Mental retardation, now referred to as intellectual disability, refers to sub-average intellectual functioning and deficits in adaptive behaviors that originate during childhood. It is defined as an IQ below 70 with concurrent limitations in adaptive functioning. Early identification and intervention can help prevent or minimize intellectual disability. Management involves parental counseling, community awareness, vocational training, and a range of support services. While intellectual disability has genetic and environmental causes, efforts must be made towards early screening, education, vocational support, and inclusive policies to help those affected lead fuller lives.

1. MENTAL RETARDATION
Shivani singh
M.Sc. (N) 2nd year
AIIMS, Jodhpur
INTELLECTUAL
DISABILITY

2. INTRODUCTION:
Mental retardation (MR) refers to sub-average
general intellectual functioning which originates
during the development period of the child and is
associated with impairment in adaptive behaviour. It
is a genetic disorder manifested significantly below
average overall intellectual functioning and deficits
in adaptive behaviour.

3. DEFINTION:
According To American Association On
Mental Retardation (AAMR) 1983:
Mental Retardation Refers To
Significantly Subaverage General
Intellectual Functioning, Resulting In Or
Associated With Concurrent Impairments
In Adaptive Behavior, As Manifested
During The Developmental Period

4. 'GENERAL INTELLECTUAL FUNCTIONING' is defined as
the results obtained by the administration of standardized general
intelligence tests developed for the purpose, and adapted to the
conditions of the region / country.
'SIGNIFICANTLY SUBAVERAGE' is defined as IQ of 70 or
below on standardized measures of intelligence. The upper limit is
intended as a guideline; it could be extended to 75 or more,
depending upon the reliability of intelligence test used.
'ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOUR' is defined as the degree with which
the individual meets the standards of personal independence and
social responsibility expected of his age and cultural group. The
expectations of adaptive behavior vary with the chronological age.

5. The term mental retardation
was introduced by the
American association on
mental retardation in 1961,
and soon afterwards was
adopted by the American
psychiatric association
(APA) in its diagnostic and
statistical manual for mental
disorders (DSM)

6. THE JOURNEY FROM
MENTAL RETARDATIO TO
INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

7. Rosa Marcellino, an 8 year old girl with down
syndrome from Maryland was taunted frequently
and pejoratively called RETARD in a demeaning
manner
With support from state representative and U.S
senator Barbara Mikulski, legislation was
initiated leading to the change in law
The term mental retardation has been eliminated
under federal statute law 111-256, ROSA’s law
Now the person first language be used when
referring to those affected in all federal laws.

8. Prevalence Of Intellectual Disability

12. 2%
Of
population

13. CLASSIFICATION
SOURCE: Sen AK. A Decade of Experimental Research in Mental Retardation in India. In: International Review of Research
in Mental Retardation [Internet]. Elsevier; 1976 [cited 2022 Nov 7]. p. 139–72. Available from:
https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0074775008600646

14. Proposed ICD 11 criteria for intellectual
developmental disorder
The presence of
significant limitations in
intellectual functioning
The presence of
significant limitations in
adaptive behavior
Onset during the
developmental period

15. LEVEL OF SUPPORT

16. The maximum mental age a person can
attain with the various degrees of mental
retardation is

17. FACTORS AFFECTING MENTAL
RETARDATION:
Genetic
factors
Environmental and
sociocultural factors
Prenatal
factors
Intranatal
factors
Postnatal
factors

18. CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSONS
WITH MENTAL RETARDATION
Impaired
developmenta
l milestone
Deficiencies
in cognitive
functioning
Reduced
ability to learn
or to meet
academic
demand
Expressive or
receptive
language
problems
Psychomotor
skill deficits
Difficulty
performing
self care
activities
Neurologic
impairment

19. SOURCE: American Association of Mental Retardation (1992). Mental retardation definition classification, and
system of supports (9th ed.) Washington, DC: American Association on mental retardation

20. COMMON COMORBID PSYCHIATRIC
DISORDERS

21. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders in individual with ID is estimated
between 30% and 60 %
INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
Prevalence of psychiatric disorder was 36% among children with intellectual
disability
Emerson E. Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents with
and without intellectual disability. J Intellect Disabil Res. 2003 Jan;47(1):51–8.
INDIAN STUDIES
A study conducted by C.R.J. khess etal at the child psychiatric unit of central
institute of psychiatry over one year period found that psychiatric comorbidity was
present in 34% patient

22. ADHD
Autism
spectrum
disorder
Anxiety
disorder
Bipolar
Depressive
disorder
Schizophrenia
Disruptive,
impulse control
and conduct
disorders

23. EARLY IDENTIFICATION AND PREVENTION OF
MENTAL RETARDATION
SCREENING
Pre-natal
Procedures
• Blood test
• Ultrasonography
• Amniocentesis
• Fetoscopy
• Chorionic villous
sampling

24. Neonatal and
Post-natal
Screening and
Diagnostic
Procedure
Chromosomal
analysis
Neonatal neuro
behavioural
assessments.
EEG
Biochemical
test
EEG
CT
MRI

25. Indian ScreeningTools
Functional
Assessment
Check List for
Programming
(FACP) 1991.
The revised
Madras
Developmental
Programme
System
Behavioural
Scale (MDPS)
Behavior
assessment
scale for Indian
children with
mental
retardation
(BASIC-MR)
Evaluation
program for
intellectually
challenged
children (EPICC)

26. Comparison of Characteristics of Different
Functional Skills Assessment Tools for
Children with Intellectual Disabilities

