Transforming psychological practice and society. Policies that reflect the new paradigm

As people with disabilities challenge psychology to acknowledge the sociopolitical foundations of their marginalization, they urge psychologists to help improve disability policy within and beyond the borders of the discipline. Understanding disability through a social paradigm offers opportunities to reframe the way psychologists define problems related to disability, to develop more collaborative relationships between psychologists and people with disabilities, and to adopt new professional responsibilities with respect to the disability community. The authors address the impact of the social paradigm on policies within psychology that guide consulting, advocacy, and training. The impact of national policy decisions, such as those associated with reimbursement, on practice and training is also discussed. Highlighted throughout are points of controversy prompted by new disability frameworks that remain open to illumination from the field.     

Persönlichkeitsstörung und Intelligenzminderung

There have previously been only few objective investigations on the combined occurrence of intellectual disability and personality disorder. Despite this difficulty, from the current clinical viewpoint there is no doubt that at least people with mild intellectual disability can also develop personality disorders. In slight degrees of intellectual disability it is possible to psychopathologically describe the typical symptoms objectively. For the disorder symptomatic of combined personality disorder in people with an intellectual disability, there are no confirmed facts, publications or diagnostic rules. The diagnostic assignment of behavioral abnormalites as combined personality disorder with dependent and infantile components in people with intellectual diasabilities still does not seem to be justified. In people with medium to severe mental disorders only the comprehensive term “behavioral abnormalities” should be applied.     

Disciplinary sanctioning of students with intellectual disabilities: revisiting the status liability hypothesis

We examined the impact of disability status on disciplinary sanctioning of a student committing a minor versus severe behavioral infraction. We used the status liability hypothesis as a framework. This hypothesis suggests that individuals with a higher personal status receive sanctioning differentially based on the severity of offense. Specifically, individuals of high status are predicted to be sanctioned less severely than persons with lower status given a minor offense. The hypothesis also predicts that individuals accorded high status will receive more punitive sanctioning when the act of deviance from social norms is perceived as severe. Pre-service teachers were randomly assigned to judge the behavior of a student with or without an intellectual disability committing a behavioral offense. A student with an intellectual disability was seen as influenced by dispositional factors, regardless of the offense, while a student without a disability who committed a minor offense was seen as influenced by situational factors. The behavior of a student with an intellectual disability was judged as less severe, and the student was 50% less likely to incur an in-school suspension. When a student with an intellectual disability was sanctioned, the length of suspension was equal to that of a student without a disability.

DISPOSABLE BODIES,DISABLED MINDS,AND CHRISTIAN HOPE: RESURRECTION IN LIGHT OF TRANSHUMANISM AND INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

This piece brings into critical conversation Christian resurrection hope, virtual versions of transhumanism, and intellectual disability and demonstrates that Christian resurrection provides a more cogent hope for people with severe intellectual disabilities than transhumanism. I argue that transhumanist virtual futures are theologically problematic, as bodily resurrection is neither required nor desirable. It is particularly problematic for people with severe intellectual disabilities given the way they would be excluded from these futures. Disability theology also raises issues with the traditional notions of “healing” in the resurrection and the implications for the value and identity of persons with intellectual disabilities. Starting with these problems, I explore the nature of Christian hope, noting the inadequacies of a virtual transhumanist future with respect to both resurrection faith and intellectual disability, and address how resurrection hope can account for issues raised in disability theology, and so properly include people with intellectual disabilities.     

Poverty and people with intellectual disabilities

Epidemiological studies have consistently reported a significant association between poverty and the prevalence of intellectual disabilities. The available evidence suggests that this association reflects two distinct processes. First, poverty causes intellectual disabilities, an effect mediated through the association between poverty and exposure to a range of environmental and psychosocial hazards. Second, families supporting a child with intellectual disabilities and adults with intellectual disabilities are at increased risk of experiencing poverty due to the financial and social impact of caring and the exclusion of people with intellectual disabilities from the workforce. It is likely that the association between poverty and intellectual disabilities accounts in part for the health and social inequalities experienced by people with intellectual disabilities and their families. Implications for policy and practice are discussed in relation to the funding of services for people with intellectual disabilities and preventative approaches to addressing the health and social inequalities experienced by people with intellectual disabilities and their families.     

Intellectual disability and the myth of the changeling myth

This article investigates the historical sources for the idea of the "changeling" or substitute child as an explanation for congenital intellectual disability. Pre-modern sources for this idea are elite and theological as much as popular and folkloric, nor do they refer to intellectual disability in any sense recognizable to us. Rather, both the concept of intellectual disability and the notion of a transhistorical changeling myth emerge from the historical core of modern psychology.     

