Intellectual Disability - Essay Example

 Intellectual Disability Introduction Intellectual disability is a mental condition whereby an individual has certain limitations in theirmental functions in such aspects as communication, learning and social skills. Such people may have difficulties in taking good care of themselves or learning new concepts fast due to mental retardation (Miller & Levine 2013, p. 96). When the condition occurs in children, the affected children normally tend to develop at a much slower rate than their normal counterparts do (Dunn, Clare, and Holland 2010). In this regard, people with intellectual disability, normally referred to as cognitive disabilities, develop a tendency to accomplish various tasks in a sluggish manner depending on the level of intellectual disability authentic (Elliott, Utyasheva, and Zack 2009). While some of the cognitive disabilities may take quite longer to learn in school, learning is completely difficult for some of them due to the high level of intellectual disability in them (Wilkinson, Dreyfus, Cerreto, Mand Bokhour, 2012, p. 248). More often than not, these victims of intellectual disability find themselves in awkward situations especially those involving crime and are unable to defend themselves due to their underdeveloped interpersonal skills (Delaine, 2011, p. 371). Consequently, they always fall victims of crime and abuse, as many people associate them with acts of criminal nature especially due to their queer behaviour (Dunn, Clare, and Holland 2010). Although some of the people with intellectual disability may have to some extent normal judgemental skills, it is saddening to learn that some courts still underestimate the abilities and integrity of people with intellectual disability (Miller & Levine 2013, p. 98). To this extent, it is appropriate to not that people with intellectual disability are more vulnerable to crime and abuse by people from all walks of like (Martínez-Leal et al. 2011, p. 862). This paper critically evaluates intellectual disability and the perception and treatment of people with such conditions, their vulnerability to crime and abuse, the contributing factors and the evidence for current accepted methods in practice in supporting people with intellectual disability by heavily drawing supporting information from empirical, perspective, and cohort studies in the analysis. Intellectual disability is a mental condition that mainly emerges during childhood although it may surface at advanced ages due to certain predisposing factors (Zajac et al. 2011). The disability causes one to have difficulties in learning, socializing, or even undertaking normal duties in one’s life (Höglund et al. 2012, p. 1414). Although the limitations so exhibited in victims may vary depending on the extent of disability, a high percentage of victims normally exhibit significant mental retardation and cognitive skills (Dunn, Clare, and Holland 2010). This means that people with intellectual disability cannot perform their tasks at the same pace as unaffected people and therefore the need to be cautious when handling such personalities is crucial (Martínez-Leal et al. 2011, p. 870). Due to incomplete development of their cognitive skills, people with intellectual disability require developmental needs that span over a long period usually life-long support authentic (Elliott, Utyasheva and Zack 2009). Not only do such people require developmental support within their respective families, but it also extends to the broader community dignity (Höglund, Lindgren, & Larsson 2012, p. 1389). The support that people with intellectual disability require may include functional academics, self-direction, self-care, social skills, home living, leisure, and safety (Wilkinson, Dreyfus, Cerreto, Mand Bokhour, 2012, p. 250). Intellectual disability normally has the characterization of low mental ability score that usually falls below the average on a significant scale (Parchomiuk 2013, p. 129). This specifically means that victims cannot carry out their daily operations effectively due to considerably low intelligence levels and are therefore prone to errors or even fatal mistakes (Tucker et al 2011). Consequently, sufficient supervision is necessary in order to help such people live a more dignified lifestyle (Fryers, and Brugha 2013, p. 24). Considering the fact that intellectual disability comes in different degrees for instance it may range from mild intellectual disability to the most profound one, medics normally use the intelligence quotient (IQ) to gauge a person’s intellectual and mental ability (Lin et al. 2011). For people with intellectual disabilities, their IQ normally falls below the normal threshold of 70. While it is true that mental disability