Download mental retardation

Unit 12: Abnormal Psychology
Psychological Disorder Presentations
Mrs. Marsh
mental retardation – a condition, present from
childhood, characterized by significantly belowaverage general intellectual functioning (an IQ of 70 or
below).
 Intellectual deficits
 Impaired social skills and judgment
 Difficulty communicating
 Inability to take care of oneself
 Common forms:
 Down Syndrome
 Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
1.
Intellectual functioning significantly below average. IQs of
about 70 or lower in person who can take an IQ test. Clinical
judgment must be use on those who can not take an IQ test.
2.
Impairments or deficits for that age group in functioning in at
last two of the following areas:
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
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3.
Communication.
Health.
Leisure time.
Safety.
School.
Self-care.
Social.
Taking care of a home.
Work.
The onset of impairment must be before the age of eighteen.
 Hereditary Causes
 Some forms of
mental retardation
involving amino
acids, enzymes, and
chromosomes are
passed through the
genes.
 Most common form
is Down Syndrome.
 Caused by an extra
twenty-first
chromosome.
 Environmental Causes
 While in the womb
 Exposure to drugs or toxic
chemicals
 Maternal malnutrition
 Maternal infections
 Problems during delivery
 Infections
 Anoxia (loss of oxygen)
 Injury to the brain
 Premature birth
 After birth
 Diseases
 Head injuries
 Exposure to toxic
substances
 Neglect
 Most common form is
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
 A set of physical birth
defects caused by a mother
drinking alcohol during
pregnancy.
 Approximately 1% of the population has mental
retardation.
 More common in males.
 1 in 1,000 live births results in FAS (fetal alcohol
syndrome).
 While there is no cure for mental retardation,
providing a combination of behavioral and familybased intervention early in life can lead to improved
development.
 Behavioral intervention
 Use of positive and negative reinforcement to improve
motor, language, social, and cognitive skills.
 Family-based intervention
 Support for families to discuss issues.
 Prevention
 Focus of preventing the physical disorders that lead to
mental retardation.
 Testing the baby immediately after delivery.
 Most genetic causes of mental retardation cannot be
reversed.
 Improve conditions of prenatal development and
childbirth.
 Most people with Down Syndrome live into their
fifties, however…
 Health is usually poor.
 Nearly all develop brain changes resembling
Alzheimer’s.
Is it wrong to call someone or something “retarded”?
Why or why not?
What kind of stigma is attached to mental retardation?