Intellectual

Disabilities
By: Maria Degleffetti,
Emelina Johnson,
Mikey Joiner, & Daisy
Cabral

History of Intellectual Disability

1900- Clinical terms- Imbecility, feeble-mindedness, and mental deficiency.
Segregation and Isolation was the norm
1904- Martin Barr published the first textbook about Intellectual Disability,
Mental Defectives, also was the first text to suggest that hereditary factors
play an important role
1907- Indiana became the first state to pass a sterilization law for people with
intellectual disability in state institutions.
1912- Aim to isolate people with disabilities from the community and establish
forced sterilization laws
1933- American Association for the study of the Feeble- Minded changes its
name to the American Association on Mental Deficiency

History of Intellectual Disability

1937- A reported 27,869 people with intellectual disability have been forcibly
sterilized
1930-1950- Number of people found in state funded institution grew from
around 60,000 in 1930 to about 140,000 in 1950
1950- To offer help and support to parents, representatives from 23 parent
groups from National Association of Parents and Friends of Mentally Retarded
Children
1958- President Dwight Eisenhower passes PL 85-926
1959- The American Association on Mental Deficiency 1959 manual uses the
term mentally retarded in place of mentally deficient

History of Intellectual Disability

1960- John F. Kennedy launches a panel to move the U.S away from
institutionalization and toward community based support systems
1967- 194,650 people living in state-run institutions
1968- first special olympics are held in Chicago
1975- Gerald Ford signs the Education for All Handicapped Children Act
1981- A T.V movie airs about Bill Sackter
1990- THe American with Disabilities act is passed
1991- The National Association for Retarded Citizens changes it name to
The Arc in response to the growing stigma surrounding the term retarded

History of Intellectual Disability

2004- The reauthorization of IDEA furthers the transition toward inclusive
classrooms
2010- Mental retardation is replaced with intellectual disability in all federal
legislation
2016- Today's Definition, Intellectual disability- is a disability characterized
by significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and inadaptive
behavior, which covers many everyday social and practical skills. This
disability originates before the age of 18

Characteristics of students in & out

of school
In School:
1. Significant delay in learning
to reading, math and
language skills.
2. That delay leads to a delay
in all other academic skills.
Ex. Science, spelling, writing,
etc.
http://www.education.com/reference/article/characteristic
s-intellectual-disabilities/

Outside of school:
1. Difficulty learning basic skills. Ex.
bathing, dressing, eating, etc.
2. Social aspect delays; not
understanding cues, difficulty with
language.
3. Hard time following rules and routine
4. Exhibit behavior problems, cant
connect actions with their
consequences
http://do2learn.com/disabilities/CharacteristicsAndStrategies/Inte
llectualDisability_Characteristics.html

How we can support students with

Intellectual Disabilities in the
classroom
Teachers should learn as much as they can about the intellectual
disability

Recognize that you can make an enormous difference in a students

life by finding out what their strengths and weaknesses are, and
emphasizing them
Be concrete
Break down learning tasks into small steps
Give student immediate feedback
Teach student life skills
Work together with students parents and other school
professionals

Statistics & Facts

Possible Causes of Intellectual

Disabilities
3 main sources of possible causes: Prenatal, Perinatal, Postnatal
Prenatal: Chromosomal Abnormalities: Down Syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome,
Turner Syndrome & Environmental Conditions: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, drug
use
Perinatal: Gestational disorders: low birth weight, prematurity & Neonatal
complications: anoxia, hypoxia, birth trauma, breech presentation, precipitous
birth
Postnatal: Infections & Intoxicants: lead poisoning, child abuse, malnutrition, head
trauma