may not manifest in physical aspects, it is worth noting that the possession of intellectual ability does not shield one from having one or multiple of other disabilities (Miller & Levine 2013, p. 99). Such condition may coexist in various forms like seizure disorders, hearing loss, and cerebral palsy (Fryers, and Brugha 2013, p. 32). In this regard, children and persons with severe intellectual disability are more predisposed to additional disabilities than their counterparts with mild intellectual disabilities are (Martínez-Leal et al. 2011, p. 864). Causes of intellectual disability Due to the myriad of challenges that face persons with intellectual disabilities, doctors have worked round the clock in their quest to identify the major causes of the condition (Lin et al. 2011). Evidently, a number of factors may cause intellectual disabilities to individuals irrespective of their health record or that of their family members (Tucker et al 2011). One of the major causes of this agonizing condition is genetic factors that may link the victim to their close relatives or parents who suffered the same conditions authentic (Elliott, Utyasheva and Zack 2009). Although cases of inheritance of the condition are not as common, genetically mutations that affect the victim may render the victim totally or partially impaired in terms of their mental aspects (Höglund et al. 2012, p. 1413). In this case, the victim inherits abnormal genes from one or both parents and complexities may arise in the fusion of the genes leading to intellectual disability (Otter et al. 2012, p. 37). Some of the genetic mutations that may lead to intellectual disabilities when fully fledged include the Down syndrome, phenylketonuria (PKU), and fragile X syndrome (Lee et al. 2011). Another cause of intellectual disability is the complication during the period of pregnancy. This may manifest during labour or even at the time of birth in such a manner that the baby gets insufficient oxygen before and during the process (Tucker et al 2011). If a baby receives inadequate oxygen at the time of birth, there are high chances that the baby may develop intellectual disability with the severity depending on the level of oxygen deficiency. This kind of problem [Acquired Brain Injury (ABI)] accounts for most of the cases of intellectual disabilities experienced in young children with parents from normal health backgrounds (Zajac et al. 2011). Perhaps the last cause of intellectual disability in many people including the adults is the background of health problems (Otter et al. 2012, p. 35). Health problems such as consistent attack by such illnesses as meningitis, measles, and cough may lead to cases of cognitive disabilities as they may affect the spine that accounts for most aspects of the central nervous system (Delaine, 2011, p. 374). Other health problems such as extreme malnutrition, inadequate healthcare, and exposure to poisons such as mercury and lead may also lead to either trivial or intense intellectual disability also depending on the extent of exposure to such vectors (Martínez-Leal et al. 2011, p. 867). Although many regard to people with intellectual disabilities as being sick or having certain kinds of illnesses, intellectual disability is not a disease in any way but simply a condition (Tucker et al 2011). Unlike depression, which is a mental illness, intellectual disability does not have cure but can only be managed through proper developmental support (Fryers, and Brugha 2013, p. 38). Since intellectual disability is not contagious, most of the children with such conditions can just undergo the same learning processes together with other children in an education setting only that it will take them considerable time and effort to comprehend various concepts and skills (Tucker et al 2011). Perhaps it is appropriate to determine the prevalence of intellectual disabilities in the United States. In this regard, close to six and a half million US citizens have the condition (Lin et al. 2011). Of this surprising figure, over half a million children are between the ages of six and twenty-one (Lee et al. 2011). These children exhibit various levels of intellectual disability and therefore, they receive special education. Such special education schools offer such services under the category of the US special education law, IDEA. In actual sense, out of every ten students who need special education in the United States, one of them has some element of intellectual disability (Carulla et al. 2011, p. 179). Despite the fact that the outward appearance of people with intellectual disabilities may not reveal much, there are various signs that doctors normally look up to when diagnosing the condition in both children and adults (Höglund et al. 