8. Developmental/Intellectual Disorder

2 different topics: Developmental Disorder/Delay & Intellectual Disorder

This page addresses two TOTALLY different topics, and one uses my own definition (in contrast to accepted usage in the disciplines). First topic is Intellectual Disorder, a condition associated with low general intelligence (IQ) and general difficulty learning not attributed to any other disorder. This condition used to be called retardation, a term now regarded as derogatory and inappropriate. The second topic is Developmental Disorder/Delay, a condition associated with a DELAY in cognitive development. To greatly oversimplify, you may consider Intellectual Disorder to be a damaged or mis-wired brain, NOT a differently-wired brain like AD/HD or ASD. Again oversimplifying, consider Developmental Disorder/Delay to a perfectly normal, neurotypical brain that has not developed in way to succeed at school (and possibly life).

INTELLECTUAL Disorder (low general intelligence)

The most common goal of educators regarding learning disabilities is to help students meet academic standards and the standards of social/emotional behavior expected in the classroom. In sharp contrast, the goal regarding intellectual disabilities is more likely to be helping students to learn the basic skills for independent living rather than skills for academic success. Again in contrast to other cognitive disabilities, medications such as those used for AD/HD seem inappropriate.

The causes of intellectual disorders are not well understood, probably because there may be many causes that seem unrelated to the treatment that is appropriate. Accepted and successful treatments have been developed to help develop independent living skills that will not be addressed here. But we will address the MOST DEBILITATING condition for those with intellectual disorders.

Lack of Confidence, Low Self-Image. The greatest tragedy for the intellectually disabled is often a debilitating loss of confidence in themselves. Their social and academic experiences have taught them to see themselves as failures in everything they try. In a new situation, like applying for a job, they don’t expect to succeed. They are accustomed to being treated as “stupid” by our institutions and our culture. The first video below shows a school for intellectually disabled that treats students with respect as well as with expectations and structure. In contrast, the second video shows the heartbreaking search of a young woman as she applies for her first job on her first step to independent living.

The Salisbury School in Nelson, New Zealand, is a model for helping intellectually disabled students. It’s a boarding school for girls that is designed to empower the students to gain confidence in themselves and to train them for independent living. You don’t need to watch the whole 26 minutes to gain a feel for the ways that the girls are being prepared to survive instead of fail. Watch at least the first half. I hope you find it as inspiring as I did. Watch Salisbury School: Special Needs Education (26-min): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hNm14kIP5E

How does an intellectually disabled person begin their quest for an independent life? It starts with getting a job. Here’s the story of Portia, an intellectually disabled young woman searching for her first paying job. She has fantastic support from her family, but you can see that she suffers from a lifetime of shame for her disability with the expected result of low self-esteem and self-confidence.. You can tell just by her walk and interaction that she fears making a mistake and doesn’t really expect success. Again, you don’t need to watch the entire video to get the idea. Maybe watch the first 12 minutes and the last 4 minutes to see the result of her search. Watch Portia Wants a Job: Living with a learning disability: (27-min) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9tGocAaPCQ

But some of the intellectually disabled find a way to gain self-esteem and to succeed in the unforgiving world. Here are TED talks by two successful athletes discussing their intellectual disability and their path to success; Choose one to watch:

Off Topic (or is it?) — A story of hope: What Happens When Half a Girl’s Brain is Removed?

Actually, if you are 3-year old Jodie, only good things. Defying all medical and neuroscientific expectation, if one entire hemisphere of a young child’s brain is removed, the neuroplasticity of the remaining half rewires itself to recover essentially full-brain functionality. See for yourself in this mind-changing video. Watch I Only Have Half a Brain! (3-min): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2fCY_M7Vms

DEVELOPMENTAL Disorder/Delay (slow development or cultural poverty)

In contrast to accepted usage, MentalEdge will consider “developmental disorder/delay” to be a learning disorder resulting from some delay in brain development and/or a deficiency in language and cultural experience that significantly impedes academic learning but that may be “cured” by maturation and treatment (at least “partly cured”).

Some children walk or speak early, some late, and that is perfectly normal unless the delay is extreme. In all cognitive areas, some children develop certain cognitive abilities years before others. At one extreme may be the maturation of frontal lobe executive function and impulse control, maturing on average in the mid-20s. A child entering kindergarten early will typically have difficulty learning at the same rate as her classmates. This kind of developmental delay cures itself just as a child who walks or speaks late does not suffer a lasting disorder in mobility or language. The biggest danger is the child’s loss of confidence and self-esteem while performing behind her peers. A skilled, caring teacher, extra academic help, and a positive learning environment is all that’s needed until maturation solves the condition. But there’s another kind of developmental delay.

Some children grow up in enriched environments, some in impoverished environments. A scientific study shows why this can result in a cognitive disability. Rats whose cage included extra toys and apparatus performed better on subsequent learning tasks than rats with a less enriched environment. Compare child raised in a home with no books, simple language, and little activity with interactive toys or games. Imagine the child’s friends live in similar homes in an impoverished community with parents of minimal education. Imagine that the families rarely venture outside the community. No travel, no museums, no concerts or even sporting events. Compare that child’s readiness for school learning to a child across town whose parents read to her every night and help her learn to write her own name. The family travels to foreign countries on vacation, and the child hears and even speaks bits of foreign languages. Perhaps visits to the shore or fishing from a rowboat on a lake. One child is ready to cognitively engage in new material because of the “tools for understanding” that slowly developed in her brain. The other child doesn’t have those tools because her minimal exposure to new experiences never developed those mental frameworks or tools. How could a school address this kind of developmental delay?

The great danger, again, is the child will see that classmates succeed and she fails because she doesn’t have the experiences that relate to the new material. She gets low grades, and everyone comes to believe that she cannot learn as well as the others or that she is not interested or not trying. The simple “rat treatment” to provide enriched experiences as much as possible is what’s needed, starting from the earliest age possible. Field trips, exposure to foreign languages, music, art, children’s books, a bit of history … all without tests and grades but WITH lots of fun, humor, questions and NEW EXPERIENCES. I personally believe that this kind of developmental delay is one of the most common learning disabilities in school. It’s also one of the most easily helped as long as the developmentally delayed child is NOT expected to perform to the same standard and her classmates, at least for the first few years.

Symptoms in the classroom:

  • Inability to understand the classroom structure, expectations, and responsibilities.
  • Unresponsiveness to expected cultural references & experiences.
    • Disney or movie characters
    • Eating at a restaurant – even McDonalds
    • Visiting homes of friends and relatives
    • Transportation and travel
    • Common toys
  • Elementary years: unengaged compliance. Secondary: hostility and non-compliance.
  • Increasing difficulty with reading comprehension, mathematics, science, and social studies as broader and deeper topics are introduced.
  • Increasing feeling of inadequacy: “I’m not smart,” “I can’t do it.”

One cause: There seem to be four or five ways a child’s academic and social development are delayed just by growing up in an environment with limited richness in language, cultural experiences, and social experiences. Two factors may exacerbate this delay. First, this limited stimulation may occur at critical times in brain development such as when language is most easily learned. Second, dysfunctional, inappropriate habits and knowledge may be learned instead because the young brain insists on trying to make sense of its world.

Strategies/Treatment/Cure? PARTICIPATION in:

  • Shared, immersive experiences
  • Rich classroom environment
  • Rich language environment (discussion of experiences and environment)
  • Acceptance & Humor
  • Simple, consistent expectation, structure, and rules
  • Social experiences

The above strategies are designed to gently, but continuously, challenge a delayed student to intensely experience and engage in activities that are just outside of her comfort zone. Sort of “catching up on life.”