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Definition and Nature of Intellectual Disability

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Handbook of Evidence-Based Practices in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Part of the book series: Evidence-Based Practices in Behavioral Health ((EBPBH))

Abstract

This chapter reviews the evolution of two approaches to classification for people with intellectual deficits. Both seek to improve the lives of people with these deficits and both emphasize a developmental perspective. The AAIDD classification focuses on the disability construct and emphasizes normalization and the supports needed for self-determination. Although its definition incorporates a standardized measure of intelligence, its focus is on the provision of supports to help each person reach their potential. It is an approach that advocates for the human rights of people with disability in education, community settings, and the law. In DSM-5, the American Psychiatric Association classifies neurodevelopmental disorders and focuses on the etiology of intellectual deficits and their underlying neurobiology. It recognizes that each person has a distinct inherited neurobiology that interacts with environmental experiences during development. It provides a mainstream definition of intellectual deficits that to be fully assessed necessitates both standardized measures of general intelligence and specific neuropsychological measures, especially executive functioning testing. Both types of testing are needed because there are many different patterns of intellectual impairment in neurodevelopmental syndromes that impact test scores. Severity is assessed based on adaptive functioning in academic, social, and practical domains instead of using IQ cutoff scores. Research in the basic neurosciences, genetics, and neuroimaging is providing new insights into our understanding of the underlying neurobiology of intelligence. Our field contributes to understanding the forms of human competence and the role that the intellectual functions play in facilitating adaptation to everyday life.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Children’s Center, 1800 Orleans Street, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA

    James C. Harris

  2. University of Colorado, P. O. Box 620550, Littleton, CO, 80162, USA

    Stephen Greenspan

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  1. James C. Harris
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  2. Stephen Greenspan
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Correspondence to James C. Harris .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Health Beha, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta Univ, Augusta, Georgia, USA

    Nirbhay N. Singh

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Harris, J.C., Greenspan, S. (2016). Definition and Nature of Intellectual Disability. In: Singh, N. (eds) Handbook of Evidence-Based Practices in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Evidence-Based Practices in Behavioral Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26583-4_2

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