2012, p. 1410). Certainly, intellectual disability affects adults in the same measure as it affects the children and therefore the diagnostic signs and symptoms tend to bear appreciable elements of resemblance (Tucker et al 2011). In children, the major signs of intellectual disability include slowness in walking, slow memory, difficulties in understanding social rules and logical thinking. In diagnosing intellectual disabilities, two main factors come into focus. The first one is normally the mental capacity of an individual as far as learning, solving problems, thinking, and making sense of this world is concerned (Martínez-Leal et al. 2011, p. 863). This test is conducted mainly to determine the intellectual functioning of the perceived victim before the medics can decide the case based on the final diagnosis (Zajac et al. 2011). People with intellectual disability will always have trouble in developing their cognitive skills (Lee et al. 2011). The second consideration in the diagnosis whether or not the individual has the skills that they require for their independent life, normally referred to as the adaptive functioning or behaviour authentic (Elliott, Utyasheva and Zack 2009). People with intellectual disability have low adaptive skills and will always need developmental support that in some cases may be permanent (Wilkinson, Dreyfus, Cerreto, Mand Bokhour, 2012, p. 245). People with disability have been more vulnerable to abuse and crimes especially the womenfolk in this category (Silverman et al. 2010, p. 243). Cases of sexual abuse have been common to the women who suffer this condition as their perpetrators take advantage to the fact that some of them especially those with acute intellectual disability will not be able to explain and defend themselves (Peebles, Price 2012, p. 448). To this effect, the men who target women with intellectual disability are fully aware of the fact that it is hard to reason for the part of the victims of sexual abuse and rape authentic (Elliott, Utyasheva and Zack 2009). Although the women with this condition are the most common victims of sexual abuse, at times their male counterparts encounter similar experiences (Haydon, McRee, and Halpern 2011, p. 3481). Because this condition has led to many unwanted pregnancies, most governments in the Europe and the US have taken intensive and extensive measures to ensure that women with such conditions are adequately protected from unwarranted sexual activities (Boyle et al. 2010). When it comes to the male gender, the effects and evidence of intellectual disability takes a completely different and dynamic perspective mainly the criminal one. Since most people tend to associate people with intellectual disability with criminal acts, such victims normally have undergone great agony (Wilkinson et al. 2008, 2017). This is despite the fact that some of these patients may have moral principles engraved within their lifestyles (Haydon, McRee, and Halpern 2011, p. 3477). Consequentially, courts in many parts of the world are not doing enough to rescue and protect the rights of people with intellectual disability who find themselves in legal tussles (Fistein et al. 2009, p. 154). Although some of the people with intellectual disability may appear as witnesses or may defend themselves properly before any court of law, many courts in the United States have underestimated their ability (Lennox et al. 2012, p. 750). This is in addition to that fact that intellectual disability has a strong correlation to such disadvantages as poverty and low levels of income (Martínez-Leal 2011, p. 861). This situation makes people with intellectual disability more vulnerable to abuse and challenges as far as making good their defences are concerned especially in the courts (Miller & Levine 2013, p. 96). In fact, many people simply disregard them as have too low cognitive ability to participate in legal proceedings despite the fact that some of these people have mild forms of intellectual disabilities (Parchomiuk 2013, p. 128). To this extent broader research and literature cites intellectual disability as being a predisposing factor to legal issues (Carulla et al. 2011, p. 178). This generalization as far as intellectual disability is concerned is unfair to the victims especially when it come to the determination of their capacity (Rezvyy, Schönfelder, Øiesvold, Olstad, and Midré 2007, p. 128). This means that under ordinary circumstances, people tend to underestimate the abilities and capacities of people living with intellectual disability for various reasons that might not be authentic (Elliott, Utyasheva and Zack 2009). In as much as intellectual disability may considerably limit the learning ability, functional skills, the degree of understanding