Mild Mental Retardation

Mild Mental Retardation Speech and Language Disorders Introduction: Mild mental retardation is a lifelong disability that limits both the intellectual function and the adaptive behavior during the period of development. It first appears in children under the age of 18 and occurs in 2.5-3% of the population. There are a number of factors that cause mental retardation and most of the causes are chromosomal, metabolic and environmental. Symptoms appear once the child is born and later in childhood, it becomes easier to specialist to identify the severity of the retardation. In addition, mental retardation can be categorized into mild, moderate, severe and profound based on the intelligent quotient. The intelligence quotient has to be at least 2 standard deviations less than the mean.. The roughly 80% of retarded persons who are classified as mildly retarded have an IQ between 50 or 55 and 70 (Mental Retardation, 2001). In general, MMR is often diagnosed in preschool and causes children learning problems. They face problems in making decisions, they are afraid of changes, and are sensitive to emotions. However, early intervention is based on the principle that with intensive help, retarded children can come closer to meeting the milestones of childhood development at the same time as their normal peers (Dolce, 1994). According to his information, children are reaching their full potential due to all the help that’s provided to them. MMR populations, in some of the cases, live independently with support. They have the capacity of being self-sufficient due to the academic skills being acquired throughout their treatment. Speech and language characteristics of the disorder Language is very important in a person’s life because this is how we communicate with each other. Some individuals have difficulty with learning language or even producing language. It is harder for a person that has a disorder to acquire language and also produce it. A person that is

References: Battaglia, A. and Carey, J. C. (2003). Diagnostic evaluation of developmental delay/mental retardation: An overview Dolce, L. (1994). Mental Retardation. D. C. Garell (Ed.). New York & Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers Switzky, H. N., & Greenspan, S. (2006). What is mental retardation: ideas for an evolving disability in the 21st century