27. VARIOUS INTELLIGENCETEST

29. MANAGEMENT
Parent
counselling
Community
awareness
Vocational
training
and job
placement

30. COMMUNITY AWARENESS

31. PARENT COUNSELLING
Impart information
regarding the condition of
the mentally retarded
child
Help the parents to
develop right attitudes
towards their handicapped
child
Create awareness in
educating the parents
regarding their role In
training their mentally
retarded child

32. VOCATIONALTRAINING AND JOB
PLACEMENT
Assess a mentally
retarded person for
vocational training
Identify various
jobs in which a
mentally retarded
person can be
placed

33. OTHER TREATMENT MODALITIES:
Behaviour management
Environment supervision
Ongoing evaluation for
overlapping psychiatric
disorders

34. PREVENTION:
TERTIARY
PREVENTION
SECONDARY
PREVENTION
PRIMARY
PREVENTION

35. ARRAY OF SERVICES FOR
PERSONS WITH MENTAL
RETARDATION

36. TRAINING
RCI (Rehabilitation council of India) has developed a 45-
day training program, a foundation course, which
includes five areas of disability: mental retardation,
hearing impairment, visual impairment, learning
disabilities and locomotor impairment, with the intention
of giving knowledge, skills, attitudes and instructional
teaching techniques.

37. Though there are six types of courses operational at 79
institutions in the field of Mental Retardation, other
courses like M.Phil & Certificate courses in Clinical
Psychology, M.Phil & PG Diploma courses in
Rehabilitation Psychology, Diploma courses in CBR &
MRW, Bachelor & Diploma courses in Rehabilitation
Therapy, and PG Diploma in Early Intervention give
sufficient coverage to mental retardation in addition to
other disabilities.

38. PARENT TRAINING PROGRAMS
• NIMH had initiated and
conducted training programs for
groups of parents. The intention
in this model is to empower the
parents and family members to
look after their children with
mental retardation as against
providing expensive institutional
support or residential programs.

39. Teaching Process and Materials for
Children with Mental Retardation
The Montessori
method
Individualization
Learning by
doing
Repetition
Graded
curriculum
Projects

40. Teaching Learning Material for Persons
with Mental Retardation
•The Department of Special
Education, NIMH, had
undertaken a project on the
development of learning
materials, specifically to teach
persons with mental retardation.

41. FORMATION OF SELF-HELP GROUPS
AND PARENTS’ASSOCIATIONS
Parivaar –
Its Genesis
Sibling
Groups.
Family
Cottages

42. INNOVATIVE PRACTICES IN THE
FIELD OF MENTAL RETARDATION
• Yoga and its
effects on the child
with mental
retardation.
• Community
Based
Rehabilitation in
the community.
• Augmentative
Intervention, the
catalysts

43. POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES
The National Policy for Children, 1974
Integrated Education of Disabled Children (IEDC), 1974
The National Policy on Education (NPE)
The International Year for the Disabled Persons (IYDP), 1981
Project Integrated Education for Disabled (PIED), 1987
The Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR)
Mental Health Act, 1987
The Program of Action, 1992
Schemes of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare

44. Non-Governmental Organizations –Job
Training and Placements
Thakur Hari
Prasad
Institute of
Rehabilitation
& Research for
the Mentally
Retarded,
Hyderabad;
Sweekar
Rehabilitation
Institute for
Handicapped,
Indore
Secunderabad;
Swyam Krushi,
Hyderabad
Amar Jyothi
Institute of
Delhi

46. SUMMARY

47. CONCLUSION:
• Mental retardation is a serious intellectual disability. The
diagnosis of Mental retardation in a child can trigger a range of
emotional responses in parents & across the whole family.
Parenting a child with a Mental retardation is a very difficult task
as lot of stress, frustration, and hopelessness is experienced by
them. The need of the hour is to determine the early identification
steps and preventive techniques of the mental retardation so that
immediate steps would be taken by the parents to prevent and
control the disability

48. REFERENCES:
 Russell PSS, Nagaraj S, Vengadavaradan A, Russell S, Mammen PM, Shankar SR, Viswanathan SA, Earnest R,
Chikkala SM, Rebekah G. Prevalence of intellectual disability in India: A meta-analysis. World J Clin
Pediatr 2022; 11(2): 206-214 [PMID: 35433303 DOI: 10.5409/wjcp.v11.i2.206]
 American Association of Mental Retardation (1992). Mental retardation definition classification, and system of
supports (9th ed.) Washington, DC: American Association on mental retardation.
 Armates,V. (2009). Mental retardation: definitions, etiology, epistemology and diagnosis. Journal of sports &
health research.1(2), 112-122.
 Daily, D.K., Ardinger, H.H., & Holmes, G.E. (2000). Identification and evaluation of mental retardation. Am
Fam Physician; 62(5):961-963
 Rutter, L.Q. (2006). First Diagnosis of Severe Mental and Physical Disability: A Study of Doctor– Parent
Communication. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 35(7): 1273- 1287
 Roberts MC, editor. Handbook of pediatric psychology. 3rd ed. New York: Guilford Press; 2003. 772 p.
 Sen AK. A Decade of Experimental Research in Mental Retardation in India. In: International Review of
Research in Mental Retardation [Internet]. Elsevier; 1976 [cited 2022 Nov 7]. p. 139–72. Available from:
https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0074775008600646

49. EVALUATION

50. Approximately _______% of population in
India is considered mentally retarded.

52. THANK YOU