(c) 2006 by Pearson Education. All Rights Reserved. Psychosocial Aspects of Intellectual Disability Beirne-Smith et al. Mental Retardation, Seventh Edition.
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
(c) 2006 by Pearson Education. All Rights Reserved.
Psychosocial Aspects of Intellectual Disability
Beirne-Smith et al.Mental Retardation, Seventh Edition
(c) 2006 by Pearson Education. All Rights Reserved.
The Nature-Nurture Debate
• The age-old argument concerns whether nature (a person’s biological makeup) or nurture (learning that takes place within a person’s environment) is responsible for shaping character.
• Most experts are now willing to acknowledge that biology and environment both affect development, and that they interact and even influence each other.
• Experts continue to debate over which influence is most important.
Beirne-Smith et al.Mental Retardation, Seventh Edition
(c) 2006 by Pearson Education. All Rights Reserved.
Time and again, psychologists and educators have promised more than they could deliver. Quite often, history would show that the interventions led to important outcomes. However, these outcomes would be overlooked because the loftier goals that had been set in the beginning (often to increase IQ or eradicate mental retardation) failed to be achieved.
Beirne-Smith et al.Mental Retardation, Seventh Edition
(c) 2006 by Pearson Education. All Rights Reserved.
Early Intervention ResearchHarold Skeels’ Orphanage Study
• Control group children who remained in the regular nursery ward of the orphanage lost IQ points over time
• At 30-year follow-up, only one control group child was a self-sustaining citizen
• Study demonstrated that children with environmentally imposed mental retardation could achieve normal IQ, but also that children with normal IQ could become mentally retarded, given a non-stimulating environment
Beirne-Smith et al.Mental Retardation, Seventh Edition
(c) 2006 by Pearson Education. All Rights Reserved.
Segregation & LabelingInclusion Philosophies
• Full inclusion– all children should be allowed to participate in regular
classrooms all the time.
• Partial inclusion– if a person can live and learn effectively in an
integrated setting, it is their right to be there. However, regular classrooms can’t effectively manage students with rare or unusually severe problems, especially if those problems will infringe upon the rights of the other children
Beirne-Smith et al.Mental Retardation, Seventh Edition
(c) 2006 by Pearson Education. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Summary
The Role of Poverty• Children of culturally deprived homes are at risk for the
development of mental retardation.• Proper nutrition, caring interaction, a responsive
language environment, and stimulating surroundings are all required for optimal intellectual development.
• Compensatory interventions can provide benefits to children of culturally-deprived homes.
• Some children of low-income, minority households may exhibit symptoms of mental retardation in school without noticeable difficulties in their home environments.
Beirne-Smith et al.Mental Retardation, Seventh Edition
(c) 2006 by Pearson Education. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter SummaryPsychosocial Interventions• Special education methods were founded on the idea
that destiny is not shaped entirely by genetics, and all people are capable of learning, growing, and changing.
• Although many important accomplishments can be made through psychosocial interventions, compensatory education cannot promise to eliminate all mental retardation and associated problems.
• The most effective compensatory intervention programs begin in infancy.
• In general, integrated settings are preferable for people with mental retardation to live and learn. There are many negative effects of segregation and labeling, which must be balanced against the ability of the integrated setting to provide meaningful support.
Beirne-Smith et al.Mental Retardation, Seventh Edition
(c) 2006 by Pearson Education. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Summary
Cultural Considerations• Cultural differences must be considered in the
assessment of children from minority groups.• A person’s ability to adapt to cultural norms greatly
affects his ability to function successfully in that society.• Disability labels can have a self-fulfilling prophecy
attached to them, due to decreased feelings of self-esteem and to the lowered expectations of significant others.
• In Edgerton’s classic study, The Cloak of Competence, people with mental retardation living in the community exhibited only one common theme: the desire to deny the presence of mental retardation.
Beirne-Smith et al.Mental Retardation, Seventh Edition