| Abstrakt: |
Developmental disabilities, including mental retardation (or intellectual disability [ID]), are severe and chronic human conditions that are likely to continue indefinitely (P. L. 104-83, 1996). Although current definitions of mental retardation (American Psychiatric Association, 2000; American Association on Mental Retardation [AAMR], 2002; World Heath Organization, 1993) make no reference to the expected duration of the condition, it is generally accepted that mental retardation is lifelong and "essentially incurable" (Doll, 1941). For the most part, children diagnosed with ID develop into adults with ID. There are no credible reports of spontaneous remission of ID. Rather there is a legacy of failed attempts to raise the intelligence of affected individuals (for reviews, see Spitz, 1986, 1999). With the exception of people who function at the margin between mild mental retardation and borderline intelligence, improvements in intellectual functioning have typically been transient or due to interventions that inadvertently result in "teaching to the test" thereby increasing scores on intellectual assessments (Spitz, 1999, p. 285). Intelligence is a trait that remains remarkably stable over time, especially when scores fall below the average range (Sattler, 2001). This is not to say that cognitive and adaptive functioning cannot improve following interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