Flexibilité catégorielle chez des enfants scolarisés en ULIS : les effets d’un étayage métacognitif

Categorization is an essential cognitive process, but it seems deficient in children with intellectual disability. This study aimed to assess the improvement of categorization performances in children with intellectual disability by a metacognitive training. The specificity of the metacognitive training was tested by assessing two types of training, one metacognitive and the other not. The performances of categorical flexibility, that is to say, flexible use of categorization in 34 children with intellectual disability schooled in a special school (ULIS) were first evaluated. An intervention (metacognitive training, or training without metacognitive orientation, or no training) was then proposed one week later, followed by a second evaluation of the categorical flexibility performances. Furthermore, two versions of the categorical flexibility task were proposed so allowing the comparison of the use of perceptive categorization (shape and color) and semantic categorization (taxonomic and thematic). The results show that when the categorization requested are perceptive children with intellectual disability achieve performances at the ceiling level, contrary to the case of semantic categorization. Only children having benefited from a metacognitive training significantly increased their performances in semantic categorical flexibility task. These results show the possibility of training the semantic categorical flexibility in children with intellectual disability and suggest a possibility of transferring learning.     

Authoritative Parenting of Chinese Mothers of Children with and without Intellectual Disability

The present study examined authoritative parenting and associations with parenting sense of competence and social support in Chinese mothers of children with intellectual disability and mothers of typically developing children. One hundred and sixty-seven mothers of children with intellectual disability with a mean age of 10.89 years (SD?=?1.74) and 119 mothers of typically developing children with a mean age of 10.55 years (SD?=?1.10) participated in a survey. Mothers of children with intellectual disability reported similar levels of parental warmth, and less use of reasoning and autonomy support compared with mothers of typically developing children. Parenting efficacy contributed uniquely to three dimensions of authoritative parenting for mothers of children with intellectual disability. By comparison, parenting efficacy did not contribute to use of reasoning and autonomy support for mothers of typically developing children. Social support made a unique but small contribution to parental warmth but not to parental reasoning and autonomy support for mothers of children with intellectual disability. For mothers of typically developing children, social support was associated with both parental warmth and autonomy support. This study suggests that child disability status is related to maternal authoritative parenting, and additionally, parenting efficacy plays a more critical role in predicting authoritative parenting of Chinese mothers of children with intellectual disability than mothers of typically developing children.     

PHILOSOPHERS OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY: A TAXONOMY

Abstract: This essay explores various roles that philosophers occupy in relation to intellectual disability. In examining how philosophers define their object of inquiry as experts and gatekeepers, it raises critical questions concerning the nature of philosophical discourse about intellectual disability. It then goes on to consider three alternate positions, the advocate or friend, the animal, and the "intellectually disabled," each of which points to new ways of philosophizing in the face of intellectual disability.     

Correlations for the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales with Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test in a forensic sample

People with an intellectual disability are over-represented in the criminal justice system in many western countries. Identifying accused persons with intellectual disability is important if they are to receive protections available under the law. Accurate diagnosis is also relevant for correctional administrators, probation and parole services, and community services. Diagnosis of intellectual disability must be made on the basis of both cognitive skills (intelligence) and adaptive behavior. In this study, the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test assessed intelligence, and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales assessed adaptive behavior, through self-report. Tests were administered to 150 offenders, ranging in age from 13 to 53 years, in Australian prisons, juvenile detention centers, legal aid offices, and probation services. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients calculated among all subtests and between total scores were significant. ROC curve analyses demonstrated that performance on each effectively predicted a standard score of less than 70 on the other one.     

Blockheads, roundheads, pointy heads: intellectual disability and the brain before modern medicine

Recent work on the conceptual history of intellectual disability has pointed to a discontinuity in the seventeenth century, identifying the concept as essentially modern in a more radical sense than mental illness or physical disability. However, Galenist accounts of intellectual impairment were clearly connected (via anatomy) to neurology, which could be taken as prima facie evidence that Galenism shares with modern medicine one of its basic explanatory approaches to intellectual disability. Close textual examination does not bear out this counter-claim, at least as far as the conceptual apparatus itself is concerned. However, it does reveal a degree of continuity in the medical mind-set as discourses of monstrosity were transposed from the domain of anatomy to that of post-Cartesian psychology.     

Le point de vue des adultes avec une trisomie 21 sur leurs relations fraternelles et aux pairs extrafamiliaux : impact sur leur vie intrapsychique et intersubjective

This exploratory study concerns the sibling's bonds, and the bonds with extrafamilial peers, in the perspective of people with intellectual disability. Four adults with intellectual disability, who are siblings, are included in this research, associating a half-directive interview and the Family Apperception Test administration. The results signed the increased presence of positives affects. Identification and differenciation process are identified, but implied a work about the normality by the people with a disability. Finally a co-occurrence between the configuration of sibling system and of social bond is observed. This bond has to be studied, but before, researchers have to work on methodological aspects for this research.     

Teacher reported types of sexual abuse of learners with intellectual disability in a South African school setting

This study investigated prevalent types of sexual abuse of learners with intellectual disability, as reported by teachers. Participants were 28 teachers from special educational needs schools in Gauteng Province, South Africa (females = 80%, age range = 30 to 55 years). The teachers participated in a focus group discussion on prevalent types of sexual abuse they were aware of that occurred to learners with intellectual disabilities. Thematic analysis of the data suggested five forms of sexual abuse of learners with intellectual disability: incest, rape by the members of the community, sexual harassment, child prostitution, and exposure to adult sexual encounters. Future research should focus on the ways to mitigate in-school sexual abuse of learners with intellectual disability; prioritising which forms of interventions would be effected.     

