What is an intellectual disability?
Intellectual disability is a developmental disorder. But what exactly is it? To give you a better understanding of what this means, we briefly explain what intellectual disability is, what characteristics can be recognised and how digital accessibility can help this target group.
Briefly, what is intellectual disability?
People with intellectual disabilities develop more slowly than their peers. This can be seen in different situations:
Atschool. This can be a (permanent) developmental delay. Both mentally and physically, there may be difficulty learning or moving.
In the self-reliance during daily tasks. Such as getting dressed, eating and/or handling money.
In the relationship with others. This may be in the area of communication or establishing friendships or relationships.
The extent to which intellectual disability affects each person varies. We elaborate on this in the paragraph below.
How is intellectual disability diagnosed?
The previous paragraph mentioned that the degree to which an intellectual disability is present can vary. To "measure" this, we look at intellectual functioning (IQ) and support needs. Please note! These IQ values are not absolute. Rather, it is a tool to get an idea. The DSM, the diagnostic manual that describes various mental and cognitive disorders, distinguishes between different forms of intellectual disability:
Mildly mentally impaired (IQ between 50 and 70)
Moderately mentally impaired (IQ between 35 and 49)
Erstrictly mentally impaired (IQ between 20 and 34)
Deeply mentally impaired (IQ below 20)
When it comes to support needs, we look at what is appropriate for age and living environments (living, learning, working and/or interacting with others).
What can you recognise in...
A mild intellectual disability (75%)
Some characteristics that stand out in people with mild intellectual disabilities include:
Needing support with tasks such as shopping, transport, health and/or raising children.
In particular with children: problems learning to read, write, calculate, tell time.
It is striking that in this target group, problem solving succeeds to some extent. They can often do personal care and leisure activities and jobs themselves, with or without certain adaptations.
Moderate intellectual disability (18%)
Characteristics that stand out in people with moderate intellectual disabilities:
Aparticularly in children, the development of reading, writing, arithmetic, clocking and managing money can take longer. They also develop skills less well than others.
Adults often need support in applying skills in a job.
What is noticeable in this target group is when performing personal care and household tasks, more time is needed to become independent in this.
Severe intellectual disability (7%)
Characteristics in severe intellectual disability are:
Little to no comprehension in written language, numbers, time and money.
Anywhere in life, support is needed in: solving problems, daily tasks, and developing skills.
Spoken language is usually limited.
Communication is sometimes possible using sign language.
Deep severe impairment (1%)
Characteristics in deep severe impairment are:
Nearly incapable of communication, gestural or spoken language.
Emotions are expressed mainly through non-verbal communication.
Dependent on others for aspects such as safety, health and care.
What are the causes of intellectual disability?
Intellectual disability is a developmental disorder. There can be several causes: heredity, bad predisposition or influences during pregnancy (think drugs or infections), or problems at birth. A mental disability is not always hereditary. With today's technology, it has become possible to detect chromosomal abnormalities more quickly. An intellectual disability can sometimes also co-exist or have similar characteristics to other disabilities. Consider, for example, physical disabilities and cognitive disabilities.
Digital accessibility helps
The needs of people with intellectual disabilities are different. How can digital accessibility help with this? In any case, it is important to:
Maintain calmness on your pages.
Use clear and simple language. Sometimes it can be helpful to offer additional simplified text.
Make sure that repetitive parts (such as the menu) look the same on every page.
Make sure that pages can be found multiple ways.