concepts, it is vital to note that there are various degrees of intellectual disability (Silverman et al. 2010, p. 245). In this respect, a person suffering from a slight intellectual disability may have the capacity to perform other tasks normally or close to what a normal person could have achieved (Lennox et al. 2012, p. 750). To the extreme, profound intellectual disability may absolutely hinder the cognitive and developmental skills of an individual and therefore such victims may require lifelong developmental support (Zajac, Sprecher, Landrigan, and Trasande 2011). However, to generalise that every person with intellectual disability lacks the capacity to function normally is a gross understatement as far as discrimination is concerned (Boyle et al. 2010). Therefore, courts and government institutions in the US and Europe have an uphill task in changing this perspective that has penetrated the law courts to a saddening extent (Lin et al. 2011). Therefore, it is crucial for all concerned and interested parties and stakeholders to evaluate the case of each person with intellectual disability on an individual level dignity (Höglund, Lindgren, & Larsson 2012, p. 1386). This way, they will be able to determine the strengths and weaknesses of each person with intellectual disability accurately to make wise and informed decision (Oliveira et al. 2011, p. 1853). This process is especially important to the federal government and the US judiciary where some cases involving people with intellectual disability have ensured in the recent past (Peebles, Price 2012, p. 445). After assessing the specific cases of intellectual disability in the victims, the courts and concerned institutions should seek the considerations and the concerns of the victims and where possible, take appropriate actions and decisions based on the statements and issues echoed by persons with intellectual disability (Boyle et al. 2010). Fortunately, the Disability plan of the Victorian Government’s State highly encourages the inclusion of everyone including the marginalized the people living with disabilities (Wilkinson et al. 2008, 2016). The main aim of developing and implementing this plan was to ensure equal public participation in all matters of national interest and to dispel any claims or suspicions of discriminations based on capacity of persons (Lin et al. 2011). In this respect, all aspects of the community enjoyed the element of an all-inclusive government where equitable and equal sharing of national resources prevailed irrespective of the conditions of the people concerned (Parchomiuk 2013, p. 125). Approximately one per cent of the total Victoria’s population have been diagnosed with the condition of intellectual disability, a figure that represents about 49,000 people. In efforts to provide developmental support to such people, DHS initiated a project that was aimed at aiding 9,614 people with intellectual disability (Boyle et al. 2010). Although vulnerability to abuse and crime may vary from person to person, a number of factors contribute to the susceptibility of people with intellectual disability to crime and abuse (Rezvyy, Schönfelder, Øiesvold, Olstad, and Midré 2007, p. 128). Indeed, abuse constitutes direct physical abuse, sexual abuse, or neglect perpetrated against persons with intellectual disability (Silverman et al. 2010, p. 247). These acts against such persons may be a real source of agony to the persons as they to some extent border on discrimination and total disregard to human dignity (Höglund, Lindgren, & Larsson 2012, p. 1384). Among the many factors, the major contributing factors to the prevalence of abuse to people with intellectual disability include low income, lack of education, poverty, communication difficulties, and low self-esteem (Oliveira et al. 2011, p. 1851). The factors have fuelled the incidences of criminal activities in the persons with intellectual disability especially the male gender. To this extent, it is worthy to note that criminal justice systems in many states world over lack adequate equipment to deal with the needs of such persons (Shawna et al. 2012, P. 1154). In many occasions, reports have been submitted in US courts of law concerning allegations of abuse of persons with intellectual disability (Rezvyy, Schönfelder, Øiesvold, Olstad, and Midré 2007, p. 128). The persons with intellectual disability may be the accused or they might be the ones who have fallen victim to acts amounting to abuse in the interpretation of the court (Fistein et al. 2009, p. 152). Either way, the jury especially in the US and Europe ought to give these people an attentive ear so that their side of the story can be heard (Zajac et al. 2011). Direct physical abuse to the victims may come through