Screening for intellectual disability in Dutch police suspects

The screener for mild intellectual disability (SCIL) was developed to screen for mild intellectual disability (IQ below 85). The aims of this study were (a) to examine the predictive validity of the SCIL in screening for intellectual disability among police suspects and (b) to explore the prevalence of cognitive intellectual disability among suspects in police custody in the Netherlands. An unselected sample of police suspects (N = 178) charged with a variety of offences was assessed with the SCIL, a Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)‐III‐NL short form, and a malingering measure. The SCIL screened 50.0% of the sample as having mild intellectual disabilities, whereas the short WAIS classified 84.3% of the sample with an IQ below 85. A principal component analysis of the SCIL showed ambiguous results. Furthermore, the short WAIS classified 55.6% of our sample with a borderline IQ (IQ = 70–84), 84.3% with an IQ below 85 and 28.7% with an IQ below 70. The prevalence of intellectual disability in this sample of Dutch (police) suspects appears to be higher than prevalence rates found in previous international studies. More exhaustive research is needed to examine the prevalence of intellectual disabilities in police suspects, and the utility of the SCIL to screen for these disabilities.     

An Ecological Approach to Reducing the Social Isolation of People With an Intellectual Disability

An ecological approach to understanding insecure attachments and social isolation among people with an intellectual disability is constructed using Gibson's (1979/1986) affordance-based theory. Although environmental affordances and individual limitations interact to limit the development of social competence, we believe that by focusing on the immediate environment, community-based approaches to helping people with an intellectual disability are often ignored, which increases the burden on individual caregivers. A more comprehensive strategy, which extends Gibson's theory of affordances, allows us to consider how higher level social systems influence the immediate environment and provides the context for understanding why successful change occurs when a multifaceted, holistic approach that works on several levels is adopted. Examining these systems within an ecological framework fundamentally redefines our thinking by shifting the focus from a person's disability to a more nuanced understanding of a person's abilities within the context of appropriate environmental supports in which the person's disability becomes less salient.     

Diagnose von Intelligenzminderung

The diagnostics of intellectual disability is a complex process which must be carried out on several levels using different methods (multidimensional diagnostics). The expertise of the test leader is at least just as important as the selection of suitable procedures. The responsible use of test procedures requires comprehensive knowledge of test diagnostics and sufficient experience in the examination of people in the appropriate age group with intellectual disabilities and a good familiarity with the procedures used. This article provides information on the epidemiology of intellectual disability, supplies definitions and classification of the grade of severity of intellectual disabilities and describes the diagnostic pathway.     

Caring for children with an intellectual disability: An exploratory qualitative study

This study explored family caregiver experiences of children with an intellectual disability in a rural South African day-care centre. The family caregivers (N = 15; mothers = 60%; age range = 35 to 68 years) completed in-depth interviews regarding their experiences providing care to children with intellectual disability. Data collection and analysis was done using phenomenological methods. The following themes emerged to characterise the family caregiver experiences: deeper understanding of intellectual disability; disability disclosure conditions; and social and economic support needs. Family support emerged as an important factor in the relationship between caregivers’ psychological stress and well-being.     

表面相似性与共享标签知识对智障儿童数量表征的影响

采用给数取物任务和数量比较任务,考察表面相似性与共享标签知识对96名7～16岁智障儿童数量表征的影响。研究结果表明：（1）智障儿童数量表征能力随着年龄增长而提高,11～13岁和14～16岁智障儿童完成数量比较任务的正确率显著高于7～10岁;（2）智障儿童在高表面相似物体下完成数量比较任务的正确率显著高于低表面相似物体下的正确率;（3）擅长使用数字标签的智障儿童,在数量比较任务的表现显著优于不擅长组。     

Examining the Validity of ADHD as a Diagnosis for Adolescents with Intellectual Disabilities: Clinical Presentation

Children with intellectual and developmental disabilities are at heightened risk for mental disorders. Using current diagnostic criteria, disruptive behavior disorders, specifically Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), appear to be the most prevalent co-occurring disorders. However, the validity of ADHD as a diagnosis for children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities remains unclear. The present study examined the clinical presentation of ADHD (prevalence, sex differences, and comorbidity) among adolescents with and without intellectual disability (ID) as well as investigated the validity of ADHD for adolescents with ID by examining similarities in terms of symptom presentation, developmental course, and associated functional impairment. The sample included 142 adolescents and their families, about a third of whom were classified in the ID group and the remaining were in the typically developing (TD) group. Findings indicated that adolescents with ID continue to be at elevated risk for ADHD (risk ratio: 3.38:1) compared to their typically developing peers. Additionally, the presentation of ADHD appeared similar among adolescents with and without ID, supporting the validity of an ADHD diagnosis for this population of adolescents. Implications for public policy and intervention are discussed.