Through the advance in numerous disciplines and fields such as psychopharmacology, genetics, education and psychology, there have been signs of improvement of the treatment that is given to individuals that suffer from mental retardation. Another important intervention has been the provision of appropriate models for social care, which has brought substantial impact in the improvement of the quality of life for individuals who are suffering from mental retardation. This has occurred in community settings and has enabled the relevant staffs families and carers to be more effective and increase their involvement in offering the necessary help to the individuals suffering from mental retardation (Hodapp, Burack, & Zigler, 1995).
Mentally retarded individuals represent a group of individuals who have wide range of complex needs. Different professions that are involved in the area of offering care and important services to these individuals have an avalanche of perspectives about the MR individuals. This is because the aforementioned professions give inconsistent categories and terms while referring to MR patients. Moreover, Bouras & Jacobson(2002 ) indicate that different cultures use terms that are ill-defined and social labels that are changeable. These terms are often stigmatizing, which makes it increasingly difficult for one to be assured that there is a degree of comparability for individuals with MR in different nations. In the light of this, different terms have been used in different countries with regions like the U.K replacing ‘mentally handicapped’ with a better term such as ‘learning disability’. However, such a move was done without consideration of the connotation of the latter term in various parts of the world.
In America, the Association for individuals suffering from mental retardation has maintained the term ‘mental retardation’ with the redefinition of the term as an intellectual functioning that is sub-average. Furthermore, the American society highlights that mentally retarded individuals exhibit lack of skills in communication, home living, healthcare, Social skills, self-direction and functional skills. In countries such as Canada and Australia, the term mental retardation is replaced with Developmental disabilities. International organizations have adopted the term intellectual disability to refer to individuals who are suffering from mental retardation (Ternes & Yuille, 2008).
The development theory
According to Bouras & Jacobson(2002 ), the development theory on retarded individuals postulates that mentally retarded individuals have often under the same cognitive development stages like other normal individuals. However, these individuals tend to develop relatively slowly. This leads to a conclusion by psychologists that there exist disparities in the cognitive abilities of individuals with mental retardation and those who are not suffering from the condition. McNelis (1997) indicates that individuals with mental retardation have a poor performance on simple tasks. The development theory terms this phenomenon as Mental-age lag. Adults and children with severe mental retardation suffer fundamental deficiency in processing information efficiently. The manifestation of a low IQ leads to a pervasive effect, which is never ameliorated through the stages of cognitive development.
Retarded individuals have are deficient in all the processes that offer a contribution towards the attainment of intelligence. These processes include attention processes and executive processes. Executive and attention measures are important in measuring the cognitive abilities of an individual. The main cause of mental retardation is a slower than normal information processing mechanism of an individual. This is an impression that most of the retarded individuals are have slow processing speeds and a modular functioning that is severely compromised. However, these individuals may be capable of executing tasks that are perceptual and complex (McNelis, 1997).
Another cause of mental retardation in the developmental theory is cognitive deficit, which may arise because of damage or absence of a module, which is central to cognitive functioning. Linguistic representations are important in helping understand what mentally retarded individuals want and are achieved using modules. The absence of these modules leads to breakdown in the patterns of cognition. the most recognized modules that help give mentally retarded individuals the necessary therapy are modules like the theory of the mind, which incorporates representations such as the needs of the mentally retarded with the view of making important inferences on social interactions of the individuals. The absence of such modules makes it increasingly possible for psychiatrists to have a difficult reasoning on human behavior. Moreover, the absence of such modules creates difficulties in problem solving which often leads to even lower scores by the mentally retarded individuals (McNelis, 1997).
Necessary intervention for people with mental retardation
Services provision is a major form of intervention that is used in Western nations. These services are usually funded by the public and encompass support services, residential accommodation and clinical services. A substantial number of individuals suffering from mental retardation have been registered on waiting lists for accommodation. Charity organizations and public agencies offer services with public agencies providing services that are highly specialized or institutional. On the other hand, charitable organizations tend to offer supportive services. The two agencies tend to provide a variety of residential services, which include clinical, day, and community residential services. The options for residence include institutional settings that are specialized and group homes, which serve several individuals suffering from mental retardation. The day options include organized programs, which address prevocational, facilitative adult educational and assisted employment services. The day services can be individualized. Hospitals, community clinics, charitable organizations and specialty clinics are responsible for offering clinical services (McNelis, 1997).
It is necessary for mentally retarded individuals to learn some form of vocation that can enable them to be employed. However, many hurdles impede the mentally retarded individuals from attaining some form of vocation. These are hurdles such as attitude whereby most of employers have a tendency of underestimating the capabilities that mentally handicapped individuals do possess. Most of potential jobs for the mentally retarded individuals are unskilled and manual jobs, which highly depend on the capability of the mentally retarded individual. Moreover, villages can offer opportunities that are agro-based, which maybe a gainful form of employment for mentally retarded individuals (Glidden & Seltzer, 2009).
Conclusion
In summary, the lack of a specific approach in providing vocational training and important services to mentally retarded individuals has led to a loss of strategies that are necessary in helping these individuals cope with their situation. This paper has highlighted the interventions that are necessary for the individuals who are mentally retarded. The development theory, which indicates the characteristics of mentally retarded individuals, is important in helping the psychiatrists to come up with the necessary interventions for the mentally retarded individuals.
References
Bouras, N., & Jacobson, J. (2002 ). Mental health care for people with mental retardation: a global perspective. World Psychiatry, 1(3), 162–165.
Burack, J. A., Hodapp, R. M., & Zigler, E. (1998). Handbook of Mental Retardation and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Glidden, L. M., & Seltzer, M. M. (2009). International Review of Research in Mental Retardation, Volume 37. San Diego: Academic Press.
Hodapp, R. M., Burack, J. A., & Zigler, E. (1995). Issues in the Developmental Approach to Mental Retardation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
McNelis, T. (1997). Helping People with Mental Retardation and Mental Illness- An Interwoven Fabric. Pennsylvania Journal on Positive Approaches, 1(2), 1-24.
Ternes, M., & Yuille, J. C. (2008). Eyewitness Memory and Eyewitness Identification Performance in Adults with Intellectual Disabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 21(6), 519–531.
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