Table of Contents
- Overview
- Symptoms
- Treatment
- Prevention
Intellectual and developmental disability
Symptoms
- Continued infant-like behavior
- Decreased learning ability
- Failure to meet the markers of intellectual development
- Inability to meet educational demands at school
- Lack of curiosity
Note: Changes to normal behaviors depend on the severity of the condition. Mild retardation may be associated with a lack of curiosity and quiet behavior. Severe mental retardation is associated with infant-like behavior throughout life.
Signs and tests
An assessment of age-appropriate adaptive behaviors can be made using developmental screening tests. The failure to achieve developmental milestones suggests mental retardation.
The following may be signs of mental retardation:
- Abnormal Denver developmental screening test
- Adaptive behavior score below average
- Development way below that of peers
- Intelligence quotient (IQ) score below 70 on a standardized IQ test
Previous Section
Review Date: 11/02/2009
Reviewed By: Neil K. Kaneshiro, MD, MHA, Clinical Assistant Professor of
Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also
reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
