Intellectual Disability has historical been defined as an IQ under 70, but where does the 70 arrive from. The following addresses issues surrounding the meaning and measurement of intelligence. It identifies issues and proposes solutions.
Defining Intellectual Disability
Intelligence means “the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations : the skilled use of reason (2) : the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one’s environment or to think abstractly as measured by objective criteria (as tests): mental acuteness” (Merriam-Webster, 2006). This means in order to arrive at any number a persons brain is challenged to remember things, to code things, to build things, and in general to manipulate things. Intelligence comes in a wide range of areas, which leads us directly to some of the problems with defining intelligence.
Intelligence Meaning Issues:
- Finding a universal definition. There are so many variations of intelligence. Are the correct one’s being tested?
- How to test. Each individual is different. Some are great with the two person environment, yet others might need something else to show their true potential.
- Does test accommodate the child’s abilities/disabilities? Some people have a hard time fully expressing any of the great things going on in their mind.
- Is the definition reliable enough to be used for children’s placement. Just how accurate of a picture are we getting?
Possible Solutions:
- Intelligence should be defined in a more universal manor
- Tests should be used as an aide with other information collected on the child
- More than one test in each domain using different mediums should used