Over one hundred years ago, the first test of intelligence was developed by Simon Binet in order to identify children who were having difficulties learning (Colmar, Maxwell, & Miller, 2006). Intellectual disabilities are diagnosed by assessing two main areas: a person’s ability to gain the skills they need to live independently, and the brain’s ability to learn, think, solve, problems, and make sense of the world (also called IQ) (“Intellectual Disability”, 2011). As previously mentioned, in the 1950s diagnosis was generally made based solely on the results of the IQ test, however, that is no longer the case (Schneider et al., 2014). Intellectual functioning is usually measured with the use of a test, referred to as an IQ test. Tests …show more content…
“What is intellectual disability?” (2016), defines mild intellectual disability by scoring between fifty-five to seventy on an IQ test, moderate between thirty to fifty-five, and severe being under thirty. The DSM-5 classifies severity levels into 4 categories: mild, moderate, severe, and profound and then subdivides each category by all 3 domains of impairment: conceptual social, and practical. Mild intellectual disability is the most common amongst the four categories. For preschool children, there may be no obvious conceptual differences; however, for school-age children and adults, there are difficulties in learning academic skills involving reading, writing, arithmetic, time, or money, with the support needed in one or more areas to meet age-related expectations. Within the social domain, the child must be perceived as having interactions, communication, conversation, and language below what is expected for their developmental age. Within the practical domain, the individual may function age-appropriately in personal care, but they may require some support with complex daily living tasks in comparison to their peers (DSM-5, 2014). In the conception domain, moderate severity requires the child to possess markedly lower conceptual skills in comparison to their peers. Overall, academic development is much slower than their peers. Social domain requires the individual to show noticeable differences amongst their peers in both social and communicative behavior across development. There is a lower capacity for relationships with family and friends, and social judgment and decision-making abilities are limited, requiring help to make life decisions. The practical domain entails complete support needed, however, things can be taught throughout development, and an individual may reach adulthood and only require reminders (DSM-5, 2014). The severe level encompasses a very