1. Kathryn Krawczyk
What do you know about ID?
People with intellectual disabilities have a lower IQ and within the low IQ are different levels of
severity (mild, moderate, severe). In the school I was at for student teaching, there were four
classrooms for students with intellectual disabilities. There were two “TMD” classes (grades 1-3 and 3-
5) as well as two “EMD” classes (again, grades 1-3 and grades 3-5). These initials stood for “trainable
mentally disabled”, for students with moderate intellectual disabilities, and “educable mentally
disabled”, for students with mild intellectual disabilities. Students with intellectual disabilities require
different amounts of supports based on their abilities and skill levels.
Students with intellectual disabilities tend to have poor short term memory, difficulty learning
and generalizing new skills. Repetition can help new information become permanent. Students with
intellectual disabilities can develop learned helplessness. I think this could be from relying on others to
help them or from meeting failure often. Intellectual disabilities can be linked to different types of
syndromes, such as Down syndrome, Williams syndrome, and other syndromes that affect
chromosomes. A syndrome that does not affect chromosomes (or at least I don’t think it does) is fetal
alcohol syndrome. Children with severe intellectual disabilities may be diagnosed at birth, or shortly
after and children with mild intellectual disabilities may be diagnosed later, when they begin academic
work. People with intellectual disabilities may also have physical symptoms and/or problems that
correlate with ID.
People with intellectual disabilities have not always been treated nicely; they were often
institutionalized and received “custodial care” instead of an education. Throughout time, families of
people with intellectual disabilities have come together to make support groups and advocacy
organizations to benefit those with intellectual disabilities.