.

• Maternal rubella
-is most likely cause retardation, blindness, or
deafness when the disease occurs during the 1st
trimester of pregnancy.
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 Learning & Behavior Characteristics
Deficits in cognitive functioning associated with poor
memory, slow learning rates, attention problems, difficulty at
generalizing what has been learned and lack of motivation.
Studies shows these children are identified for the 1st
time when they start going to school. They find difficulties in
going school work & fail the grade levels.
Moderate MR show significant delays in development
during preschool years. Many of them can learn the academic
skills up to 6th grade level and master job skills well enough
to be able to work & support themselves semi-independent
when they leave school. 65
 Rationale for Early Intervention
Five reasons why early intervention services should be
provided:
1. Secondary disabilities that would have gone
unnoticed can be observed.
2. It can prevent the occurrence of secondary disabilities.
3. Lessen the chances for placement in a residential
school since a child with basic self-care & daily living
skills has a good chance in qualifying for placement in
a special education program in regular school.

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 Rationale for Early Intervention

4. Family gains information about the disability and learn

how to offer support & fulfill the child's need for
acceptance, love and belongingness very much like the
way they behave towards the normal children in the
family.
5. Hasten the child's acquisition of the desirable learning &
behavior characteristics for the attainment for his/her
potential despite of the presence of the disability.

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 Methods of Instruction
• Task Analysis
-process of breaking down complex or multiple skills into
smaller, easier-to-learn subtasks.
• Systematic Feedback
-positive reinforcement is employed whenever needed to
reward student's correct response with simple positive
comments, gestures or facial expressions.

*Incorrect responses are immediately corrected by asking

the student to repeat the correct response after the teacher.
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• Supplement verbal instructions with demonstrations
whenever possible.
• Assign a peer tutor to assist the student during
independent activities.
• Vary the tasks in drills & practice activities.
• Encourage the use of computer-based tutorials & other
appropriate computer-based materials.
• Utilize the lecture-pause technique.

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• Have a volunteer tape-record reading assignments if
the student is unable to read.
• Use cooperative learning strategies involving
heterogeneous group of students.
• Pair students with mental retardation with non-
disabled classmates who have similar interest.
• Encourage regular students to assist the students
with MR as they participate in class activities.

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Playing with non-disabled peers improves the social skills
of the children with MR.

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Prepared by: Riza Gem Atienza Esto :)

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