Intellectual developmental disorder (also called intellectual disability) describes when a child has a difference in learning abilities and/or performing daily tasks. It might look like a child who takes longer to learn how to walk or speak or a child who has trouble solving problems or understanding social rules. This condition is diagnosed through evaluation.
Overview
Overview
A doctor may diagnose your child with intellectual developmental disorder if your child performs lower than most children their age on two types of tests: cognitive and adaptive. Cognitive tests measure both your child’s thinking and learning skills, while adaptive skills measure practical, everyday skills of daily living.
When your child takes the cognitive skills test, it usually produces an intelligence quotient, or IQ score. The adaptive skills test measures how independently your child can complete common activities like getting dressed, bathing and making food. A very low IQ score or adaptive skills test may indicate an intellectual disability.
Intellectual developmental disorder is a lifelong condition. A child with intellectual developmental disorder can learn new things, but may need more support throughout their life, depending on their level of disability. There are four levels of intellectual disability: mild, moderate, severe and profound. People with profound intellectual developmental disorder need the most support throughout their day, while those with mild intellectual developmental disorder need fewer supports in daily life.
We don’t always know what causes intellectual disabilities. It can be caused by genetic conditions like Down syndrome. Intellectual developmental disorders can also come from various exposures or illnesses during pregnancy, a birth injury, head injury or infections that reach the brain. Your child’s provider may recommend genetic testing to better understand if there is a genetic cause for intellectual developmental disorder.
Assessment
Assessment
When you meet with a specialist at Riley Children’s Health, they will speak with you to learn more about your child’s medical history, development and behavior. Our team will evaluate your child by giving them an IQ test and asking you to answer a questionnaire about their daily living skills. These tests help us measure your child’s intellectual functioning, or their ability to learn, reason and problem solve. Our team will share the results of your child’s evaluations and discuss next steps.
Treatments
Treatments
People with intellectual developmental disorders can grow and learn through early intervention, school services, developmental therapies and medical treatments. Our team can recommend steps to help your child learn new skills and suggest supportive resources for the whole family.
These recommendations and resources may include:
- Programs at your child’s school that help children with intellectual developmental disorders learn life skills
- Speech therapy
- Occupational therapy
Therapies can be given in school or through an outpatient clinic at Riley Children’s Health.
Support Services & Resources
Support Services & Resources
Visit the trusted resources below for more information on intellectual and cognitive disability.
We offer a broad range of supportive services to make life better for families who choose us for their children's care.
This large state organization strives to help and advocate for people with intellectual disabilities and their families. The organization's website provides access to valuable community and government resources.
This website includes information on a huge variety of topics for parents of children with disabilities. Topics include mental health, behavior, research and technology.
Download this guide from Riley Children's to learn what intellectual disability means. Learn how it can affect learning and everyday tasks, and how support can look different for each child.
Riley Children's မှ ထုတ်ဝေသော ဤလမ်းညွှန်ကို ဒေါင်းလုပ်လုပ်ပြီး ဉာဏ်ရည်ချို့တဲ့မှုဆိုတာဘာလဲဆိုတာကို သိရှိနိုင်ပါသည်။ ၎င်းသည် သင်ယူမှုနှင့် နေ့စဉ်လုပ်ဆောင်ရသောအလုပ်များအပေါ် ဘယ်လိုသက်ရောက်မှုရှိနိုင်သည်၊ ထောက်ခံမှုကလည်း ကလေးတိုင်းအတွက် မတူညီနိုင်သည်ကိုလည်း လေ့လာနိုင်ပါသည်။
Telechaje gid sa a soti nan Riley Children's pou w aprann sa yo rele andikap entelektyèl. Aprann kijan li ka afekte aprantisaj ak aktivite chak jou, epi kijan sipò a ka diferan pou chak timoun.
Descargue esta guía de Riley Children's para conocer qué es la discapacidad intelectual. Aprenda cómo puede afectar el aprendizaje y las tareas diarias, y cómo el apoyo puede ser diferente para cada niño.
The Riley Healthcare Transition Program supports patients ages 12 – 22 as they move from a health system focused on kids to one for adults. This team helps develop a plan for you and your child’s providers and prepares your child for this transition.
This resource from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention explains what intellectual disabilities are, how to identify them and how to address your child’s needs. También en español.
This fact sheet from the Indiana Family & Social Services Administration (FSSA) explains the Medicaid Home- and Community-Based Services Waiver program: who’s eligible, what it covers, priority criteria and how to apply.
Indiana Family to Family explains how to get Medicaid coverage for incontinence supplies and lists Medicaid-approved suppliers.
This resource from Indiana Family to Family explains what SSI is, who is eligible and how to apply.
IN*SOURCE helps parents of children with disabilities navigate the special education process in Indiana.
Indiana Family to Family provides information, training and individual support to Indiana families of children with disabilities.
Locations
Locations
Locations
In addition to our primary hospital location at the Academic Health Center in Indianapolis, IN, we have convenient locations to better serve our communities throughout the state.
Departments Treating This Condition
Departments Treating This Condition
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