pediatrics
Intellectual Disability
Key Points
Intellectual disability involves slow intellectual development with subaverage intellectual functioning, immature behavior, and limited self-care skills that in combination are severe enough to require some level of support. A number of prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal factors can cause intellectual disability, but a specific cause often cannot be identified. Deficits in language and personal–social skills may be due to emotional problems, environmental deprivation, learning disorders, or deafness rather than intellectual disability. Screen using tests such as the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) or the Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) and refer suspected cases for standardized intelligence testing and neurodevelopmental assessment. Search for specific causes with cranial imaging, genetic tests (eg, chromosomal microarray analysis, exome sequencing), and other tests as clinically indicated. Provide a comprehensive, individualized program (including family support and counseling) using a multidisciplinary team. 