physical assault while sexual assault is mainly common with the women leaving with the condition of intellectual disability (Oliveira et al. 2011, p. 1848). More often than not, such victims conceive under traumatizing conditions and therefore the courts and the relevant institutions ought to protect the rights of the victims and ensure that they see justice irrespective of their mental condition (Fistein et al. 2009, p. 150). Perhaps neglect is the most common form of abuse to persons with intellectual disability. Those who can perpetrate this vice include the family members, the government, or even the relevant health and education institutions (Zajac et al. 2011). Certainly, intellectual disability should not be seen as a mistake to be blamed on the victims but rather as a condition that anybody can acquire, depending on the predisposing factors (Shawna et al. 2012, P. 1151). When it comes to the factors that contribute to the precedence of crime experienced majorly from persons with disability, inadequate education or the lack of it is a key issue (Lin et al. 2011). Due to neglect, most persons with intellectual disability tend to engage in criminal activities, poverty, and low income being at the centre of it all (Fistein et al. 2009, p. 150). In the US for instance, 80% of all the criminals with intellectual disability confessed they did so due to poverty that was caused by lack of education (Lin et al. 2011). To this extent, it surprises to discover that all these factors entangled together lead to low self-esteem (Shawna et al. 2012, P. 1150). Due to these evidences relating to intellectual disability, it is clear that the work ahead for the federal government and other states in the Europe and the world at large ought to give it an unbiased attention in order to protect the rights of all people (Peebles, Price 2012, p. 443). Reference List Boyle, M J, Williams, B, Brown, T, Molloy, A, McKenna, L, Molloy, E, and Lewis, B 2010 ‘Attitudes of undergraduate health science students towards patients with intellectual disability, substance abuse, and acute mental illness: a cross-sectional study’, BMC Med Education, retrieved 15 August 2013, Carulla, LS, Reed, GM, Vaez-Azizi, L M, Cooper, S, Leal, R M, Bertelli, M, Adnams, C, Cooray, S, Deb, S, Dirani, L A, Girimaji, S C, Katz, G, Kwok, H, Luckasson, R, Rune Simeonsson, Carolyn Walsh, Kemir Munir, Shekhar Saxena 2011 ‘Intellectual developmental disorders: towards a new name, definition and framework for “mental retardation/intellectual disability” in ICD-11’, World Psychiatry. Vol. 10, no. 33, pp. 175–180. Delaine, K 2011 ‘A Computer-Based Interactive Multimedia Program to Reduce HIV Transmission for Women with Intellectual Disability’, Intellect Development Disability, vol.56, no. 4, pp. 371-381, retrieved 21 August 2013, Dunn, M C, Clare, I C H, and Holland, A J 2010 ‘To empower or to protect? Constructing the ‘vulnerable adult’ in English law and public policy’, Legal Studies, vol. 28, 2, retrieved 15 August 2013, Elliott, R, Utyasheva, L, and Zack, E 2009 ‘HIV, disability and discrimination: making the links in international and domestic human rights law’, International AIDS Society, retrieved 15 August 2013, Fistein, E C, Holland, A J, Clare, I C H, Gunn, M J 2009 ‘A comparison of mental health legislation from diverse Commonwealth jurisdictions’, International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 147-155, retrieved 15 August 2013, Fryers, T, and Brugha, T 2013 ‘Childhood Determinants of Adult Psychiatric Disorder’, Clinical Practice Epidemial Mental Health, vol. 26, no. 9, pp. 1-50, retrieved 15 August 2013, Haydon, A A, McRee, A, and Halpern, C T 2011 ‘Unwanted sex among young adults in the US: The role of physical disability and cognitive performance’, Interpersonal violence, vol. 26, no. 17, pp. 3476-3493, retrieved 15 August 2013, Höglund, B, Lindgren, P, and Larsson, M 2012 ‘New-borns of mothers with intellectual disability have a higher risk of perinatal death and being small for gestational age’, Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand, vol. 91, no.12, pp. 1409–1414, retrieved 15 August 2013, Höglund, B, Lindgren, P, Larsson, M 2012 ‘Pregnancy and birth outcomes of women with intellectual disability in Sweden: a national register study’, Intellect Development Disability, vol. 91, no. 12, pp. 1381-1387, retrieved 21 August 2013, Lee, L, Rianto, J, Raykar, V, Creasey, H, Waite, L, Berry, A, Xu, J, Chenoweth, B, Kavanagh, B, and Naganathan, V 2011 ‘Health and Functional Status of Adults with Intellectual Disability Referred to the Specialist Health Care Setting: A Five-Year Experience’, Int J Family Med, retrieved 15 August 2013, Lennox et al. 2012 ‘A health advocacy program for adolescents with an