Intellectual Disability

Akosua was a young and beautiful woman who had everything going on for her; she was the best at her job, she was in a healthy, committed and peaceful relationship, she had wonderful friends and she was about finishing her Masters. One fateful evening, she went to the bar with her friends to drink and have fun after she had received word on her imminent promotion. The bar wasn’t far from her house so she didn’t take her car. On her way back home a gang of boys pounced on her and raped her. She was traumatized and afraid to tell anyone so she decided the best thing to do was to try and move past it. Subsequently, she began to fall sick; she was constantly feeling dizzy and vomiting. She decided to visit the hospital only to be told she was pregnant and was infected with herpes. She was so dumbfounded by the news and filled with rage that she didn’t know what to do. She stopped going to work. She stopped eating. She resorted to alcohol because she wanted to get rid of the baby since abortion was not an option due to her catholic faith. In the end the child was born with no visible physical disabilities but was unfortunately born with a severe intellectual disability. In the early stages of his childhood, he had limitations in his vocabulary; he spoke two to three word sentences. He played with toys inappropriately; he would cut up dolls and dismantle toy cars. During his adolescence, he had deficits in language skills, math, reasoning, problem-solving, writing, memory, critical thinking, communication skills, making and keeping friends and understanding peoples experiences. As an adult, he had difficulties in cooking, maintaining hygiene, grocery shopping, managing his own finances and organizing himself to attend a job. He couldn’t travel alone. He was fully dependent on others for all aspects of his daily living, physical care and safety.

symptoms: This disorder involves deficits in the ability to function in the conceptual (eg. Math, reasoning), social (eg. Making friends, empathy) and practical (eg. Cooking, personal hygiene) domain. People with this disorder normally have problems with motor skills such as eye-hand coordination and balance.

Causes: chromosomal and gestational disorders, exposure to toxins prenatally or in early childhood, infections,brain injury, malformation, metabolism and nutrition problems can cause this disorder. This disorder is also normally seen with people who come from low socioeconomic backgrounds.

MentalMondays by Akwama