Question

Counter Argument for this Post: Please list references and citations

Adaptive functioning is defined as the ability to effectively perform ordinary life tasks (Mash & Wolfe,2016). Those with an intellectual disability have limitations when it comes to conceptual, social, and practical skills used every day (Mash & Wolfe, 2016). For example, those with an intellectual disability are unable to live independently or obey laws and societal norms. Just because a person has a low IQ does not mean they are intellectually disabled, however, even with an intellectual disability, there can be cognitive growth (Mash & Wolfe, 2016). This means that there is potential to live as an independent adult, but there must be adaptive functioning is necessary to lead an independent life. The deficits in intellectual functions include, reasoning, planning, learning from experience, and/or problem-solving (Mash & Wolfe, 2016). Adaptive functioning is important when assessing someone’s intellectual functioning. In court, a person is deemed competent or not based on their mental state. Without adaptive functioning, a person is unable to functionally communicate. Therefore, an intellectual evaluation would not be passed if taken by someone who does not have adaptive functioning.

Answer 1

Adaptive functioning means, how well a person handles common demands in life and how independent they are as compared to others, of a similar age group and/or background.

During an adaptive functioning assessment, an individual is asked questions about -

(1) Practical skills: how they:

• manage their home and personal care,
• manage money,
• use the telephone,
• get from place to place, example - do they use the bus or need a ride to places?
• stay safe and healthy,
• follow schedules and routines, work.

(2) Social skills:

• how they behave, talk to and understand others,
• how they feel about themselves,
• how they solve problems,
• whether they make up their own mind up about things or whether other people influence them,
• how they follow rules, obey the law and whether they are easy to take advantage of.

(3) Conceptual Skills:

• are they able to plan and organize?
• can they use abstract concepts like time, money, numbers?

If one have significant limitations in adaptive functioning, it means that: one may do some things as well as or better than others who are of the same age group or background (for example ability to remember numbers or play the guitar) and at the same time one have extreme difficulty coping with most other areas of life.

Intellectual disability is a significant limitation in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior which begins before the age of 18. Let's go back and know a little history about intellectual disability (ID).

• In the mid-19th century: Samuel G. Howe opened the first humanitarian institution in North America.
• By the 1940s: parents increased humane care for their children.
• 1950: National Association for Retarded Children was formed.
• 1962: President John F. Kennedy formed the President’s Panel on Mental Retardation.
• Alfred Binet and Theophile Simon (1900s), commissioned by the French government to identify school children who might need special help in school, Developed the first intelligence test that measures judgment and reasoning of school children which is now known as the Stanford-Binet scale.

Clinical description - considerable range of abilities and interpersonal qualities. DSM-5 diagnostic criteria:

• Deficits in intellectual functioning
• Concurrent deficits or impairments in adaptive functioning
• Below-average intellectual and adaptive abilities must be evident prior to age 18

There are 4 levels of Intellectual Disability namely: mild, moderate, severe, and profound.

About 85% of people with mild intellectual disability are typically not identified until unless early elementary years of their life. They develop social and communication skills with time and support which helps them to live successfully in the community as adults with appropriate supports.

About 10% of moderately intellectual disability individuals are usually identified during preschool years and it applies to many people with Down syndrome. They get benefited from vocational training and can perform supervised unskilled or semiskilled work in adulthood with the help of proper vocational training.

About 3% - 4% of individuals with severe intellectual disability are often associated with organic causes and usually identified at a very young age by the presence of delayed developmental milestones and visible physical features. They may also have mobility or other health problems which need special assistance throughout their lives and living in group homes or with their families is the best way of their survival.

The population with profound intellectual disability, which is about 1%-2%, are identified in infancy due to marked delays in development and biological anomalies. They learn only the rudimentary communication skills and require intensive training for: eating, grooming, toileting, and dressing behaviors. They also require lifelong care and assistance.