intellectual disability: a cluster randomised controlled trial’, BMC Public Health, vol. 12, no. retrieved 15 August 2013, Lennox, N, Ware, R, Carrington, S, O’Callaghan, M, Williams, G, McPherson, L, Bain, C 2012 ‘Ask: a health advocacy program for adolescents with an intellectual disability: a cluster randomised controlled trial’, Intellect Development Disability, vol.12, pp. 750, retrieved 21 August 2013, Lin, L, Lin, P, Hsu, S, Loh, C, Lin, J, Lai, C, Chien, W, and Lin, F 2011 ‘Caregiver awareness of reproductive health issues for women with intellectual disabilities’ BMC Public Health, retrieved 15 August 2013, Lin, L, Lin, P, Wei Hsu, S, Loh, C, Lin, J, Lai, C, Chien, W, Lin, F 2011 ‘Caregiver awareness of reproductive health issues for women with intellectual disabilities’, BMC Public Health, retrieved 15 August 2013, Martínez-Leal, R, Salvador-Carulla, L, Linehan, C, Walsh, P, Weber, G, Van Hove, G, Määttä, T, Azema, B, Haveman, M, Buono, S, Germanavicius, A, van, S J, Tossebro, A. Carmen-Câra, A, Moravec B D, Perry, J, Kerr, M 2011 ‘The impact of living arrangements and deinstitutionalisation in the health status of persons with intellectual disability in Europe’, PMC Publication, vol. 55, no. 9, pp. 858–872, retrieved 15 August 2013, Miller, P S, Levine, R L 2013 ‘Avoiding genetic genocide: understanding good intentions and eugenics in the complex dialogue between the medical and disability communities’, Genetic Medicine, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 95-102, retrieved 15 August 2013, Oliveira, P A, Oliveira, C C C, Rocca, C C A, Costa, A P G, Scivoletto, S 2011 ‘The importance of multidisciplinary evaluation for differentiating between mental retardation and antisocial behaviour in sex offenders: a case study’, PubMed, vol. 66, no. 10, pp. 1847-1848, retrieved 15 August 2013, Otter, M, Constance, T R M, Stumpel, S, Didden, R, Leopold M, Curfs, G 2012 ‘The psychiatric phenotype in triple X syndrome: New hypotheses illustrated in two cases’ Development and Neurorehabilitation, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 233-238, retrieved 15 August 2013, Parchomiuk, M 2013 ‘Model of Intellectual Disability and the Relationship of Attitudes Towards the Sexuality of Persons with an Intellectual Disability’, Intellect Development Disability, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 125-139, retrieved 21 August 2013, < doi: 10.1007/s11195-012-9285-1> Peebles, K A, Price, T J, 2012 ‘Self-injurious behaviour in intellectual disability syndromes: evidence for aberrant pain signalling as a contributing factor’, , Intellect Development Disability, vol. 56, no. 5, pp. 441-452, retrieved 21 August 2013, Rezvyy, G, Schönfelder, W, Øiesvold, T, Olstad, R, and Midré, G 2007 ‘Between health care and social security – psychiatric patients and the disability pension system in Norway and Russia’, BMC Health Serv Res., vol. 7, 128, retrieved 15 August 2013, Shawna, L, Chapman, C, and Wu, L 2012 ‘Substance Abuse among Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities’, PubMed, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 1147-1156, retrieved 15 August 2013, < doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2012.02.009> Silverman, W, Miezejeski, C, Ryan, R, Zigman, W, Krinsky-McHale, S, and Urv, T 2010 ‘Stanford-Binet & WAIS IQ Differences and Their Implications for Adults with Intellectual Disability (aka Mental Retardation)’, PubMed, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 242-248, retrieved 15 August 2013, < doi: 10.1016/j.intell.2009.12.005> Tucker, M, Gomez, M T, Rey-Conde, T, and Lennox, N 2011 ‘Parental Concerns about the Health of Adolescents with Intellectual Disability: A Brief Report’, Int J Family Med, retrieved 15 August 2013, Wandrey, L, Lyon, T D, Quas, J A, and Friedman, W J 2012 ‘Maltreated children’s ability to estimate temporal location and numerosity of placement changes and court visits’, Psychological Public Policy Law, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 79-104, retrieved 15 August 2013, Wilkinson, J E, Cerreto, M C 2008 ‘Primary Care for Women with Intellectual Disabilities’, PubMed, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 215-222, retrieved 15 August 2013, Wilkinson, J, Dreyfus, D, Cerreto, M, and Bokhour, B 2012 ‘“Sometimes I Feel Overwhelmed”: Educational Needs of Family Physicians Caring for People with Intellectual Disability’, Intellect Development Disability, vol.50, no. 3, pp.243-250, retrieved 15 August 2013, Zajac, L, Sprecher, E, Landrigan, P J, and Trasande, T L, 2011 ‘A systematic review of US state environmental legislation and regulation with regards to the prevention of neurodevelopmental disabilities and asthma’, Environmental Health, retrieved 15 August 2013, Read More